"Won't Stand Down" is a song by British

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

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 ...

. Released as a single on 13 January 2022, it is their first single from '' Will of the People'', their ninth studio album. It topped the UK Rock & Metal chart and reached number 56 on 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 song was a

sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit is a film, television series, music release, video game, or some other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release but became a success later on. A sleeper hit may have little promo ...

in the

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, reaching number 1 on ''

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''s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart in May 2022, becoming the first Muse song to do so.

Release

On 25 December 2021,

lead singer and guitarist Matt Bellamy held a brief

livestream Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but no ...

on the official Muse

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account. In the video, he can be seen driving his Tesla on Autopilot mode, with his 10-year-old son Bing in the passenger seat. The pair are listening (and, in Bing's case,

headbanging Headbanging is the action of violently shaking one's head in rhythm with music. It is common in the contemporary rock, punk and heavy metal music genres, where headbanging is often used by musicians on stage. Headbanging is also common in tradit ...

) to a then-unreleased Muse song, entitled "Won't Stand Down" on the car stereo screen, while Matt provides occasional commentary over the track. In total, the livestream previewed a roughly one-minute-long section of the song. Muse's own Instagram account hinted towards the release of a new single in a post on 31 December, initially uploaded with the caption "Looking forward to WSD. We'll see you on the other side!" before "WSD" was changed to "2022" after a few minutes. The release of "Won't Stand Down" as a single was officially confirmed by Muse on 7 January 2022, with the release date set for 13 January on all digital platforms. On 9 January, a further snippet of the song, this time consisting of the opening verse, was posted to Muse's

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account as well as a "Won't Stand Down"-themed Instagram Stories mask filter.

Writing and composition

Musically, the song has been described as heavy metal,

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

, and electronic rock. Prior to release, the song was described as Muse's "heaviest material yet", featuring a

metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...

breakdown. The song also contains "heavy guitars and

industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

-like distortions", and "triplet-flow-type vocals in the verse". According to vocalist and guitarist Matt Bellamy, "'Won't Stand Down' is a song about standing your ground against bullies, whether that be on the playground, at work or anywhere."

Artwork and music video

The digital artwork for "Won't Stand Down" was described as "dark and ominous", featuring a hooded priest-like figure hovering over ten disciples, figures wearing digital-style masks and gothic chandeliers. A short teaser of the music video was posted to Muse's

account on 9 January.

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal Muse * Matt Bellamy – lead vocals, guitars, keyboards,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

Chris Wolstenholme Christopher Tony Wolstenholme (born 2 December 1978) is an English musician. He is the bassist and backing vocalist for the rock band Muse. Early life Chris Wolstenholme grew up in the English town of Rotherham before moving to Teignmouth, D ...

– bass, backing vocals, production *

Dominic Howard Dominic James Howard (born 7 December 1977) is an English musician who is the drummer and co-founder of the rock band Muse. Early life Howard was born in Stockport, Greater Manchester, in England. When he was around 8 years old he moved with hi ...

– drums, production Production *Aleks Von Korff – additional production,

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

Dan Lancaster Dan Lancaster is a producer, mixer, songwriter and artist from the UK. He is best known for his mixing and production work in contemporary rock music, and has worked with prominent global acts such as Blink-182, 5 Seconds Of Summer, Bring M ...

– mixing * Chris Gehringer – mastering *Rhys May – mixing assistant *Andy Maxwell – studio assistant *Joe Devenney – studio assistant *Tommy Bosustow – studio assistant *Chris Whitemyer – technical assistant *Paul Warren – technical assistant

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Awards and nominations

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2022 singles 2022 songs Muse (band) songs Songs written by Matt Bellamy British heavy metal songs British hard rock songs Electronic rock songs Metalcore songs