Muse – Animals

Song MeaningAs with all things, Muse, there is a deeper meaning than the surface, and usually related to the New World Order. If you are unaware of what this means, it's related to a group of powerful men who met on Jeckyl Island, Georgia in 1913 and established a powerful organization bent on economic dictatorship of the world.

In the first verse, they are calling out the various individuals who are part of the New World Order elite - bankers, stock market analysts, business executives, and corporate heads. They are calling them animals for being out of control and striking at those who are weak and poor. They describe how they function - to analyze people, advertise to them, and expand their operations to seize even more power. They hint in "bend more rules" at the infiltration of corporations into our governments across the world. And in "buy yourself an island" they are pointing out the incredible wealth and hypocrisy of the elites - who will make millions homeless to provide themselves a haven of opulent safety.

The second verse jumps into the head of the elites by invoking "We" - and hinting perhaps at our own responsibility to some degree because we don't act against them. The "blood on the streets" is a reference to Wall Street and the Stock Market, responsible for widespread grief across the planet - and how they are parasitic creatures who will even (in some cases) prey on one another in the means of profit.

The last verse is telling the elites to do the world a favor and just kill themselves.

• 2 Replies Log in to reply
  
    There was an error.

  @antiklaus
  -1

  Jeckyl Island...yes the place where the US government helped assure that it would never go bankrupt. If you want to change this, then become rich and gain influence. It is hard, but back then there is the fact that all of those men that met there were poor at one time and changed that themselves.
  
  I know the US government will go bankrupt with the policies we have today, and they do make terrible decisions and don't look for the obvious signs, but this is a different situation now then it was back then. If those people don't meet on Jeckly Island, we probably aren't the world power with the world reserves currency (USA).
  
  Like I said, learn to exploit the ignorance of the government, and it will make you a rich man. Or sit back and complain and become poor, it makes no difference to anyone but YOURSELF!

  Flagged joedirte21on March 22, 2013  

  0

  great analysis man. Spot on

  Flag rafae15on May 01, 2014  

My Interpretation'Animals' is about economies collapsing under the weight of stock market savagery, of industries desperate to "advertise, franchise… kill the competition," and of the greed of bankers who Matt claims should "kill [themselves]." Matt says: "This song is conjuring up the rawest form of that feeling of 'look what humans are capable of doing, it's shocking.'"

• 2 Replies Log in to reply
  
    There was an error.

  @bckyltylr
  -1

  Well I hate to say it, Muse (and Matt) is ignorant as to what these systems have provided us and can provide us, especially in times of distress. You can become rich in a collapsing market....

  Flag joedirte21on March 22, 2013  

  +1

  @joedirte21 I think that's partly the point. The vultures become rich in a collapsing market where so many others suffer losing jobs etc. For every winner there's a loser.

  Flag robertfnwon August 10, 2016  

My InterpretationDude, listen to the very end of the song. That's not an angry mob. That's Wall Street or something similar to it. Definitely about the economy and the bosses.

• 1 Reply Log in to reply
  
    There was an error.

  @timboned
  0

  It is one of the pits at CME or NYME or LME. That horn at the end is how they signal the day trading is over. This is a very uncommon form of trading these days because almost everything is done by electronics.

  Flag joedirte21on March 22, 2013  

My InterpretationIf you have seen the Music Video winner for Animals, you would see what the song is about. It is about how the people in charge take and take from the lower people, looking at them like they are just money making machines to get out of debt that they have made.
When that stops working, they turn on each other, until nothing is left.

• No Replies Log in to reply
  
    There was an error.

  @fillip1753

My InterpretationThis is a song very much a big ol' fuck you to Ayn Rand, hahaha. It's a very subtle joke, too -- we, as humans, are all scientifically and literally animals, and the lyrics poke fun at people who take that to heart, people who believe we are no different than the savage natural world around us. Bellamy is pointing out that it's a system full of exploitation and murder and brutality, and humans, with sentience and intelligence, are meant to be above that and not stoop to that level.

And, of course, this is overall a fuck you to corrupt corporations, specifically Wall Street, etc ("buy when there's blood on the streets"; the sound of a riot at the end, perhaps a call back to the Occupy movement).

• No Replies Log in to reply
  
    There was an error.

  @ghostyyy

My InterpretationThe lines "Buy yourself an island and buy yourself an ocean." are interesting to me. This is probably a reference to billionaire business men like Peter Thiel's idea of building autonomous libertarian islands in the ocean to run his PayPal operations from. An idea that can only end badly for everyone involved, except Thiel himself..

• No Replies Log in to reply
  
    There was an error.

  @aj999

Lyric CorrectionAnimal
You’re an animal,
Don’t take anything less.

Out of control.
You’re out of control,
Strike those in distress.

Analyse
Advertise
Expand
Bend more rules,
Buy yourself an island.

Animals
We’re animals,
Buy when blood is on the street.

Out of control.
We’re out of control,
Crush those who beg at your feet.
Analyse
Franchise
Spread out
Kill the competition,
And buy yourself an ocean.

Amortise
Downsize
Lay off
Kill yourself,
Come on and do us all a favour.

• No Replies Log in to reply
  
    There was an error.

  @bckyltylr

General CommentI like Muse, but this song is kind of dumb. I mean these people are choosing to trade and make a living for themselves. Anyone can do it, its just like being a pro athlete. The world is full of exploits that are there to be taken advantage of. If you don't, someone else will, so don't complain about it get off your lazy ass and do something about it.

Besides "open outcry" trading in the pits is almost non-existent these days thanks to online trading. It is crazy like that because it has to be, everyone wants to be heard. No one there is getting taken "advantage" of unless they get conned by someone who the next time they see they can do something about the issue.

A lot of the financial systems are in place to help us become a better world. If you don't believe me go look at Japan. They don't use are style of financial markets and their recessions last 20-30 YEARS! Ours only last, what, 3 years or so?

Now if we are talking about just the CEO's of the big banks, those who screwed the world over on the bail outs then yes I agree with this. But, this song is not just about those guys, it is about all of wall street. And in that sense Muse is ignorant. Don't get me wrong I like their music, but this song irks me because it is downright wrong.

• 2 Replies Log in to reply
  
    There was an error.

  @joedirte21
  0

  I'm sorry what I meant by "being a pro athlete" is that it does take a lot of endurance and stamina to do the trading all day. Anyone can do it, but only smart deal makers will survive.

  Flag joedirte21on March 22, 2013  

  +1

  I think you'll find Matt Bellamy is extremely well educated in the topics he writes about. Just because his opinion differs from yours doesn't necessarily mean he is ignorant.

  Flag LaylaCrowon May 14, 2013