Supermassive Black Hole
by Muse
- 117
- BPM
- E minor
- Key
- 9A
- Camelot
- 67
- Danceability
- 5
- Acousticness
Astronauts on Space Shuttle Atlantis woke to "Supermassive Black Hole" on May 26, 2010, the vessel's presumed final day in space. The song by Muse has since appeared in the Doctor Who episode "The Rebel Flesh" and in a baseball scene in Twilight. It was on the FIFA 07 soundtrack and became Guitar Hero III downloadable content on May 8, 2008.
Matt Bellamy wrote it, and it was released as the lead single from Black Holes and Revelations on June 19, 2006, backed with "Crying Shame". It reached number four in the UK, the band's highest single there. In the United States it was the third single, out on April 23, 2007, and it peaked at number six on the Alternative Songs chart. Bellamy said it was unlike anything the band had done, drawing on Belgian bands, Prince and clubs he went out dancing in around New York. Producer Rich Costey found the bridge lackluster and overruled the band to add a guitar solo. Chris Wolstenholme fetched a four-string electric guitar from his hotel room and played the riff that became the solo.
Floria Sigismondi directed the video, in which the band plays masked in a furniture shop among dancers in Zentai suits. She said it recreated a recurring dream of hers.
Supermassive Black Hole runs at 117 BPM, the tempo of pop, funk and disco-leaning dance. In classical terms it sits in moderato territory. A bar of 4/4 lasts 2.05 seconds, and a quarter-note delay is 513 ms. It is in E minor, Camelot 9A, which shares its notes with G major and mixes cleanly with A minor and B minor.
We use multiple sources as part of our online research for the song story including Wikipedia.