Muse debuted the official song of the Olympics on Wednesday night and it sounds exactly like you'd expect a Muse-penned Olympic song.
The English rock band says "Survival" was written with the Games in mind. With subtle nods to competition like "it's a race, it's a race/and I'm gonna win" and "I will light the fuse and I'll never lose," you can see what lead singer Matt Bellamy means.
[Related: Opening Ceremony set list with Muse tunes leaked]
Overall, it's a little bit "Chariots of Fire," a lot of Queen, maybe a little Gershwin and some Sgt. Pepper-era Beatles. If you told me that the dude who won "American Idol" a few years back was singing, I'd have believed you. NME calls the track "bombastic," which is a little like calling Liberace "flamboyant." It still sounds pretty good though, if nothing like the pomp and circumstance usually associated with the high-minded pursuit of amateur athletic competition.
The track debuted on BBC's Radio One Wednesday night. It will be played before competition and during international broadcasts. Other songs by British artists will be released in the coming days, including one by Elton John. We probably won't link to that one because you know he's just going change the lyrics to "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" to something about gold medal paths.
More Olympic coverage from Yahoo!:
• Cody Miller survives embarrassing wardrobe malfunction
• What did Lolo Jones say that made comedian Louis C.K. blush?
• Aussie swimmer criticized for tweeting photo of racy bikini