‘Compliance’ – Muse

Marc writes:

I loved 1984. I think it was my first real experience with dystopian literature and worlds. I think there’s something in those things that get written, or filmed, that we go on to consume that make us believe their fantastical and gold for the world we live in, but if they’re really good then there’s something about them that make us just a little bit afraid of what could be…
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Muse used 1984-style vibes and influences in their 2009 album “The Resistance”, and I loved it.

One thing I’ve always appreciated about them as a band is their ability to make new and different music every album, and so when I first heard “Compliance” I was a little bit disappointed as it felt like I had heard it before, but then I remembered how much I loved “The Resistance” as an album, and it was fine!

But I listened to it and then started listening to “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Testaments”, and the combination is scary. I wonder how close we could be in places in the world to dystopian realities rather than fantasies, and how we might be sold them in line with the idea of religion or freedom…

I wonder how many of us would fall foul to a proposed regime that offered us “no pain anymore”, or promises that we “won’t feel lost anymore”? That we won’t be burdened by choice, that we’ll be protected, not rejected, the hurt will be taken away and someone else will give us what’s best for us?

What would we say to the offer of not having to fear anymore, and that we can be saved, and all we need to do is show compliance?

The sad reality is that for years that’s been the party line in Christian rhetoric in many places.

It’s a struggle, but I think we need to show some defiance and resilience and keep going with the pain and the lost-ness, the choice and the fear, and to maintain our freedom rather than choosing the compliance sung about here.

God is about choice and freedom, both “His” and ours, and about the liberation of others too. It’s in choosing that life that we find ourselves being saved.

Find out more about Muse at https://www.muse.mu/news