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Metal Lyrics
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.
And I'm frightened by the liquid engineers...
...like you.
I could crawl around the floor just like I'm real...
...like you.
I could learn to be a man...
...like you.
Oh everything is moving.
Singing 'I am an American'...
...do you?
I'd love to pull the wires from the wall...
...did you?
Here inside I like metal,
Aren't you?
I'm still confusing love with need.
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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.
@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."
@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.
@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.
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.