Hysteria

"Hysteria" (also known as "Hysteria (I Want It Now)" in the USA)[1] is a song by English rock band Muse and is featured on their third studio album, Absolution. It was also released as a single from that album on 1 December 2003 in the United Kingdom, peaking at number 17 in the UK Singles Chart (see 2003 in British music) and is also known for its famous bass line. It reached number 9 in the U.S. on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.

The artwork for the 7" cover was chosen by competition, and the winner was Adam Falkus.[2] The runner-up images are included in the DVD version of the single. The song was performed regularly during the tour in support of Absolution and remains a staple of the band's live show. The song also appears on the Absolution Tour DVD and on both the CD and DVD of HAARP.

Music video

The song's video, starring actor Justin Theroux and directed by Matt Kirby, is based on the hotel-trashing scene from the movie Pink Floyd The Wall. It takes the form of a short narrative depicting a man (the protagonist) awakening inside of a hotel room and, through non-linear chronological elements, discovering that he both stalked and eventually met with a prostitute with whom he was obsessed (played by Hayley Caradoc-Hodgkins ). This encounter, however, ends unpleasantly. The video has several interpretations and can be seen to have several ambiguous elements, including the fit of rage which induces the man to trash the hotel room, and several chronologically non-linear sequences describing elements of plot.

An alternate video was also created for the release of the single in the U.S. which features the band playing in front of a green screen; with white blood vessels, a woman's face, red, grey and black circles overlapping, and lightning. This video is also used in the UK before the watershed, as the original video was deemed unsuitable for children.

The director's cut of the video features several women visiting the protagonist in his hotel room as well as the main woman from the original version and is available on the Microcuts fansite.

Muse in the media

The television channel TNT used "Hysteria" in its commercials in late 2004, and it was also used in commercials for Guerlain's Insolence perfume. Aside from commercials, "Hysteria" was also featured in a season 2 episode of the HBO series Entourage, and was used alongside Blackout, another song from the Absolution album, in the movie Millions. The Washington Capitals used the song as a musical introduction to the second period of their home hockey games during the 2006-07 NHL Season[citation needed], and The Jim Rome Show uses this song as a "bumper" between show breaks. The British television program Brainiac: History Abuse used the song at the end of each show with the "Explosive Of The Week". It was also used as the main theme for Moto GP on the BBC up until the Dutch race at Assen in 2009, as well as the background song of the official race edit for the 2009 Australian Grand Prix on Formula1.com. Hysteria is frequently used as Windsor-Detroits 88.7, 89x's "Morning X's" starter song.
"Hysteria" is also featured in the European version of the video game Rock Band and as downloadable content for the US version.[3]

Track listing

7", CD
"Hysteria" – 3:47
"Eternally Missed" – 6:05
Produced by John Cornfield, Paul Reeve and Muse.
DVD
"Hysteria" (video – Director's Cut)
"Hysteria" (DVD Audio)
"Hysteria" (live on MTV2 Video)
"Artwork Gallery"