| "Megalomaniac" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Incubus | ||||
| from the album A Crow Left of the Murder... |
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| B-side | "Monuments and Melodies" | |||
| Released | 23 December 2003 | |||
| Format | Enhanced CD | |||
| Recorded | October 2003 | |||
| Genre | Alternative metal | |||
| Length | 4:24 (radio edit) 4:54 (album version) |
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| Label | Epic/Immortal | |||
| Writer(s) | Incubus | |||
| Producer | Brendan O'Brien | |||
| Certification | None | |||
| Incubus singles chronology | ||||
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"Megalomaniac" is a song by American alternative rock band Incubus, from their 2004 album A Crow Left of the Murder... It was released as a single in December of 2003, and eventually reached the top of Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks, where it stayed for a six-week period.
Contents |
The song begins with a cyclic, scratchy warble that lasts about 30 seconds before fading into a more conventional introduction. The entire buildup lasts about one minute in all before climaxing into a heavy rock riff, with distorted electric guitars and bass, before going into the first verse. The song alternates between more mellow mood of the verses and the driving rock feel of the chorus, also managing to incorporate a bridge in the key of Cm, in contrast to the rest of the song, which is in Gm.
Though the lead singer Brandon Boyd claims the song is not specifically targeting anybody [1], "Megalomaniac" has been called a "barely veiled condemnation of George W. Bush"[2]. The band maintains that the song's meaning pertains to megalomaniacs in general with a particular emphasis on El Guapo from the American comedy film Three Amigos.
The video shows images of Adolf Hitler interspersed with shots of the band and of many people who are either protesting or helpless and victimized. As the video progresses, the Bush look-alike sends officers to disperse the crowd. The speaker's podium rises very high - then it is revealed that the podium is actually a gas pump. The gas pump spurts oil over the crowd, while the Bush figure's head is consumed by a Bald Eagle and starts eating people that turned into fish. The broad theme of the video seems to be corruption in general, though oil and explosions are recurrent symbols as well. MTV refused to show the video during daytime airplay due to the controversy.
| Chart (2003) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Billboard Hot 100 | 55 |
| Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 1 |
| Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 2 |
| Preceded by "Hit That" by The Offspring |
Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single February 21, 2004 - March 27, 2004 |
Succeeded by "I Miss You" by Blink-182 |
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