lyrics project

Degrading
Artist: Muse
Song: Uprising
Album: The Resistance
Model: Ezzie
Location: Bath, North Somerset UK

I’ve long admired Muse. Not only because Matt Bellamy rocks out hard but because many of their songs remind me of mini-operatic productions. He can combine dark and light spectacularly meaning his creations carry atmosphere and fantastic storytelling capabilities. He then combines this with lyrics that are subversive and buck the modern trend of soft palpy mushiness. He seems to mean what he says and one of the most powerful of their songs is Uprising. He reminds me of late ‘70’s punk with his anti-establishment anger/vitriol and obviously, this resonates well with me. He also manages to do this in a clever way.

I’ve seen Muse live many times now and their arena/stadium shows are incredible. They assault all your senses at once and yet remain captivating with music at the core. Bellamy’s vocal is harmonic and angelic and sits somehow comfortably on top of the sometimes extremely hardcore background. He remains to me, one of the best guitarists in the world and like all true genius’, makes everything seem annoyingly effortless.

Uprising hits home personally, it takes me back to my rebellious core and makes me smile, hope and wish ideologies could work. The song is about ‘them’, the system, the government, the corporate whores. It’s about abuse of power and our right and strength to take it back. To not follow like sheep, to rebel, fight and reclaim our minds. Lines like “Rise up and take the power back, it’s time the fat cats had a heart attack, you know that their time’s coming to an end, we have to unify and watch our flag ascend” are extremely subversive. The chorus should be a mantra for every human being in the modern world. “They will not force us, they will stop degrading us, they will not control us, we will be victorious!” I imagine a huge peaceful army of the UK populace singing this and not playing the game, not going to work, grinding the country to a standstill and everyone living in a peaceful utopia.

The image was shot on a weekday afternoon in Bath. I chose Bath as it’s a symbol to me of everything capitalism signifies. Greed, wealth and decadence. Snobbery and over indulgence that exists alongside poverty, misery and hardship. A huge false façade papering over enormous cracks. When I told Ezzie about my plans for this shoot she simply said, “That’s mine, don’t you dare shoot that with anyone else”. She was right, she was perfect. She’d never been such an exhibitionist before and never previously done anything like it. We felt ‘naughty’ shooting it and created the image hastily before crawling appropriately underground and into a nearby bar for a well-earned beer! Ezzie’s pose and stance still delight me, the placard was deliberately vague as her resoluteness could speak for a thousand causes, especially women’s rights. Go Ezzie and Go all of US!

Degrading
Artist: Muse
Song: Uprising
Album: The Resistance
Model: Ezzie
Location: Bath, North Somerset UK

I’ve long admired Muse. Not only because Matt Bellamy rocks out hard but because many of their songs remind me of mini-operatic productions. He can combine dark and light spectacularly meaning his creations carry atmosphere and fantastic storytelling capabilities. He then combines this with lyrics that are subversive and buck the modern trend of soft palpy mushiness. He seems to mean what he says and one of the most powerful of their songs is Uprising. He reminds me of late ‘70’s punk with his anti-establishment anger/vitriol and obviously, this resonates well with me. He also manages to do this in a clever way.

I’ve seen Muse live many times now and their arena/stadium shows are incredible. They assault all your senses at once and yet remain captivating with music at the core. Bellamy’s vocal is harmonic and angelic and sits somehow comfortably on top of the sometimes extremely hardcore background. He remains to me, one of the best guitarists in the world and like all true genius’, makes everything seem annoyingly effortless.

Uprising hits home personally, it takes me back to my rebellious core and makes me smile, hope and wish ideologies could work. The song is about ‘them’, the system, the government, the corporate whores. It’s about abuse of power and our right and strength to take it back. To not follow like sheep, to rebel, fight and reclaim our minds. Lines like “Rise up and take the power back, it’s time the fat cats had a heart attack, you know that their time’s coming to an end, we have to unify and watch our flag ascend” are extremely subversive. The chorus should be a mantra for every human being in the modern world. “They will not force us, they will stop degrading us, they will not control us, we will be victorious!” I imagine a huge peaceful army of the UK populace singing this and not playing the game, not going to work, grinding the country to a standstill and everyone living in a peaceful utopia.

The image was shot on a weekday afternoon in Bath. I chose Bath as it’s a symbol to me of everything capitalism signifies. Greed, wealth and decadence. Snobbery and over indulgence that exists alongside poverty, misery and hardship. A huge false façade papering over enormous cracks. When I told Ezzie about my plans for this shoot she simply said, “That’s mine, don’t you dare shoot that with anyone else”. She was right, she was perfect. She’d never been such an exhibitionist before and never previously done anything like it. We felt ‘naughty’ shooting it and created the image hastily before crawling appropriately underground and into a nearby bar for a well-earned beer! Ezzie’s pose and stance still delight me, the placard was deliberately vague as her resoluteness could speak for a thousand causes, especially women’s rights. Go Ezzie and Go all of US!