Animals

As 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.

'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.'"

If 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.

Dude, 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.

This 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).

Animal 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.

The 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..

I 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.