"BLISS" MUSE (2001)

This month, I’m jumping into the #APlaceInTheSong challenge from @JukeboxJohnny2. Great songs have that special ability to describe places in a way that makes us feel like we’re right there. Each day, I’ll pick a track that I think accomplishes that feat.

One of my all-time favorite music moments was taking my older son to his first concert. We saw Muse on the Will of the People tour in the spring. This wasn’t a compromise on either of our parts. Muse had fast become his favorite band – and I had become reinvigorated by the band’s catalog as he and I would share ear buds listening to album after album on the way to soccer practice. Going back to the concert, Muse is definitely one of the more entertaining acts I’ve seen live. The combination of performance, video narratives and lighting is phenomenal. And the band went way back to the early days for their fifth song on the setlist with “Bliss”.

I read somewhere that “Bliss” is about video games. This might be one of the things I love most about the band. Their ability to dial up the drama and intensity of pretty much anything, including gaming. Bellamy cries out “Give me all the peace and joy in your mind” and it feels like these mini moments of catharsis. The song is bookended with piano arpeggios – and in between Matthew, Chris and Dominic go on a musical rampage.

“Give me all the peace and joy in your mind.”