Knights of Cydonia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| “Knights of Cydonia” | |||||
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CD cover
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| Single by Muse from the album Black Holes & Revelations |
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| Released | 13 June 2006 (U.S.) 27 November 2006 (UK) |
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| Format | Promo CD, download, 7", CD, DVD | ||||
| Genre | Alternative rock Progressive rock |
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| Length | 6:06 (album version) 4:42 (radio edit) |
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| Label | Helium 3, Warner Bros. | ||||
| Producer | Rich Costey | ||||
| Muse singles chronology | |||||
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| Alternate cover | |||||
7" picture disc cover
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| Black Holes & Revelations track listing | |||||
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"Knights of Cydonia" is a song by English rock band Muse and is the closing track on the English release of their 2006 album Black Holes & Revelations. The radio edit version was first aired on KROQ radio on 6 June 2006, and released to other radio stations in the United States on 12 June 2006. The song was released as the third single from Black Holes & Revelations in the UK on 27 November 2006, debuting at #10 in the UK Singles Chart (see 2006 in British music). [1] The song was described by BBC Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac on 27 October 2006 as ‘six minutes and one second of pure genius’. In 2007, Eve of Summer recorded a remix.
The first live performance of Knights of Cydonia took place at a BBC Radio 1 event, Radio 1's Big Weekend, held at Camperdown Park in Dundee on 2006-05-13. Also performed at this event were "Supermassive Black Hole" and "Starlight", the first two singles from Black Holes and Revelations. Live performances of "Knights of Cydonia" feature Bellamy's intro falsetto much more loudly and clearly than its studio counterpart. Recent live performances have featured Bellamy playing an extra guitar part during the solo at the end of song, as well as the coda of "Space Dementia" played as a finale.
The song is also featured in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock as a primary track. It was also used in Heroes Unmasked, the complementary show to the sci-fi series Heroes, where the characters were shown in time to the chorus. The song is also used in commercials advertising the 300 DVD release.
On 26 January, 2008, "Knights of Cydonia" was announced as #1 in Australia's 2007 Triple J Hottest 100.
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[edit] Track listing
- Promo CD PRO-101829
- Knights of Cydonia (radio edit) - 4:42
- Knights of Cydonia (album version) - 6:06
- 7" HEL3004, Digital download
- Knights of Cydonia - 6:01
- Assassin (Grand Omega Bosses edit) - 5:19
- CD HEL3004CD
- Knights of Cydonia - 6:01
- Supermassive Black Hole (live from the Campo Pequeno in Lisbon)
- DVD HEL3004DVD
- Knights of Cydonia (video)
- Knights of Cydonia (audio)
- Knights of Cydonia (the making of)
- Gallery
[edit] Music and meaning
The song features vocals from both Bellamy's higher and lower ranges layered and both synthesised and live trumpet parts. The guitar sound in the song was inspired by the 1962 number one hit "Telstar" by The Tornados (George Bellamy, Matt Bellamy's father, was the band's rhythm guitarist).[2] The song, taken in entirety, also bears a striking resemblence to George Bellamy's composition "Ridin' the Wind".
The titular ‘Cydonia’ refers to the region on Mars where some believe life has existed, and which is the site of the infamous Face on Mars. The cover artwork for Black Holes & Revelations, created by Storm Thorgerson, is set on the surface of Mars and features four men sitting around a table, atop which are miniature horses. According to the band, these men represent the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The horses are miniature in size to emphasise the fact that the horsemen have outgrown them.[3]
Bellamy has stated that on the album in general he tried to create a vision of what is occurring in the song. For example, if you listen closely you can hear a guitar depicting someone riding a horse.[citation needed]
[edit] Music video
The KOC video was shot over five days: three days in Romania; one day in London; and one day in Red Rock, California; it was made available on July 11, 2006. It was filmed and edited as a thematic smorgasborg: a spaghetti western film with post-apocalyptic influence, complete with beginning and end credits, livened with the occasional kung-fu cowboy or metal-clad maiden astride a unicorn. In the end of a video we can see Roman numerals MCMLXXXI which translates to 1981. However, in the introduction the numerals MCLMXXXI are seen,[4] which do not represent any number due to incorrect nomenclature.
The video was directed by Joseph Kahn, and stars British actor Russ Bain as the protagonist (The Man With No Name), Richard Brake as the antagonist (Sheriff Baron Klaus Rottingham), and Cassandra Bell as the love interest (Princess Shane Kuriyami). Throughout the video, the actors mouth out the lyrics, such as Russ Bain ramshackled in town square mouthing ‘No one's going to take me alive’, and Cassandra Bell at the gallows ‘You and I must fight for our rights’. In both instances, the mouthed words occur after the song lyrics and complete before the song moves on to the next line.
A very brief scene in which Bain has sex with his love interest was edited out of the video for presentation on television. The complete, uncensored version is available for viewing at the Director's website.
[edit] Contest
Shortly after the making of the music video, Muse announced that they were giving away 1000 movie posters depicting the characters and general plot of the video itself to the first 1000 people who correctly guessed the fifteen major motion pictures referenced by the music video. Aside from the very few obvious ones, such as Star Wars (which is referenced by a robot in the movies' stiff gait and the holograms of Muse being projected everywhere), The Matrix (with the protagonist's ‘bring it’ hand gesture), Westworld (a western set in the future), The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (when the hero shoots the noose), Mad Max, The Lone Ranger, and Batman, other references are to the television programs Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and Kung Fu while more obscure references are to Legend, Maverick, Heavy Metal, The Searchers, High Noon, Planet of the Apes and Blade Runner.
[edit] Chart performance
"Knights of Cydonia" entered the UK Singles Chart the week of 2006-12-04 at #10.
| "Knights of Cydonia" - UK Singles Chart[5] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Prior to its entry in the Singles Chart, "Knights of Cydonia" had been active in the Downloads Chart, and sat at #41 the same week that the physical release debuted at #10 in the Singles Chart. Three weeks earlier, the song sat at #104 in the Downloads Chart marking a substantial jump in that time period.
The song was the winner of Triple J's annual Hottest 100 countdown for 2007.
| "Knights of Cydonia" - UK Official Download Chart[6] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Week | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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[edit] References
- ^ Muse ready new single. NME (2006-10-09). Retrieved on 2006-10-09.
- ^ “2006 in Review”, Kerrang (no. 1138): 45, 2006-12-16
- ^ Jacqui Swift (2006-06-23). Muse: Close encounters. The Sun. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.
- ^ YouTube - Knights of cydonia
- ^ Music Charts - The Official UK Top 75 Singles: Week of Mon 25 Dec - Yahoo! Music UK. UK Singles Chart. Retrieved on 2006-12-24.
- ^ Music Charts - The Official UK Top 40 Downloads: Week of Mon 25 Dec - Yahoo! Music UK. UK Official Download Chart. Retrieved on 2006-12-24.
[edit] External links
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| Preceded by Augie March One Crowded Hour |
Triple J Hottest 100 #1 2007 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
