Annotations for Animals

Lyric: [Instrumental Outro]
Annotation:
The outro ends the song by exploding instrumentally after expressing Bellamy’s explicit wish for the “pigs” to commit suicide. After the guitar ceases, the sound of the Wall Street opening its day, with people screaming  like crazy animals in order to sell, sell and only sell. In an  interview for the BBC, Dom stated: We added the sound of Wall Street traders screaming right before the bell goes. It’s pretty dark how lost in it these people are getting… they sound like a bunch of animals. During the 2013 summer tour in the stadiums, as seen in  Rome Olympic Stadium live recordings, Muse played this song right before “Knights of Cydonia”. During the song, a very angry white man shows up on stage, throwing “Musos” (Muse’s fake money) towards the crowd. At the beginning of the guitar solo, the stage is covered with Musos all around and the white man gets confused where to run to. He ends up having a stroke in the middle of the stage and gets covered in Musos, while  Chris runs close to him and starts to play  “Man with a Harmonica” by Ennio Morricone, both mourning the dead “pig” and introducing the Western movie sounds of “Knights of Cydonia”. https://youtu.be/PQdBUEXxCoo?t=22m44s

Lyric: Analyse, franchise, spread out
Annotation:
As animals out for the almighty dollar, this is how they do it: To make money, they prey on popularity and necessity Once they get a lot of money, they become a flagship name Then they branch out to make even more money!

Lyric: Amortise, downsize, lay off
Annotation:
It’s All About ProfitPoliticians give tax cuts to people whom they support.  Businessmen, likewise, lay off and fire all unnecessary workers, even if that means costing someone their livelihood and the support of their families.  It’s all about cutting costs and increasing the amount of money coming in while reducing the amount going out.

Lyric: Analyse, advertise, expand
Annotation:
A World for Individual InterestsPoliticians, like heartless businessmen, evaluate the situation, treating people like checkboxes on ballot forms.   They advertise to persuade people to check their box instead of their opponents, wasting millions of dollars that could otherwise be spent improving the country.   Expansion is all they care about, not the satisfaction of the country as a whole. The salesmen in  Glengarry Glen Ross are also taught to force purchases on reluctant buyers when they call cold leads.  Their sights are only set on the good that money and business will do for them, not the performance and happiness rating of the customer buying the property.

Lyric: Kill the competition and buy yourself an ocean
Annotation:
Dog Eat Dog WorldIn the capitalist society today, individualism conquers the necessities and priorities of the community as a whole.  In the pursuit of money, greedy businessmen use cutthroat tactics to reach their end goals.  Other people trying to make their way are shunned and pushed down.  It’s a  zero-sum game.  In David Mamet’s,  Glengarry Glen Ross, the characters have a sales competition in which first place is a new Cadillac El Dorado, but third place is being fired.  In order for the winner to get the new car, someone else has to lose his job.  Rather than oppose the system, all members at the office fight like piranhas for the prize.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVQPY4LlbJ4

Lyric: Kill yourself, come on and do us all a favour
Annotation:
Speaks for itself. Bellamy’s wish. Directed straight at the huge corporations that influence everything from public opinion to political interest.

Lyric: Out of control, we’re out of control
 Crush those who beg at your feet
Annotation:
Bellamy’s talking about how all these corrupt businessmen and politicians are out of control and really have the power to do whatever they please to benefit themselves. To get to the top, they’re merciless and will crush even the weak and powerless to get more money and power

Lyric: Animals, we’re animals
 Buy when blood is on the street
Annotation:
Bellamy is suggesting that we the average people are partly to blame for all this chaos because we continue to consume even when there are so many problems in the world. “Buy[ing] when blood is on the street” could be a reference to sale events that are treated as a holiday like Black Friday.  Another interpretation could be corporate exploitation of protest itself, the Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad being a notorious example. A financial interpretation is possible on top, and it’s related to investors buying low. When stocks/property/businesses are low (thus convenient), it’s likely due to economic downturn (i.e. when people are suffering and “blood is on the street”).

Lyric: Bend more rules and buy yourself an island
Annotation:
Capitalists exploit workers in any way they can. That includes bending rules made by regulations to protect workers. If a law says a company must give health insurance to employees working 40 hours, it could be bypassed by hiring part-time workers and make them work for 39 hours to not provide them the benefits they deserve, thereby maximizing personal profit. They then spend the money they gained through exploitation by means of excessive self-spending. Yachts, supercars, and even private islands are luxuries only a small élite can enjoy while the rest of us scramble to make ren.

Lyric: Strike those in distress
Annotation:
As animals prey on those who are vulnerable, Bellamy is insinuating that politicians, bankers, stock market analysts, business executives, and corporate heads continue to strike those who are weak and poor. They analyze people, advertise to them, and expand their operations to seize even more power, making millions homeless to provide themselves weath.

Lyric: Out of control, you’re out of control
Annotation:
Here Bellamy is telling the capitalists he is addressing that they are out of control – They have no limits to their brutality and their idiocy.

Lyric: Animal, you’re an animal
 Don’t take anything less
Annotation:
Referring directly to bankers and big businesses in this song; calling them out for their animalistic behavior, acting like savages, concerned only for themselves and making a quick buck. This also highlights our own biological/animalistic tendencies; serving to diminish any undue sense of superiority. Instead, we are united in fault and are encouraged to acknowledge our (often grim) instincts. There can also be a slight reference to  John Maynard Keynes‘ idea of the  Animal Spirits, meaning unconscious forces that move people’s material actions and contribute to the boom and bust cycle of capitalistic economy.

