You and me are the same
We don't know or care who's to blame
But we know that whoever holds the reins
Nothing will change
Our cause has gone insane
And these wars, they can't be won
And these wars, they can't be won
And do you want them to go on
And on and on
Why split these states
When there can be only one?
And must we do as we're told?
Must we do as we're told?
You and me fall in line
To be punished for unproven crimes!
And we know that there is no one we can trust;
Our ancient heroes, they are turning to dust!
And these wars, they can't be won
Does anyone know or care how they begun?
They just promise to go on
And on and on
But soon we will see
There can be only one
United States!
United States!
Of
Eurasia!
Sia!
Sia!
Sia!
Eurasia!
Sia!
Sia!
Sia!
Eurasia!
Sia!
Sia!
Sia!
We don't know or care who's to blame
But we know that whoever holds the reins
Nothing will change
Our cause has gone insane
And these wars, they can't be won
And these wars, they can't be won
And do you want them to go on
And on and on
Why split these states
When there can be only one?
And must we do as we're told?
Must we do as we're told?
You and me fall in line
To be punished for unproven crimes!
And we know that there is no one we can trust;
Our ancient heroes, they are turning to dust!
And these wars, they can't be won
Does anyone know or care how they begun?
They just promise to go on
And on and on
But soon we will see
There can be only one
United States!
United States!
Of
Eurasia!
Sia!
Sia!
Sia!
Eurasia!
Sia!
Sia!
Sia!
Eurasia!
Sia!
Sia!
Sia!
Lyrics submitted by dustispretty, edited by Mellow_Harsher
"United States of Eurasia/Collateral Damage" as written by Matthew James Bellamy Matt Bellamy
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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The components of this song are absolutely brilliant. They heavily visited Queen in the song, made the instrumental section Arabic, and in the end added a stunning arrangement of one of Chopin's Nocturnes accompanied with background noises of children and jet airplanes. I believe they incorporated these three elements to symbolically fuse three different cultures together. Queen from the USA, Chopin from Europe, and Arabian style music from the middle east.
I also believe that this song is inspired from the book 1984. Does anyone think likewise?
Other than that, the main message of this song is saying regardless of the trivial disputes of countries, we should all work together for the greater purpose of mankind.
So, a view from one of the other countries created in the book?
Matthew Bellamy said that it's a 1984 reference?
You and me fall in line
to be punished for unproven crimes
and we know there is no one we can trust
our ancient heroes; they are turning to dust
...
They just promise to go on, and on, and on
but soon we will see there can only be one
United States!
United States! of
Eura-SIA! SIA! SIA! SIA!
Eura-SIA! SIA! SIA! SIA!
Eura-SIA! SIA! SIA! SIA!
There's going to be a complete change of everything we know now in the world where people who oppose are "punished for unproven crimes". The heroes (or founding fathers) have already begun to be turned to dust by those who teach the history of them. The heroes are also printed on American currency which isn't worth much anymore.
"United States of Eurasia" refers to a book called "The Grand Chessboard" by a man called Zbigniew Brzezinski, a former United States National Security Advisor.
In the book, Brzezinski claims that if the countries of Europe and Asia were to ever unify into a super-continent, the USA would no longer be the dominant world superpower and there would be a massive war.
The United States of Eurasia would be a huge threat to America, so it is in the President's best interest to allow/encourage warfare between Eurasian countries, to prevent the continents from ever unifying.
This song is about how there will be endless war in Eurasia, allowed/propagated by the US President.
Logical, plausible, probable. Why is Obama prolonging conflict in the M.E by sending more troops into Afghanistan while at the same time pulling out of Iraq to let them sort it all out (wont happen)?
It all seems quite peculiar to me...
And, of course, it could also reference 1984, with Eurasia being, well, Europe and Asia, excluding Britain, Ireland, and Eastern Asia.
"You and me are the same
we don't know or care whose to blame
but we know that whoever holds the reins
nothing will change; our cause has gone insane"
The book mainly focuses on the journey of Winston Smith who belongs to the Outer Party of the super state, Oceania (which is at war with Eastasia and/or Eurasia). The Inner Party and Outer Party are the minority of the population (with the proletariat (proles) being the majority). Most, if not the whole, of the population are kept in the dark of the real happenings outside Oceania. They are fed news (which is subject to change at any time) and fed lies. They aren't informed, let alone interested in causes of the war against Eastasia and/or Eurasia.
"and these wars; they can't be won
and these wars; they can't be won
and do you want them to go on, and on, and on?
Why split these states when there can be only one?"
The wars between the superpowers are perpetual as a means of controlling the populations with fear and also a means of bringing the population together to work as a whole. The war is also used as an excuse to use up resources and products that the Outer Party/Proles make keeping them in poverty.
"And must we do as we're told?
And must we do as we're told?"
In the novel Winston Smith grows thoughts of discontent against the Party and questions their authority.
"You and me fall in line
to be punished for unproven crimes
and we know there is no one we can trust
our ancient heroes; they are turning to dust"
All members of the party are kept in order by fear. The novel also tells of a tightly regimented force called the Thought Police who identify and bring in anyone they suspect of thinking, acting and planning against the party. They are then taken to the Ministry of Love where they are tortured and interrogated until they confess what they have done - even if they've not done anything. Evidence is forged to support the case against them. With the presence of the Thought Police, Winston fears speaking aloud to anyone his thoughts against the party in fear they might be a member of the Thought Police or might report them to the Though Police.
As News is subject to change, so is history. "Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." Their old and new heroes are turned to dust as history is burnt to dust in the incinerator and history is rewritten.
I hope this song encourges all of you to read the book, it's wonderful.
at least look the audiobook up on youtube.
And the rendition of Nocturne No. 2 (my wedding song) just puts the icing on the cake.
The whole lyrical play on 'United States', makes it obvious to me that the empire that is being talked of is the USA, being replaced by an empire spanning the Eurasian continent, namely Europe, the Russian states, ( former USSR), and China.
This song is one of the many that speak of a dystopian future, and also point out that our present isn't much better, wars leading to more wars, mistakes of the past forgotten about and repeated, repression of personal freedoms, it's all in there.
As a young man, Beethoven always won the women my age over, now in my (early) 40s, Chopin is the way to their hearts...
I love the lyric, you and me fall in line to be punished for unproven crimes. People will almost always believe what propaganda is thrown in front of them by their own country and then when it's revealed they were wrong it's ultimately the people who must pay the price for their leaders' mistakes.