Will the 2012 London Olympics anthem take over your life?

You may have loved it. You may have hated it. But either way, you couldn't get away from it.

During the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, you were inundated with it. The full on vocal version sung by young phenom Nikki Yanofsky, as well as a number of other offshoots and arrangements, parsed and edited and repackaged as broadcast stingers, ringtones and the like.

"I believe in the power of you and I."

For some, the official song of the Vancouver Games was a gold medal accomplishment, soaring like a ski jumper, matching the spirits of a nation that was "owning the podium" and feeling like a swaggering, world-beating juggernaut. For others, it was like a puck to the head each and every time its pompous strains began.

The only thing that might have made that song more polarizing would have been to have Nickelback performing it.

Two years on and another Olympic Games on the horizon, get set for another official song.

The 2012 Games will be continuously serenaded by Muse, an English prog-rock band and their song "Survival."

Now, perhaps one listen is not adequate to truly make the measure of a song. However, I must say that after one pass through, I was absolutely pining for "I Believe." As well, while I was listening to it, from the next room, my wife asked what it was.

"It's the official song of the 2012 Olympics," I said. "No it's not!" she exclaimed in disbelief.

"Shouldn't 'singability' be a criteria for an official song?" was her other reaction. She's right. It should be and there doesn't seem to be anything sing-able about "Survival." It begins hopefully enough, with a symphonic build up that has you anticipating you're about to get a belly full of inspiration, sugar coated or not.

It then detours quickly into a kind of "This Is Spinal Tap" trail of mish mash and instrumental self indulgence. Except that with Spinal Tap, you could still detect a melody in "Big Bottoms." When Muse performs their song at the opening ceremony on Friday, I wouldn't be surprised to hear one of the band members ask "are we doing Stonehenge tonight?"

Too bad London Olympic officials didn't adopt "London Calling" as The Games' official song. Just a little adjustment of lyrics here and there would have sufficed. Intact, The Clash's brilliant rendering of post-punk social disaffection wouldn't have been at all appropriate:

However, with just a few changes....

The first line? Easy. "London calling, to the faraway towns, now games are declared and athletes come 'round." Second line… "London calling, to the" …umm... let's just leave it at "zombies of death." I get the feeling that tri-athletes can't possibly be killed. It's a tribute to them. Last line? "London is swimming and I live by the Aquatic Centre."

Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And the ear. Muse may float your boat with "Survival." If not, keep clicking the above link to "I Believe." No? Then maybe you'll go for the official song of the 1988 Calgary Olympics. You're welcome.

If you're still in search of the greatest official song in Olympic history, perhaps teen heart throb Rene Simard's ode to the 1976 Montreal Games is just what you need:

Bachman Turner Overdrive would have done a better job. At least, That's what "I Believe."

You can find even more official Olympic songs in this 2008 New York Times article.