Uprising (song)

Composition

"Uprising" was described as an alternative rock, space rock, and glam rock song, with elements of industrial. It is composed in the key of D minor with a tempo of 132 beats per minute. It was inspired by the electronica band Goldfrapp.

Whereas Muse had previously combined distorted bass guitar with synthesisers to create basslines, they wanted the rhythm section on "Uprising" to be "real". According to the bassist, Chris Wolstenholme, they created "a bass sound that almost sounded like a synth, but wasn't".

Several critics likened "Uprising" to the theme music from the science fiction TV series Doctor Who. Uncut said "Uprising" combines a schaffel beat, the riff from the 1980 Blondie song "Call Me" and "leftist sloganeering". The songwriter, Matt Bellamy, said the lyrics "sums up how a lot of people feel and it's that we need change".

Music video

The music video was released in September 2009. It features a giant teddy bear destroying buildings, which Rolling Stone interpreted as a homage to the 1984 film Ghostbusters. The video won "Best Special Effects" in the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards and was nominated for "Best Rock Video".

Release

In September 2009, Muse performed "Uprising" for the first time at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. "Uprising" won Best Single at the 2010 Music Producers Guild Awards. Accepting the award, Bellamy thanked John Leckie, the producer of their first two albums, for "teaching us how to produce". He also thanked the producer Rick Rubin "for teaching us how not to produce", which some sources took to mean Muse had fired Rubin after a failed collaboration. Bellamy later said his comment had been misconstrued and that Muse had never worked with Rubin; instead, he said Muse had been inspired by stories of his "hands-off" production style.

"Uprising" reached the top 10 in Belgium (Wallonia), Denmark, Finland, Norway, Scotland, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. It was certified silver in the United Kingdom, gold in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Italy and New Zealand, and platinum in France and Switzerland and double-platinum in the United States.

"Uprising" was Muse's first entry on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching number 37 on the week ending 3 October, and spent 20 weeks on the Hot 100. It had sold 2,170,000 copies in the US .

"Uprising" reached number one on the US Billboard Alternative Songs chart on 9 September 2009. It was Muse's sixth top-10 single and first number one on the chart, and spent 17 weeks at number one, becoming the second longest-running number one song ever on the chart at the time. As songs on the chart are retired for charting out of the top 10 beyond week 52, "Uprising" was removed for a week after logging its 52nd week for missing the top 10. However, the following week it gained enough points to return to the top 10, returning it to the chart for a 53rd week.

In 2013, Billboard named "Uprising" number one in its 25th-anniversary list of the top 100 songs to enter the chart. It was ranked number three on an updated version of the list in 2023, after the success of All Time Low's "Monsters" and Lovelytheband's "Broken" in the late 2010s and early 2020s.

Bellamy expressed discomfort that "Uprising" was used in YouTube videos advocating for conspiracy theories, saying "the conspiracy theory subculture has been hijacked by the right to try to take down people like Obama and put forward rightwing libertarianism". Muse refused requests from American politicians to use "Uprising" in their rallies.

Personnel

;Muse

• Matthew Bellamy – lead vocals, guitars, synthesisers, production
• Chris Wolstenholme – bass guitar, backing vocals, production
• Dominic Howard – drums, percussion, production ;Additional personnel
• Tom Kirk – handclaps, backing vocals
• Adrian Bushby – engineering, handclaps, backing vocals
• Paul Reeve – additional vocal production, handclaps, backing vocals

Track listing

7-inch

• Warner Bros. — WEA458

CD

• Warner Bros. — WEA458CD

Download

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

References

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