This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
We're in the building
Where they make us grow
And I'm frightened by
The liquid engineers
Like you.
My Mallory heart
Is sure to fail
I could crawl around the floor
Just like I'm real
Like you.
The sound of metal
I want to be
You
I could learn to be a man
Like you.
Plug me in
And turn me on
Oh everything is moving.
I need my treatment
It's tomorrow they send me
Singing 'I am an American'.
Do you?
Picture this
If I could make the change
I'd love to pull the wires from the wall
Did you?
And who are you
And how can I try
Here inside I like metal
Aren't you
All I know
Is no-one dies
I'm still confusing love with need.
Where they make us grow
And I'm frightened by
The liquid engineers
Like you.
My Mallory heart
Is sure to fail
I could crawl around the floor
Just like I'm real
Like you.
The sound of metal
I want to be
You
I could learn to be a man
Like you.
Plug me in
And turn me on
Oh everything is moving.
I need my treatment
It's tomorrow they send me
Singing 'I am an American'.
Do you?
Picture this
If I could make the change
I'd love to pull the wires from the wall
Did you?
And who are you
And how can I try
Here inside I like metal
Aren't you
All I know
Is no-one dies
I'm still confusing love with need.
Lyrics submitted by [inactive account], edited by marcgj123
Metal Lyrics as written by Gary Anthony James Webb
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
This song seems like pure science fiction. A cyborg like machine wants to be human, but never can be.
"Picture this if they could make the change I’d love to pull the wires from the wall Did you?"
Think the old silent picture, Metropolis, George Orwell's 1984 and one can begin to see these lyrics in an interesting context... The dehumanizing of, well, humans, society doing its damnedest to make automatons of us all (and it's been pretty successful if one takes a moment to think about it.) "I need my treatment it's tomorrow they send me singing I am an American. Do you?" The artifice of being an American. That's the Readers' Digest condensed version.
Nine Inch Nails do an awesome cover of this song. Numan himself said the cover is better.
Numan has stated in the past that he does not like the sound of his own voice (I wonder if that makes him not talkitive in general). It stands to reason that he would compliment a different band doing a version of any of his songs.
I love this song. Numan has consistantly drawn the elements of human emotion and the sterility of technology together in very vivid images in his lyrics. Further examples can be found in "Engineers", "Are Friends Electric", "I Nearly Married A Human", "We Have A Technical", "My Dying Machine", and "Wreckage".
"I’m still confusing love with need"
one of my favorite lines from a song ever. i still like to keep it a bit abstract still and not analyze it to bits.
@darbonne Yeah, that line really hits.
Nevermind about my question about "Mallory heart". The best answer I've been able to find is that Mallory was the name of the battery company known today as Duracell; and that a Mallory heart is a heart powered by a battery, which makes a lot of sense in the context of the song.
i love this song...it's about a machine expressing his feelings about human emotions and things that a machine doesn't understand. a great song !!!
One of my favorite songs by Gary Numan. Definitely about a robot dealing with human emotions, I just really wonder what a "Mallory heart" is. While I really do like NIN and like the cover, this version is awesome.
@NewWavePhil Mallory was a battery company that became Duracell (due to the invention of alkaline batteries) in 1978. Numan's album came out just after that. His soul is last year's model: "My Mallory heart is sure to fail."
Mallory used to make padlocks, and thats what I always interpreted this as, a secure, hard to break heart, when it fails, breaks or is unlocked, he becomes human and doing so exhibits the emotional torment of that trauma "I could CRAWL around the floor..."
@gingermick In the UK, Mallory made 'Duracell' batteries which were extra long life electric cells - again, it ties in to the android dimension that everyone else has mentioned.<br />
I've always thought of the song being about a robot (or 'Humanoids' as I like to call them) becoming 'aware'. Basically just realizing its not human and is, in fact, just an Artificial Intelligence. The song comes from the viewpoint of a Humanoid whom is 'aware', and they're talking about what they're finally realizing about themselves.