Muse – Knights of Cydonia

"Knights of Cydonia" as written by and Matthew James Bellamy....
Come ride with me
Through the veins of history
I'll show you a God
Falls asleep on the job

And how can we win,
When fools can be kings
Don't waste your time
Or time will waste you

No one's going to take me alive
Time has come to make things right
You and I must fight for our rights
You and I must fight to survive

No one's going to take me alive
Time has come to make things right
You and I must fight for our rights
You and I must fight to survive

No one's going to take me alive
Time has come to make things right
You and I must fight for our rights
You and I must fight to survive


Lyrics submitted by Jayknight, edited by Caliginous, Grifsgames

"Knights of Cydonia" as written by Matthew James Bellamy Matt Bellamy

Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Knights of Cydonia song meanings
Add your thoughts

173 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +5
    General CommentTo quote someone else (a review of somekind):

    'Knights Of Cydonia - The soundtrack to some medieval space battle with an intergalactic cosmic knight galloping at a million light years per second on a star horse, slaying space demons with wild swipes from his atom powered nuclear lightsaber.'
    Twozzokon June 09, 2006   Link
  • +4
    General CommentDialectics is what this song is about
    Nobody teaches Dialects because rulers are scared of losing there power
    If everybody knew about Dialects there would be No Fools As Kings to begin with.
    BubblesBlisson March 26, 2012   Link
  • +4
    MemoryThat intro... I mean DAT INTRO.... just sends me back to when I was 4, sitting on our T-0 apartment in Maputo - Mozambique, watching my father playing air-guitar, while listening to Jethro Tull. Which song, I cannot remember. The only thing I remember was me saying: "Pai, Pai, toca a música dos cavalos outra vez" (Daddy, daddy, play the horse song again).

    Today, 30 years later, I have a special USB pen, with ONLY this song on my car and I created a batch file on my PC, so that every time I switch it on, the song is played and all my problems are AWESOMED away.

    MUSE - the next best thing, after QUEEN!
    ruiduraoon October 20, 2012   Link
    • 2 Replies
  • +3
    General CommentThe music video gives more clues to the meaning behind the song. It is in reference to 1981 — “Continuity of Government” or “REX84” was brought to light at the Oliver north trial (Iran Contra) and silenced by Daniel Ken "Dan" Inouye the now current President pro tempore of the United States Senate. He is second in line for presidential succession in the event both President and Vice are not able to carry out their duties. Readiness Exercise 1984, was a secretive "scenario and drill" developed by the United States federal government to suspend the United States Constitution, declare martial law, place military commanders in charge of state and local governments, and detain large numbers of American citizens who are deemed to be "national security threats", in the event that the President declares a "State of Domestic National Emergency". This plan was implemented at 09:59 on11 Sept 2001. The song title "Knights of Cydonia” is a reference to a region on the planet Mars known as Cydonia. Richard Charles Hoagland an American author and a proponent of various theories about NASA, lost alien civilizations on the Moon and on Mars and other related topics speculated that the Face of Cydonia was a Pyramid not unlike those found on earth and was possibly related. The woman being hung was a symbol of the truth of our origins and the intentional attempt to destroy that evidence by the institutional bureaucracy of our time. The statue of liberty half buried is the symbolic of the loss of our liberties after 1981. Cydonia - Pop: 143 is there blog. The Russian dolls represent the different levels of secrecy within government ie…a government within a government. The children throwing dung at the cowboy locked in the stockade symbolizes the corruption of our youth buy the media. The woman on the unicorn holding the CD represents and the kung fu master freedom of speech is our weapon and technology our medium. This whole song is riddled with cryptic innuendo. To sum it up, the song is about taking the power back from the shadow government that runs the world from behind closed doors.
    “Propaganda Due” - Masonic or "black" or "covert" lodge operating illegally from 1976 to 1981.
    aftermarketcrfon December 14, 2011   Link
  • +2
    General CommentCrazily good track! Muse sure know how to sell the drama. I dig the mix of the galloping hi-ho-silver feel with the whole classic overblown Muse space madness.

    Lyrics are awesome too - I take them as an encouragement to fight against mediocrity.
    Trashazonon June 08, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General CommentActually, I think the first lines go:

    come light with me
    for your (something) of history
    i'll show you the god falls asleep on the job

    And damn, the studio version has trumpets and HORSES.
    iwasastoneon June 08, 2006   Link
    • 2 Replies
  • +1
    General CommentSupermassive Black Hole is far away from the best song on the album... this might be the one... So powerful!
    I want to see Muse live *cryyyyyiiiiiing
    (They made me listen to other music than heavy-metal...God i love muse..)
    inteon June 22, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Commentthis song is another reflection on bellamey's intrest in the new world order conspiricy, here he speaks a message of people making their own decisions and fighting for their rights and liberation
    maximuspayne3on July 03, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General CommentIt just struck me... I've seen some the the theories as to the true meaning of this song... Some very interesting ideas... I don't know if someone has already mentioned the points i'm about to mention, but i think it sounds pretty logical...

    The title "Knights of Cydonia" itself is a huge clue... It seems to be a direct reference to the illuminati and freemasonry... Those who belong to these secret societies are ranked with different degrees... Some are given titles like the "Knight of Malta" or the "Knight of Eulogia"... So that's the "Knight" part... What about "Cydonia"? ... Well cydonia is a place on mars which is said to occupy pyramid like shaped objects on the surface... Pyramids are very closely linked with freemasonry... So i guess Matthew was just trying to be indirect, yet direct at the same time with his title...

    "When fools can be kings"... I loved that line!... I think it's a direct line referring to George Bush... A complete imbecile... How would someone like him became president? ... A few easy steps... One of which is, join the illuminati...

    Matthew seems to have written many songs about political conspiricies... I think the whole "resistance" album is based on the same foundation... Mk ultra is a classic example...

    The rest of the song is pretty simple and straightforward... Basically all he is saying is revolt!... Pretty much the same as Green Day's "Know your Enemy" track... We must fight to survive... Overthrow the government... At least mentally... Physically that may be impossible, or maybe not... But in reality, the governments have got every living creature in bonds and chains... We need liberation and right to freedom from this corrupt pyramid like scheme which only truly benefits those on top and not at the bottom... A world where child labour in china is supported by americ and even funded... Injustice has to end. But who can stop it?...
    StJimmy27on December 21, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General CommentIt just struck me... I've seen some the the theories as to the true meaning of this song... Some very interesting ideas... I don't know if someone has already mentioned the points i'm about to mention, but i think it sounds pretty logical...

    The title "Knights of Cydonia" itself is a huge clue... It seems to be a direct reference to the illuminati and freemasonry... Those who belong to these secret societies are ranked with different degrees... Some are given titles like the "Knight of Malta" or the "Knight of Eulogia"... So that's the "Knight" part... What about "Cydonia"? ... Well cydonia is a place on mars which is said to occupy pyramid like shaped objects on the surface... Pyramids are very closely linked with freemasonry... So i guess Matthew was just trying to be indirect, yet direct at the same time with his title...

    "When fools can be kings"... I loved that line!... I think it's a direct line referring to George Bush... A complete imbecile... How would someone like him became president? ... A few easy steps... One of which is, join the illuminati...

    Matthew seems to have written many songs about political conspiricies... I think the whole "resistance" album is based on the same foundation... Mk ultra is a classic example...

    The rest of the song is pretty simple and straightforward... Basically all he is saying is revolt!... Pretty much the same as Green Day's "Know your Enemy" track... We must fight to survive... Overthrow the government... At least mentally... Physically that may be impossible, or maybe not... But in reality, the governments have got every living creature in bonds and chains... We need liberation and right to freedom from this corrupt pyramid like scheme which only truly benefits those on top and not at the bottom... A world where child labour in china is supported by americ and even funded... Injustice has to end. But who can stop it?...
    StJimmy27on December 21, 2010   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

Back to top
explain