Friday, July 6, 2012

Official Olympic music video for 'Survival' unveiled - msnbc.com (blog)

Sponsored Links

Official Olympic music video for 'Survival' unveiled - msnbc.com (blog)

Official Olympic music video for 'Survival' unveiled - msnbc.com (blog)

Posted: 06 Jul 2012 10:00 AM PDT

YouTube

An image from the newly release video for the official Olympic song "Survival."

By Jillian Eugenios

If you haven't yet heard "Survival," the official Olympic song, don't worry – you will. It will be played during all medal ceremonies at the Summer Games as well as every time athletes enter the stadium.

Now the official video for the song, by British rock band Muse, has been released. It includes a montage of Olympians in the heat of competition throughout the ages, with many shouting in victory. The band does not appear in the video at all, choosing instead to showcase the athletes.

Nearly all of the sports at the Games appear in the video, from popular spectator sports like gymnastics and swimming to lesser-publicized events like handball, canoe slalom and BMX. 

The lyrics of the rock ballad include the words "Race, life's a race/And I am gonna win" and "Whatever it takes/You won't pull ahead/I'll keep up the pace/And I'll reveal my strength/To the whole human race." 

In a statement, the band says the song was written "with the Olympics in mind. It's about total conviction and pure determination to win." 

WireImage file

British rockers Muse wrote and perform "Survival," but do not appear in the official video.

Muse, which consists of vocalist Matt Bellamy, bassist Chris Wolstenholme and drummer Dominic Howard, is set to release their sixth album, "The 2nd Law," in September. The band has steadily risen in fame since their origins in 1994, selling 15 million records worldwide. They say they are "honored that the Olympics have chosen our song to officially represent the London 2012 Olympic Games across the globe." 

But "Survival" is just the first of five songs the London Olympics officially commissioned; the others will come throughout the next few weeks, in time for the opening ceremonies only 21 days away. The other four official songs are by Elton John with Australian dance music duo Pnau; alternative dance band Delphic; electronic musicians the Chemical Brothers, and London rapper Dizzee Rascal. 

Official Olympics songs in previous years have included "Beijing Welcomes You" at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, which was sung by 100 famous artists and entertainers from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan and South Korea. The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics showcased the songs "I Believe" by Nikki Yanofsky and "Ordinary Miracle" by Sarah McLachlan. 

Some Olympic theme songs have become so popular they have stood out as hits in their own right. Perhaps one of the most memorable was written by Freddie Mercury, frontman of Queen, a band that is no stranger to sports anthems ("We Are the Champions," anyone?). Mercury wrote the Olympic track "Barcelona" for the 1992 Summer Olympics. The song went on to appear on Queen's "Greatest Hits III" album and peaked at No. 2 on the UK's singles chart in 1992.

Related:
Which are the 6 oddest Olympic sports?
Inside London's Olympic Village

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Incinerating Assange - The Liberal Media Go To Work.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)