"Citizen Erased" is a song by English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

. It is the sixth track on their second studio album, ''

Origin of Symmetry ''Origin of Symmetry'' is the second studio album by the English rock band Muse, released on 18 June 2001 through Taste Media. It was produced by John Leckie, who produced Muse's debut album, '' Showbiz'' (1999), and David Bottrill. ''Origin o ...

'' (2001). Written by singer and guitarist

Matt Bellamy Matthew James Bellamy (born 9 June 1978) is an English singer, songwriter and producer. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist, and lyricist for the English rock band Muse. He is recognised for his eccentric stage persona, wide tenor vocal ...

, it is a grandiose, multi-section

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

and

space rock Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drummin ...

song that serves as the centrepiece of ''Origin of Symmetry''. Despite having not been released as a single at first, it charted at No. 122 on the UK Singles Chart in 2007 and became a fan favourite. It was later given a new mix as part of ''Origin of Symmetry: XX Anniversary RemiXX'' in 2021 and was released as that album's lead single.

Recording and composition

"Citizen Erased" was written by singer and guitarist

, produced by

John Leckie John William Leckie (born 23 October 1949) is an English record producer and recording engineer. His production credits include Magazine's ''Real Life'' (1978); XTC's '' White Music'' (1978); Dukes of Stratosphear's '' 25 O'Clock'' and the F ...

and Muse, and has a total runtime of 7 minutes and 21 seconds, making it one of the longest songs in Muse's discography. It was primarily recorded at

Real World Studios Real World Studios is a residential recording studio complex founded by Peter Gabriel and situated in the old Box Mill building in the village of Box, Wiltshire, England, near to the city of Bath. It is closely associated with the Real World R ...

Box, Wiltshire Box is a large village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Wiltshire, England, about west of Corsham and northeast of Bath, Somerset, Bath. Box also falls in the easternmost pa ...

. Musically, it has been described as

and

. The sixth track on ''

'' (2001), it has been regarded as the album's centrepiece. It features a multi-section arrangement that includes "twinkly, emotive

arpeggio An arpeggio () is a type of Chord (music), chord in which the Musical note, notes that compose a chord are individually sounded in a progressive rising or descending order. Arpeggios on keyboard instruments may be called rolled chords. Arpe ...

s", as described by '' Guitar.com''. The song was built around a

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

-inspired drum beat developed by

Dominic Howard Dominic James Howard (born 7 December 1977) is an English musician who is the drummer and co-founder of the rock band Muse. Early life Howard was born in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. When he was around 8 years old he moved with hi ...

Chris Wolstenholme Christopher Tony Wolstenholme (born 2 December 1978) is an English musician. He is the bassist and backing vocalist for the rock band Muse. He combines bass guitar with effects and synthesisers to create overdriven fuzz bass tones, a motif of ...

began playing to Howard's beat on bass guitar and Bellamy soon applied a chord structure, which resulted in the backbone of "Citizen Erased" being formed. Bellamy used a seven-string Manson guitar on the track, tuned to drop A tuning in standard variation. "Citizen Erased" was the first Muse song to feature a seven-string guitar; this was also the first Manson guitar to be purchased by Bellamy, who would later own a majority stake in the company. Bellamy also used a Z.Vex Fuzz Factory pedal on the track. Because of how long the heavier sections of the initial song lasted, the band decided to "add another song to the end of it"; this turned out to be the piano-led coda that closes out the track. A

string section The string section of an orchestra is composed of bowed instruments belonging to the violin family. It normally consists of first and second violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. It is the most numerous group in the standard orchestra. In ...

was recorded at

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...

for the song's coda, but was not made audible in the song's original mix and instead was filtered out by a droning phaser effect. When ''Origin of Symmetry'' was being remixed for its 20th anniversary in 2021, the string section was made audible. Chromatic arpeggios that were quieter in the original mix were also given a cleaner tone and made louder. Discussing the lyrics of the song, Bellamy described the song as "an expression of what it feels like to be questioned". He was influenced by the frequency of which he was asked by others for his thoughts on human purpose. He went on to say that "I don't really have the answers and I have to respond on the knowledge I have obtained so far, but the problem is that it gets printed, and something else has come along that's made you completely disagree with what you said". Al Horner of ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' described the lyrics as being about "forgetting what's gone before and exploring new worlds uninhibited and 'open-minded' – the way Bellamy attests we used to before being corrupted by our leaders." He adds that the lyrics potentially reference

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

's 1949 dystopian novel ''

Nineteen Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also published as ''1984'') is a dystopian novel and cautionary tale by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final completed book. Thematically ...

'', where individuals are similarly "erased" and deeply affected by

totalitarianism Totalitarianism is a political system and a form of government that prohibits opposition from political parties, disregards and outlaws the political claims of individual and group opposition to the state, and completely controls the public s ...

Legacy

"Citizen Erased" was not released as a single from ''Origin of Symmetry''. Despite this, it became a fan favourite. In 2007, "Citizen Erased" entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 122, holding that position for one week before falling out of the chart. Muse created a spiritual successor to the song in the form of the ten-minute-long "

The Globalist ''The Globalist'' is a daily online magazine that "focuses on the economics, politics and culture"The Globalist: About U ...

", the eleventh track on their seventh studio album, '' Drones'' (2015). When ''Origin of Symmetry: XX Anniversary RemiXX'' was announced in 2021, "Citizen Erased" was released as the lead single from the remixed album.

Personnel

Personnel adapted from ''

'' liner notes.

– vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards, string arrangements *

– drums *

– bass guitar Additional musicians *Clare Finnimore – viola *Sara Herbert – violin *

Caroline Lavelle Caroline Lavelle is an English singer-songwriter and Cello, cellist who has created three solo albums and contributed vocals, music, and production help to many other artists and bands. Career Lavelle studied at the Royal College of Music in L ...

– cello *Jacqueline Norrie – violin Technical personnel *Chris Brown – additional engineering, programming *John Cornfield – mixing *

– production, engineering *Claire Lewis – assistant engineering *Ric Peet – engineering *

Ray Staff Ray Staff is a British mastering engineer, best known for his work with a diverse mix of artists including Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Clash and Black Sabbath. Most recently he has mastered albums for Muse. Biography and career Joini ...

– mastering *Mirek Styles – assistant engineer

Chart performance

References

{{Muse 2001 songs Muse (band) songs Songs written by Matt Bellamy Song recordings produced by John Leckie