"Hyper Music" and "Feeling Good" are songs by English
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 Popular culture, mainstre ...
band
Muse
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
, recorded for their second album ''
Origin of Symmetry
''Origin of Symmetry'' is the second studio album by English rock band Muse, released on 18 June 2001 through Taste Media. It was produced by John Leckie, who produced Muse's debut album '' Showbiz'' (1999), and David Bottrill.
''Origin of Symm ...
'' (2001). They were released together as a
double A-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
on 19 November 2001.
Composition
"Hyper Music" is an
art punk
Art punk is a subgenre of punk rock in which artists go beyond the genre's rudimentary garage rock and are considered more sophisticated than their peers. These groups still generated punk's aesthetic of being simple, offensive, and free-spirit ...
song, written by 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 eccen ...
. "
Feeling Good" was written by
Leslie Bricusse
Leslie Bricusse OBE (; 29 January 1931 – 19 October 2021) was a British composer, lyricist, and playwright who worked on theatre musicals and wrote theme music for films. He was best known for writing the music and lyrics for the films ''Do ...
and
Anthony Newley
Anthony Newley (24 September 1931 – 14 April 1999) was an English actor, singer, songwriter, and filmmaker. A "latter-day British Al Jolson", he achieved widespread success in song, and on stage and screen. "One of Broadway's greatest leading ...
for the 1964 musical ''
The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd
''The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd'' is a musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. The musical is best known for introducing the standards "A Wonderful Day Like Today", "Who Can I Turn T ...
,'' later covered by
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
and
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
singer
Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, ...
.
A softer, rearranged version of "Hyper Music" was recorded under the title of "Hyper Chondriac Music" and included on Muse's 2002
compilation album
A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...
''
Hullabaloo Soundtrack
''Hullabaloo Soundtrack'', also known as simply ''Hullabaloo'', is a compilation and live album by English rock band Muse. The album is a double album with disc one containing previously released B-sides and disc two acting as the soundtrack t ...
''.
Music videos
The music videos for "Feeling Good" and "Hyper Music" were directed by
David Slade
David Aldrin Slade (born 26 September 1969) is a British film and television director and actor. His works include the films ''Hard Candy'', ''30 Days of Night'' and '' The Twilight Saga: Eclipse''. Slade is also a director for television, dir ...
. The music video for Hyper Music begins with a shot of a room that has a red floor and greyish walls with
Bellamy slouching with a mic in front of him, and a guitar in his hands. The video then changes to a shot next to Bellamy, as he starts playing the song. Seemingly out of nowhere, the rest of the band appears behind him as they all start playing, with shots interspersed with Bellamy playing his guitar alone, before stabilising into just the band playing the song, with a few shots of just Bellamy, with the shots of purely Bellamy increasing when the beginning riff is repeated. When the chorus repeats for the final time a crowd of people appears, jumping around the band. Nearly the entire video is shot very shakily, with apparent
lens flare
A lens flare happens when light is scattered or flared in a lens system, often in response to a bright light, producing a sometimes undesirable artifact in the image. This happens through light scattered by the imaging mechanism itself, for e ...
s appearing at several moments.
The music video for Feeling Good is rather similar. It begins with Bellamy playing a keyboard instrument. There is clearly a light shining on him. The light's cause is a hole in the roof, from which red petals are falling down on Bellamy. Shots of bizarre looking people are shown walking into light in the same room, with them continuing for the first 30 seconds. As the band yet again appears behind Bellamy, the petals' falling gets heavier. At a bit over the one minute mark the lights mostly disappear, as Bellamy starts singing into a
megaphone
A megaphone, speaking-trumpet, bullhorn, blowhorn, or loudhailer is usually a portable or hand-held, cone-shaped acoustic horn used to amplify a person's voice or other sounds and direct it in a given direction. The sound is introduced into ...
, accompanied by a change in Bellamy's voice to a buzzing distortion. The lights turn back on as the distortion turns off, and the megaphone is gone, but now the warped looking people are standing behind the band. The people slowly begin climbing up the walls, presumably to escape, as the band keeps playing, with many of the people just staring at the band. In the final moments of the video the majority of the people are seen crawling on the walls.
Release
"Hyper Music"/"Feeling Good" was released on 19 November 2001 as a
7-inch vinyl single and two
CD single
A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...
s. It reached number 24 in the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
—the lowest of all four singles released from ''Origin of Symmetry''—though sold better than all of them except "Plug in Baby".
Legacy
"Feeling Good" was ranked as the fifth best
cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
in a poll by ''
Total Guitar
''Total Guitar'' is a monthly music magazine based in Bath, the United Kingdom, that has been in circulation since 1994.
The magazine is owned by Future plc, who publish many other magazines ranging from drums and video games to technology mag ...
'' in 2008. Later in 2010, Muse's cover of "Feeling Good" was ranked by ''
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 ...
'' as the greatest cover song of all time in September 2010. Over 15,000 people voted it to number one, beating The Beatles' cover of "
Twist and Shout
"Twist and Shout" is a 1961 song written by Phil Medley and Bert Berns (later credited as "Bert Russell"). It was originally recorded by the Top Notes, but it did not become a hit in the record charts until it was reworked by the Isley Brothers ...
" and Johnny Cash's cover of "
Hurt". In 2014, a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
poll saw it voted the ninth best cover version ever.
Muse successfully sued Nescafé in 2003 when their version of "Feeling Good" was used in a television advert without permission, donating the £500,000 compensation to
. Nescafé later replaced it with the
version. "Feeling Good" is used in
's 2010 commercial run in the United States, "001".
''.
performed "Feeling Good" on the show, using the arrangement of Muse's version. The song is also featured in the video game ''