Starlight (song)

Infobox Single
Name = Starlight


Caption =
Artist = Muse
from Album = Black Holes & Revelations
B-side = "Easily"
Released = 4 September 2006
Format = 7", CD, DVD, download
Recorded =
Genre = Alternative rock
Progressive rock
Length = 3:59
Label = Helium 3, Warner Bros.
Producer = Rich Costey
Last single = "Supermassive Black Hole"
(June 2006)
This single = "Starlight"
(September 2006)
Next single = "Knights of Cydonia"
(November 2006)Extra tracklisting
Album = Black Holes & Revelations
Type = studio
prev_track = "Take a Bow"
prev_no = 1
this_track = "Starlight"
track_no = 2
next_track = "Supermassive Black Hole"
next_no = 3"Starlight" is a song by English alternative rock band Muse and is the second track on their 2006 album "Black Holes & Revelations". "Starlight" was the second single from "Black Holes & Revelations" and was released on 4 September 2006 in the United Kingdom.cite web|url=http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17634099&method=full&siteid=64736&headline=shock-muse-from-the-us--name_page.html|title=Shock Muse from the US|publisher=The Sunday Mail|accessdate=2007-08-21] The song peaked at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart. [cite web|title=Muse announce new single|year=2006-07-20|accessdate=2006-08-16|url=http://www.nme.com/news/muse/23673] It was also the second single from the album released in the United States, and became the band's highest-peaking single on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, reaching number 2.cite web|title=Artist Chart History - Muse|publisher=Billboard|url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.vnuArtistId=119054&model.vnuAlbumId=782126|accessdate=2006-12-28] The song was first played live during the Radio 1's Big Weekend festival in summer 2006. [ [http://www.nme.com/news/muse/23052 Muse make comeback at Radio 1 Big Weekend] . "NME". Retrieved on 22 August 2006.] Live, "Starlight" is usually played half a tone down from the key of B used on "Black Holes & Revelations".

Despite its simplicity, "Starlight" was the most difficult song to write on "Black Holes & Revelations". It underwent multiple recordings before the final version was produced.cite web|url=http://www.muselive.com/forums.php?m=posts&p=418389|title=Interview with Chris Wolstenholme|publisher=MuseLive|work=Tom Wilson, Lara Mathews|accessdate=2007-08-21]

Background, writing, and recording

"Starlight" was first written in the band's practice studio in late 2004. The song was influenced by American rock band The Strokes. Bassist Chris Wolstenholme said that it is "a love song about missing someone, friends, family, someone you love."cite web|url=http://www.vh1.com/artists/news/1542160/10022006/muse_uk_.jhtml|title=Muse Get Stuck At Sea — Without Unicorns — In 'Starlight' Clip|publisher=VH1|accessdate=2007-08-21] Lead singer Matthew Bellamy commented that he first wrote the song on a boat in bad weather.cite web|url=http://www.musewiki.org/index.php?title=Starlight_%28song%29&oldid=26841|title=Starlight (song)|publisher=MuseWiki|accessdate=2007-08-21]

In a separate interview with Tom Wilson and Lara Mathews, posted on MuseLive Forums, Wolstenholme was asked what he thought "was the hardest song on the album to record?" His response was "Starlight," stating it "was one of the songs we went around in circles with, and we recorded maybe six or seven different versions of it."

Music video

Muse worked with Paul Minor on Starlight's music video, which was filmed in Los Angeles. In the video, the band perform on the deck of a handysize bulk carrier. Band members are also carrying flares, in an attempt to "get rescued," but in the end this fails and they are abandoned. This relates to the song's lyrics, which mentions ships and abandonment.

Matthew Bellamy stated in an interview with The Sunday Mail that the band wanted to "create the idea of a band lost at sea because we see ourselves as being outside what's happening in the music scene." He also told the interviewer, Billy Sloan, that "it was an epic feeling playing on a huge platform with the sea all around us."

Critical reception

"Starlight" received mixed critical reviews, from various publishers.

NME's review was harshly critical of the song, with the reviewer stating that the song "is a tune so chart-hungry it's virtually dry-humping JK And Joel's legs." [cite web|url=http://www.nme.com/reviews/muse/8012|title=Reviews: Muse: Starlight|publisher=NME|accessdate=2007-08-26]

MusicOMH stated that the song was "a track perfectly at home on drivetime radio" while saying it "showcases another side to the band's music and their staggering breadth of appeal." [cite web|url=http://www.musicomh.com/singles/muse-6_0806.htm|title=Muse - Starlight: Track review|publisher=MusicOMH|work= [http://www.musicomh.com/michael-hubbard.htm Michael Hubbard] |accessdate=2007-08-26]

Meanwhile, Leeds Music Scene reviewer Maria Pinto-Fernandes gave "Starlight" a glowing review, with a score of 4.5 stars out of 5. In her review, she commented that "the band's musical arrangements on the track do not come into being just by accident." She also stated that the song was just as passionate when performed live as when heard on CD. [cite web|url=http://www.leedsmusicscene.net/article/7255/|title=Muse - Starlight - CD review|publisher=Leeds Music Scene|work= [http://www.leedsmusicscene.net/writer/maria+pinto-fernandes/ Maria Pinto-Fernandes] |accessdate=2007-08-27]

Chart performance

"Starlight" entered the UK Singles Chart the week of 3 September at number 38 via digital downloads. The following week, and with the physical release in the UK, the single peaked at number 13. Since then, the single's chart position steadily declined, and it remained in the Top 75 after fifteen weeks, during the week of 11 December 2006. The next week, "Starlight" had fallen out of the Top 75.cite web|title=Music Charts - The Official UK Top 75 Singles: Week of Mon 11 Dec|work=UK Singles Chart|url=http://uk.launch.yahoo.com/c/uk/single_charts.html|accessdate=2006-12-10]

"Starlight" has also peaked at number 2 on Billboard's Modern Rock Chart, Muse's highest charting single to date on any major chart. It also charted in at #9 on the Triple J Hottest 100, 2006. [cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hottest100/default.htm |title=Hottest 100, 2006|publisher=Triple J|accessdate=2007-08-23] It was also ranked at #4 on Colombian radio station Radiónica's 2006 top 100. [cite web|url=http://www.radionica.com.co/index.php?option=com_200_temas|title=Top 100 of 2006|publisher=Radiónica|accessdate=2007-08-23]

Track listings

7" picture disc

# "Starlight" - 3:59cite web|title=HMV.co.uk: singles: Starlight (2006)|accessdate=2006-09-06
url=http://www.hmv.co.uk/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?ctx=282;2;-1;-1&sku=548259]
# "Supermassive Black Hole" (Phones Control Voltage mix) - 4:19

CD

# "Starlight" - 3:59cite web|title=HMV.co.uk: singles: Starlight (2006)|accessdate=2006-09-06
url=http://www.hmv.co.uk/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?ctx=282;2;-1;-1&sku=548253]
# "Easily" - 3:40

DVD

# "Starlight" (video) - 4:07cite web|title=HMV.co.uk: singles: Starlight (2006)|accessdate=2006-09-06
url=http://www.hmv.co.uk/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?ctx=282;2;-1;-1&sku=548257]
# "Starlight" (audio) - 3:59
# "Starlight" (making of the video)
# "Hidden Track"* *The 'hidden track' on the DVD release is a short song. It is sung in a distorted falsetto voice with profane lyrics (largely variations of the word 'fuck' with some instruments in the background. Between fans it is often referred as "You Fucking Motherfucker". The cowbell click-track was left in the song. [cite web|url=http://www.musesyndrome.com/forums/index.php?m=single&id=294|title=Hidden Track|publisher=Muse Syndrome|accessdate=2007-11-05]

References

External links

* [http://www.muse.mu/ MUSE] - official artist website
* [http://www.he-3.mu/ MUSE - Starlight] - official single website