The album Showbiz is Muse’s 1999 Debut album. The band could have made a album that was palatable and easy for listeners to attract to but instead they made a statement with each song. I will be explaining my take on each song in order.
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Sunburn
This song opens with “Come waste your millions here” already establishing entertainment as a theme. This is then followed by words like “sneers” which suggests a darker side to this innocent entertainment and “corporate” which ties this into the entertainment industry specifically. The song then proceeds on with a extreme theme of guilt such as “I’ll hide from the world behind a broken frame” and “guilty conscience grow” these both show how indulging in whatever was first brought up in the beginning has made them shameful.
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Muscle Museum
If you were to look up Muse in the dictionary then Muscle and museum would come before and after it, which is how it gets its title. This song is one of the most subtle of all the songs in the album. The lyrics talk about people not facing they’re inner feelings. the music video shows people doing normal day things such as brushing their teeth or eating, except they are ugly crying as they do them. This also contributes to how everyone feels these emotions no matter how boring the life.
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Fillip
This song has a very debated meaning but i personally see it as a uplifting song. I see as a song about readying for big things and chasing the memories of life instead of the worries.
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Falling Down
This song definitely is about growing up in a small town, the singer references how the place he’s looking for isn’t the small “five thousand houses” town. Even if the town is not remarkable he still wont forget it even though he’s “heading straight for the clouds
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Cave
Inspired by Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus by John Gray, Cave has almost the same theme as the book its inspired by. Cave describes how men retreat into themselves when in distress, using lines like “Leave me alone, it’s nothing Serious” and “please close your ears and try to look away” show how they hide they’re emotions. Other lines like “I’ll do it myself, it’s got nothing to do with you” and “ don’t ever come my way” draw out how men try to do things by themselves without help.
Wow, I remember hearing you listening to these in the dorm!! I love how deeply you analyzed them, makes me want to listen to them more lowkey- lol give me some recommendations
This is a really nice introspective into the album, I’ll definitely try listening to them!! I’m excited to hear more of your takes in Pt. 2 of this blog!!