Annotations for Take a Bow

Lyric: And risk, you will risk
 You will risk all their lives and their souls
Annotation:
The leaders depicted in the song often take decisions to pursue their own interests, at the expense of the common people. There could also be an explicit criticism towards war, a topical issue in 2006 due to  Tony Blair’s endorsement on  Iraq war: the same topic will be faced  later in the album from a soldier’s perspective.  Tony Blair in 2005. The lyric “and their souls” plays an important role, showing that not only peoples lives are endangered by the decisions of the elite, but they are also corrupting peoples minds by spreading lies, a recurrent theme in  Black Holes and Revelations.

Lyric: Corrupt, you corrupt
 And bring corruption to all that you touch
Annotation:
The leader Bellamy is talking can’t even touch something without making it corrupt as well: it’s a spin on the  Midas touch, but instead of turning everything to gold, this person corrupts everything and everyone. The term  corruption refers primarily to illegal or immoral behavior involving someone in a position of power, but seems to extend its meaning to contamination and damage through touch.

Lyric: What we’ve become
 Is contrary to what we want
Annotation:
The protagonist’s homeland (most likely Bellamy’s home, the UK) has been corrupted by this leader such that the nation itself is turning into everything its people hate. Given the likely relationship of the song to  Tony Blair and the  Iraq War, this may relate specifically to the British public’s adamant opposition to the conflict, and the Prime Minister’s refusal to back down. The link between these lines and the previous one seems to lie in the potential discrepancy between people’s will and the Government’s actions in representative systems.

Lyric: Pay, you must pay
 You must pay for your crimes against the earth
Annotation:
The figure will not easily get away from the conveniences of their wide-reaching actions, no matter the ‘collateral damage’ to populations and the environment. The expression “crimes against the Earth” could refer to pollution and environmental exploitation more than war crimes, deviating a bit from the main topic and anticipating concepts the band will explore in their sixth studio album  The 2nd Law.

Lyric: And Hex, feed the Hex
 Feed the Hex on the country you love
Annotation:
The ‘hex’ is most likely a similar reference to the ‘spell’ in the second stanza. The use of the term ‘love’ could be sarcastic, as those in power are more interested in themselves and their standing rather than the well-being of the nation they lead. This is shown by the fact that they would be willing to  curse such a country with their hex.

Lyric: Death, you bring death
 And destruction to all that you touch
Annotation:
Wars, pollution and misinformation can kill many people (as well as wildlife). Such tragedies are usually pursued by a tiny minority holding the power, i.e. the antagonists addressed in the song. The expression “death / And destruction” may be a reference to the speech Tony Blair gave at G8 on the day of the 7/7 London terror attacks: https://youtu.be/xHJL2bL1UgQ?t=3m32s Our determination to defend our values and our way of life is greater than their determination to cause death and destruction to innocent people in a desire to impose extremism on the world.

Lyric: Take a bow
Annotation:
This is said satirically. Normally one would tell another to “take a bow” after performing a difficult or impressive task, or achieving some level of success somehow. Since it’s referring to the antagonists of the song, he’s basically saying those in power are proud of their atrocities. Moreover, performers usually take a bow when they’re done. The singer could be asking them to “bow out” in a sardonic way. There could also be a double entendre, with the expression ‘take a bow’ used as an encouragement to literally  take weapons against their own leader.

Lyric: Ooh, and our freedom’s consuming itself
Annotation:
According to Matt, the freedom given to the people in democracies is the reason why those in power are able to do what they’re doing, meaning they’ve been using  their freedom to take away  ours (i.e. “consuming itself”): while good in principle, democracy allows people to be victims of propaganda and to be conditioned by ruthless leaders looking only for power. This is how they are elected, and once they’re there, it’s hard to remove them from power. The same concept will be recalled in  “Assassin”: Destroy demonocracy In a more general interpretation, this line is talking about how the freedom we have as humanity is “consuming itself” because of our own actions against the planet, e.g. pollution (also connected with the line “You must pay for your crimes against the Earth”). The fact that we had the freedom to do whatever we wanted as a species on Earth led to the fact that now the irresponsable use that we’ve made of that freedom is limiting that same freedom.

Lyric: And spell, cast a spell
 And cast a spell on the country you run
Annotation:
Being a recurring theme in Bellamy’s music, his interest in conspiracy theories suggests he is talking about the MK-Ultra mind control program some believe to be affecting the general population. It could also be referring the heavy influence those in power have over the general population by manipulating the media. It could be said that spreading lies and disinformation to the masses could be “casting a spell” on them.

