An Analysis of "The Muse" by Darren Criss

Note: I'd like to preface this post by establishing that the song "The Muse" is the intellectual property of Mr. Darren Criss. Furthermore, this blog entry is an analysis of what I, personally, find in the song and not a statement on what Mr. Criss himself intended with it.

If you watch Darren videos on YouTube, you know that he often introduces his song, "The Muse", by explaining that it is about Greek Mythology. The first time I heard the song, I focused on the lyrics, trying to understand which stories he was incorporating. I had to do that a few times. Part of what confused me was the song title, because the Muses were in no way related to Medusa, so there must be more references hiding in there somewhere. As a fan of Greek mythology, I figured it would come easily. But that’s not what happened. Unfortunately, I ended up confusing myself. I expected a bunch of references to be thrown my way and I was excited to figure them out.

The title which caused me so much trouble, of course, references a singular woman who inspired the song. Creative people use the term “muse” all the time to describe a person that inspires their work. The term just conveniently has a reference to Greek Mythology which created the atmosphere he wanted.

Although he says the song is about Greek Mythology, what he means is that the song is based on Greek Mythology. A song simply focusing on Greek myths would’ve become too convoluted, much more a vomit of classical references than a song grounded in purposeful imagery. It was my mistake to look for something that wasn’t there. Darren’s a better songwriter than that.

What he does do, though, is take a well-known classical figure and place her in a context to which we can relate. I feel his instinct as a songwriter encourages him to create something accessible to many because he has a message to get out there. This is what makes his music so likable. It’s human (as the title of his EP suggests) and relevant. "The Muse" is no exception to this. The mythology is subtle, acting as the basis for the situation he creates, but not overshadowing it.

You're a diamond that I'm afraid to touch. You're damn near flawless, and I'm sure you'd cut all my eyes, my hands, my head, my heart. You'd tear this canvas skin apart - Oh what a waste of human art that'd be. You're a dungeon, but you're made of glass. Your prisoners have no idea they're trapped ‘cause it looks so beautiful inside. It makes us feel like we're alive, but, Lord, knows we'll never survive your walls.

In the first two stanzas, Darren creates a situation that isn’t necessarily linked specifically to the myths of Greek legend. But it does emphasize the tragic love that characterizes many classical stories; it has the essence of the Greek Myth. In the time of the “Hallmark love story,” it is rare to see the emphasis on the dangers of love in popular culture. In classical literature, though, it is everywhere. This is the world of Helen, whose abduction by Paris (with the backing of Aphrodite) begins the Trojan War. It is the world of Dido, whose affair with Aeneas nearly distracts Aeneas from his destiny to found Rome. It’s the world of Semele, whose desire to see Zeus in all his thunderbolted glory results in her incineration. It’s a simple fact that love is dangerous. I think, more significantly though, “The Muse” focuses on the sexual power of the female over mankind.

What makes the first stanza work so well is the dichotomy of the beautiful diamond, an image we have come to associate with love and marriage, and the dangers of its nature as the hardest gem in the world. In the background there is this image: a bloodied diamond, so destructive as to cut apart Darren’s persona piece by piece. Moreover, we are given the image of the heart, again a representation of love. The irony here is that the heart can be easily destroyed by the very thing that it desires.

In the last two lines of the first stanza, Darren’s persona places himself below the object of his affections. He has “canvas skin,” indicating a need for creator. “What a waste of human art that’d be” implies both that this woman is above human and that Darren’s persona has a low sense of self-worth in the presence of this woman, who clearly can fashion him.

The second stanza uses a second metaphor of the woman as a glass dungeon. While the idea of a glass dungeon is beautiful in comparison to the image we have of the unsanitary, rock-enclosed dungeons of the Medieval era, the image also works to strengthen the line following: prisoners that've no idea they're trapped. Sometimes glass is invisible – just ask the birds that fly into your kitchen doors daily. The prisoners know the world around them exists because the glass doesn’t block the vision of the outside. Yet they choose to remain inside the walls because it’s more pleasing than the reality of the outside world. They don’t even test the walls because it’s perfect where they are. It is a fake image though. Darren indicates this through the use of accessory verbs such as “looks” and “makes.” Compare:

It looks so beautiful inside and it makes us feel alive

to “It is so beautiful inside” and “we feel alive”

The first examples are dependent on the prisoners’ perception and are not a statement on what exists. They are false perceptions, and this is what will lead to the destruction of the men. They will not survive the walls, because they won’t challenge the walls they cannot see.

Medusa's child preserved her former looks. She kept her out of all the storybooks just to get back at all of the men who had tried time and time again to claim the right of her demise and end.

A million years go by and you're still around. You're knocking us off of our feet, you're knocking us down. But we still can't leave you alone. The way you move one would be prone to want to be turned into stone by you.

In these two stanzas, Darren uses a specific myth – the story of Medusa. What we generally know to be the story of Medusa is this: She is a Gorgon whose hair is made of snakes and whose gaze turns people into stone. She was beheaded by Perseus.

The rest of the story is more complicated than that. Ovid’s version of the story portrays Medusa as a beautiful young woman who drew many suitors. She slept with Poseidon, which angered Athena. Athena then punished Medusa by turning her into the creature we now picture. This is part of the story that Darren references when he says “Medusa’ child preserved her former looks.” Then he creates his own myth, explaining in his story that Medusa had a child which was kept out of the Greek myths. This child looks like her from before she was punished by Athena, but also exists with Medusa’s darker purpose of ensnaring mankind as retribution.

Then we zoom back to real time again: “a million years go by and you’re still around,” indicating that the woman he has been describing is in fact the child of Medusa, or at least from her line of progeny. He emphasizes her dangerous, yet compelling nature described in the “glass dungeon” extended metaphor, this time using the Medusa reference.

In between these sections is the chorus: But didn’t you know that all along You didn’t need to hear your song And if you don’t know that Then you might as well be dead

Of course, the persona here, is directly addressing the woman, explaining that she doesn’t need to hear her song – this song – to know her own nature. It is her purpose for living. Pretty straight forward in my opinion.

The interesting part is the nature of Darren’s persona, who indicates with the use of us that he is “one of the prisoners who have no idea they’re trapped,” yet is able to understand the history and nature of this woman. He’s ‘in’ on the story, yet still chooses to remain ensnared. Darren addresses that with the final stanza (except the repeat of the chorus):

You make me feel so alive. But its consequence: I want to be dead Was it how you arrived? I can’t tell. Or was it in the way you left us here?

We have again the idea that her beauty makes him feel alive and, once more, the emphasis on the destructive nature of his affections, which is more serious this time as he says “I want to be dead.” This consequence, saying he wants to die, is incredibly significant, but he is not sure what was the cause. It could be her entrance into his life or it could be in her leaving him.

Pronoun Variation

This song has not officially been released, so the lyrics come from the performances we've seen on YouTube. I only use one set of lyrics, but they do change depending on the version you find on YouTube. The variations, however, are primarily in the pronouns he chooses to intersperse throughout the song. In this version, he indicates with that he is one of the prisoners who "have no idea they're trapped" because he uses "us" and "we" later in that stanza. However, in the other version he uses "they" for the prisoners throughout, and the "part of the group" sentiment is revealed in the later stanza: your knocking us off our feet...

This variation makes it clearer that Darren's persona is a little different than the other prisoners. While he is one of them, as we learn from the middle stanzas, he is set apart simply by the fact that he can see what is happening around him, whereas the other prisoners "have no idea they're trapped." As I've mentioned, this comes through in the version I've posted too, I just think the pronoun variation makes the distinction more concrete.

Whether he begins with "they," moves to "us" and ends with "me" or keeps the first person plural throughout (which is the version I've posted here), the overall message is the same. The difference in pronouns build the song differently, depending on whether he is reflecting on the manipulation of an entire group or whether he is developing a more personal reflection of his own imprisonment, ending with "... was it in the way you left me here?"

I like both versions. Either way the song is beautifully dark. And I love it.

#DarrenCriss #TheMuse #songanalysis #music #greekmythology