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Citizen Erased

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"Citizen Erased"
Song by Muse
from the album Origin of Symmetry
Released18 June 2001 (2001-06-18)
RecordedSeptember 2000 – February 2001
Studio
Genre
Length7:21
LabelTaste
Songwriter(s)Matt Bellamy
Producer(s)

"Citizen Erased" is a song by English rock band Muse. It is the sixth track on their second studio album, Origin of Symmetry (2001). Written by singer and guitarist Matt Bellamy, it is a grandiose, multi-section progressive rock and space rock song that serves as the centrepiece of Origin of Symmetry. Despite having not been released as a single at first, it charted at No. 122 on the UK Singles Chart in 2007 and became a fan favourite. It was later given a new mix as part of Origin of Symmetry: XX Anniversary RemiXX in 2021 and was released as that album's lead single.

Recording and composition

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Matt Bellamy used a seven-string Manson guitar (pictured) on "Citizen Erased"

"Citizen Erased" was written by singer and guitarist Matt Bellamy, produced by John Leckie and Muse, and has a total runtime of 7 minutes and 21 seconds, making it one of the longest songs in Muse's discography.[1][2] It was primarily recorded at Real World Studios in Box, Wiltshire.[1] Musically, it has been described as progressive rock[3] and space rock.[4] The sixth track on Origin of Symmetry (2001), it has been regarded as the album's centrepiece.[5][6][7] It features a multi-section arrangement that includes "twinkly, emotive arpeggios", as described by Guitar.com.[7]

The song was built around a funk-inspired drum beat developed by Dominic Howard. Chris Wolstenholme began playing to Howard's beat on bass guitar and Bellamy soon applied a chord structure, which resulted in the backbone of "Citizen Erased" being formed.[8] Bellamy used a seven-string Manson guitar on the track,[9] tuned to drop A tuning in standard variation.[10] "Citizen Erased" was the first Muse song to feature a seven-string guitar;[11] this was also the first Manson guitar to be purchased by Bellamy, who would later own a majority stake in the company.[9] Bellamy also used a Z.Vex Fuzz Factory pedal on the track.[11] Because of how long the heavier sections of the initial song lasted, the band decided to "add another song to the end of it";[8] this turned out to be the piano-led coda that closes out the track.[12]

A string section was recorded at Abbey Road Studios for the song's coda, but was not made audible in the song's original mix and instead was filtered out by a droning phaser effect. When Origin of Symmetry was being remixed for its 20th anniversary in 2021, the string section was made audible.[13] Chromatic arpeggios that were quieter in the original mix were also given a cleaner tone and made louder.[11]

Discussing the lyrics of the song, Bellamy described the song as "an expression of what it feels like to be questioned". He was influenced by the frequency of which he was asked by others for his thoughts on human purpose. He went on to say that "I don't really have the answers and I have to respond on the knowledge I have obtained so far, but the problem is that it gets printed, and something else has come along that's made you completely disagree with what you said".[14] Al Horner of NME described the lyrics as being about "forgetting what's gone before and exploring new worlds uninhibited and 'open-minded' – the way Bellamy attests we used to before being corrupted by our leaders."[5] He adds that the lyrics potentially reference George Orwell's 1949 dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, where individuals are similarly "erased" and deeply affected by totalitarianism.[5]

Legacy

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"Citizen Erased" was not released as a single from Origin of Symmetry. Despite this, it became a fan favourite.[15][16] In 2007, "Citizen Erased" entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 122, holding that position for one week before falling out of the chart.[17] Muse created a spiritual successor to the song in the form of the ten-minute-long "The Globalist", the eleventh track on their seventh studio album, Drones (2015).[16] When Origin of Symmetry: XX Anniversary RemiXX was announced in 2021, "Citizen Erased" was released as the lead single from the remixed album.[11]

Personnel

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Personnel adapted from Origin of Symmetry liner notes.[1]

Chart performance

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Chart (2007) Peak
position
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[17] 122

References

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  1. ^ a b c Origin of Symmetry (liner notes). Muse. Taste Media. 2001.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  2. ^ Sharma, Amit (12 October 2022). "Matt Bellamy's 10 greatest Muse guitar moments". Guitar World. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  3. ^ Archer, James (21 July 2021). "I tested 15 of Amazon's cheapest headphones — here are the best and worst". Tom's Guide. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  4. ^ Coffman, Tim (13 April 2022). "10 Greatest Sequel Songs In Rock Music History". WhatCulture. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  5. ^ a b c Horner, Al (9 January 2015). "Muse: Matt Bellamy's Top 10 Greatest Lyrics". NME. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  6. ^ Beaumont, Mark (18 September 2018). "Muse – Rank The Albums". NME. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  7. ^ a b Price, Andy (21 April 2021). "The Genius of... Origin of Symmetry by Muse". Guitar.com. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  8. ^ a b "What all the Hullabaloo is about". Guitarist. September 2002.
  9. ^ a b Sharma, Amit (26 September 2022). "Matt Bellamy on Yngwie Malmsteen-inspired solos, recording with Jeff Buckley's Telecaster and his secret to beaming blues riffs into Muse's space-age guitar sound". Guitar World. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  10. ^ Kiryushkin, Alexander (30 July 2019). "9 Amazing Songs In Drop A Tuning For You To Try". Ultimate Guitar. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  11. ^ a b c d Astley-Brown, Micheal (20 May 2021). "Muse reveal 20th anniversary Origin of Symmetry remix album, debut raw, fuzz-heavy version of Citizen Erased". Guitar World. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  12. ^ Monroe, Jazz (11 July 2021). "Muse: Origin of Symmetry". Pitchfork. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  13. ^ Muse (28 May 2021). Working on the XX RemiXX of Citizen Erased. YouTube. Event occurs at 0:25. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  14. ^ Durham, Victoria (July 2001). "Perfect Symmetry?". Rock Sound. pp. 26–33.
  15. ^ Philip, Tom (5 July 2018). "It's Time to Admit You Love Muse". GQ. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  16. ^ a b Trendell, Andrew (27 March 2015). "Muse discuss 'prog nightmare' sequel to 'Citizen Erased'". Gigwise. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  17. ^ a b Zywietz, Tobias. "Chart Log UK: M – My Vitriol". zobbel.de. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
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