"Resistance" 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 ...

, featured as the title track on their fifth studio album '' The Resistance''. Written by vocalist, guitarist and pianist

Matthew 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 (band), Muse. He is recognised for his eccentric stage persona, wid ...

, it was released as the third

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from the album, following "

Uprising Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

" and "

Undisclosed Desires "Undisclosed Desires" (also known as "Undisclosed") is a song by English rock band Muse. It was released as the second single from their fifth studio album, '' The Resistance'', on 16 November 2009. The song was written by lead vocalist Matth ...

", on 22 February 2010. The song makes several references to the 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 ...

'', by

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 ...

. The intro of the song is used in the trailer of the last episode of BBC show ''

Silent Witness ''Silent Witness'' is a British crime drama television series produced by the BBC that focuses on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. The series was created by Nigel McCrery, a former murder squa ...

''. In February 2010, Muse had uploaded a picture puzzle of "Resistance" artwork on their official Facebook page. The puzzle itself has a making of the "Resistance" track (which will be able to see it after solving the puzzle). The song was featured in a promo for an episode of ''

Human Target The Human Target is the name of two characters in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first is Fred Venable, while the second is private investigator and bodyguard Christopher Chance who assumes the identities of clients targeted by a ...

''. The song was also released as downloadable content for the music video game '' Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock''.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for "Resistance" was directed by

Wayne Isham Wayne Isham (born December 2, 1958) is an American film director and music video director who has directed films and music videos of many popular artists. Early life and education Isham was born on December 2, 1958 in Vinita, Oklahoma. He at ...

and debuted on 14 January 2010. It features footage of the band's live performance of the song at the

Palacio de los Deportes Palacio de los Deportes () is an indoor arena located in Mexico City, Mexico. It is within the Magdalena Mixhuca Sports City complex, near the Mexico City International Airport and in front of the Estadio GNP Seguros, in which sports and arti ...

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

on 28 November 2009 during their

The Resistance Tour The Resistance Tour was a worldwide concert tour by English rock band Muse in support of their fifth studio album '' The Resistance''. The opening European leg began on 22 October 2009 and ended on 4 December 2009, comprising 30 shows. The secon ...

Reception

"Resistance" reached number 35 in the

Triple J Hottest 100, 2009 The 2009 Triple J's Hottest 100 Volume 17, was announced on January 26, 2010. It is the seventeenth countdown of the most popular songs of the year, as chosen by the listeners of Australian radio station Triple J. Voting commenced on Boxing ...

. On 22 February 2010, "Resistance" debuted at number 17 on the ''

Hot30 Countdown The ''Hot30 Countdown'' was an Australian radio show hosted by Mike Christian (MC) and Mel Greig. It was broadcast on the Today Network from the studios of 2Day FM in Sydney, New South Wales to every state and the Australian Capital Territo ...

''. On 26 March 2010, "Resistance" debuted at number 20 on the ''

VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown ''The 20'' (formerly known as the ''VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown'') is a weekly music video countdown television show that aired on the VH1 cable television network in the United States. The long-running show was first introduced in 1994 as ''VH1 T ...

'', peaking at number 9. The song was nominated at the

53rd Grammy Awards The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights pri ...

in two categories:

Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal The Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded between 1980 and 2011. The award was discontinued after the 2011 award season in a major overhaul of Grammy categories. Beginning in 2012, all solo or duo/group ...

and

Best Rock Song The Grammy Award for Best Rock Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rock music genre. Honors in several ...

. It lost in both categories to

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

's " Angry World", and

The Black Keys The Black Keys are an American Rock music, rock duo formed in Akron, Ohio in 2001. The group consists of Dan Auerbach (guitar, Singing, vocals) and Patrick Carney (Drum kit, drums). The duo began as an Independent music, independent act, record ...

' " Tighten Up", respectively. In 2011,

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n group 2Cellos covered this song as a cello duet. "Resistance" was played frequently in concert by Muse. The song was played at most shows during

, was played frequently during The 2nd Law Tour, and on rarer occasions during the Drones World Tour. A live version of "Resistance" was included on Live at Rome Olympic Stadium.

Track listing

Charts

Commercial performance

On 21 February 2010, "Resistance" entered the

UK Rock Chart The UK Rock & Metal Singles Chart and UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart are record charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company (OCC) to determine the 40 most popular singles and albums in the rock and heavy metal genres. Th ...

at number two. Following from its success on the Rock Chart, on 28 February 2010, the single entered the UK Singles Chart as a new entry at number 38, beating previous single: "

", which only peaked at number 49. "Resistance" is now the second Top 40 hit from ''The Resistance''. The same week resulted in "Resistance" climbing to the number one spot on the UK Rock Chart, as well. On the week of 20 March, it jumped from number six to number one on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Alternative Rock Chart and it became their second number one single on the chart along with their previous single "Uprising".

Weekly charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control Muse (band) songs 2010 singles 2009 songs 2000s ballads Rock ballads Songs written by Matt Bellamy Music based on Nineteen Eighty-Four Music videos directed by Wayne Isham