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"United States of Eurasia" is a song by British
alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercia ...
band Muse, featured on their fifth studio album '' The Resistance''. The song was made available as a free
download In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar system. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote s ...
online on 21 July 2009. It is followed by an instrumental solo, "Collateral Damage", based on Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9, No. 2 by Frédéric Chopin.


Background and composition

"United States of Eurasia" was the first song title to be confirmed as on ''The Resistance'', after fans worked it out from a photograph of its sheet music uploaded on the band's Twitter profile. On 3 July 2009, the album's track listing was revealed, with "United States..." positioned fourth between "Undisclosed Desires" and "Guiding Light". In a pre-release interview featured in the August edition of music magazine '' Mojo'', vocalist and guitarist
Matthew Bellamy Matthew James Bellamy (born 9 June 1978) is an English singer, musician, producer, and songwriter. He is primarily known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist, and primary songwriter for English rock band Muse. He is recognised for his ecce ...
reveals the song to be inspired by "a book called '' The Grand Chessboard'' by Zbigniew Brzezinski," explaining that "Brzezinski has the viewpoint that the Eurasian landmass, ie Europe,
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
and the Middle East, needs to be controlled by America to secure the oil supply." Bellamy goes on to suggest that the song is also influenced by George Orwell's novel ''
Nineteen Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also stylised as ''1984'') is a dystopian social science fiction novel and cautionary tale written by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final ...
'', in which Eurasia is one of Earth's three super-states.


Release – "Project Eurasia"

While initially thought to be the first single due to be released from ''The Resistance'', the band confirmed on their Twitter profile that "
Uprising Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...
" would in fact be released as the lead single, and that "United States..." would be the "prize" achieved by completing the "treasure hunt" activity set up by the band, "United States of Eurasia". After the fan community unlocked all six sample segments of the song promised by the treasure hunt on 20 July; a message was then displayed on the project page, ordering viewers to report back soon for an "emergency flash briefing." The main site then changed the green headline title from "Ununited States of Eurasia" to "United States of Eurasia". On 20 July at approximately 12:00 PM (BST), the treasure hunt site "Ununited States of Eurasia" updated its map to include
America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and a banner reading "RECOGNITION FROM USA REQUESTED" with co-ordinates to a street in New York. It was the only station that had a timed limit to it for activation, stating that failure in activating it will result in a Lockdown Crisis Mode which will mobilise "The Resistance". A subsequent Twitter post by Bellamy, in reply to a fan, states that US would have the grand finale and that they would have "a tough decision to make", hinting on the possibility that the final station should not be activated and that United States of Eurasia should not be recognised. Joe Ellis became the first DJ to air the new song on
KXLL KXLL is a non-commercial adult album alternative/modern rock hybrid music radio station in Juneau, Alaska The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state o ...
during his Sunday show on 19 July 2009. Following the conclusion of the treasure hunt on 21 July 2009, the song was made available for download from the microsite, complete with ending piano sonata "Collateral Damage", a slightly altered version of Frédéric Chopin's Nocturne in E-flat Major, with additional sounds of playing children and a line of a jet fighter dropping nuclear bombs at the end of the arrangement.


Reception

Music magazine ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' published a pre-release interview with the band on 7 July, identifying "United States..." as one of the highlights of the album and describing how it "builds into a climax of multi-tracked Queen-style vocals." In a French review of the album published on MuseBootlegs.com, the song is likened to Queen's song "
Bohemian Rhapsody "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth album, '' A Night at the Opera'' (1975). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite, notable for its lack ...
", Maurice Jarre's soundtrack for the 1962 film ''
Lawrence of Arabia Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918 ...
'' and Polish composer Frédéric Chopin, the amalgamation of which is said to produce "A long, cinematic
classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prima ...
trip."


References


External links


Project Eurasia/Ununited States of Eurasia official website
{{Authority control 2009 songs Muse (band) songs Music based on Nineteen Eighty-Four Rock ballads Songs written by Chris Wolstenholme Songs written by Dominic Howard Songs written by Matt Bellamy