"Survival" is a song by the English rock band Muse. The track is the first single from the band's sixth studio album, '' The 2nd Law''. "Survival" served as the official theme song of the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

held in London, United Kingdom and was released following its premiere on BBC Radio 1.

Background and writing

In 2011, Matthew Bellamy was asked to compose a song for the London 2012 Olympics. According to him, the project then "went away," though a song was written regardless. Bellamy and his fellow band members brought the song to Olympic staff, who "said they'd love to use it as the official tune." The track, Bellamy noted, "expresses a sense of conviction and determination to win." "Survival" was played as the athletes entered the stadium and in the period before medal ceremonies; international broadcasters played it while reporting on the Games. In addition, the song was included on the album ''London 2012 Rock The Games''. The song was also premièred live during Muse's live set for the London 2012 closing ceremony. However NBC, the channel that broadcasts the Olympics in the US, did not broadcast their set.

Release

"Survival" premiered on BBC Radio 1 on 27 June 2012. It was the first single from the band's 2012 album '' The 2nd Law'', released in October. The official music video was released on 4 July 2012. It showed a montage of past Olympic events, including both celebratory and disappointing experiences for certain athletes.

Reception

"Survival" received mixed reviews from fans and critics alike. The Associated Press called the song "a thundering rock anthem". '' NME'' columnist Mark Beaumont was perturbed that the band's latest track was "assimilated into something as annoying" as the Olympics. He continued that "'Survival' might be amongst the most ear-scorchingly, arse-burstingly, aneurysm-inducingly brilliant songs in Muse’s canon, but it’ll forever be deemed corny by its association with one long-past sporting event." Adam Boult of '' The Guardian'' referred to the track as "a hilarious five-minute onslaught of camp, falling somewhere between Queen,

Gloria Gaynor Gloria Gaynor ( née Fowles; born September 7, 1943) is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits "I Will Survive" (1978), " Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (1979), " I Am What I Am" (1983), and her version of "Never Can Say Goodbye" ( ...

and a

Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...

sketch. Swelling strings, battle drums, ludicrous falsetto shrieking and chugga-chugga guitar channelling the '' Little Engine That Could''. It's as insanely overblown as the Olympics themselves." Meanwhile, Jon Holmes of BBC Radio 4's '' The Now Show'' described it as an "Epically proportioned cacophony of enormous noise" that was like "the sound of an orchestra falling down some stairs" created by "throwing a hand-grenade into a music cupboard and recording the results". He depicted the drumkit as like "the noise of a rhino knocking a wall down" and memorably stated that "This is the song I want to hear when the world ends". The Now Show: A Week of Splits, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 2012-07-06

Track listing

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2012 singles 2012 Summer Olympics Muse (band) songs Rock ballads Olympic theme songs Summer Olympic official songs and anthems 2012 songs Songs written by Matt Bellamy Warner Records singles