Replicas

After nearly 45 years as a huge fan (TOTP, Are 'Friends' Eelectric?) I've only just discovered that a certain Howard Wall was the lead singer of Beggars Banquet band mates The Lurkers. I think there's a better than fair chance that Gary had Howard in the back of his mind when writing this. Presumably in those very early Earls Court days of BB, the signed bands new each other, and 20-year old Gary would have held anyone else with a record deal in awe, hence the reference. Rather like his reverence for Billy Currie and John Foxx, neither of whom were particularly successful at the time.

great song ! i love his new version of this classic. it's more industrial sound like nine inch nails sound.

Deadsy covered this song.

No comments on the meaning? I think there is a story to replicas but I don't know it. I assume "they didn't have names" would imply that they are clones/robots, essentially replicas. He tries to talk to them, maybe he was desperate.. thinking /maybe/ they'd have something, but they didn't even try. He cries to people in the crowd but they don't know who he's referring to because they're all the same.. I'm trying to figure out the police line, not sure.. It's not completely out there, any ideas?

I tend to think the line "It was hard to avoid/I suppose it was the shame" means he got picked out of a group of people for having human emotions (see "Only a Downstat") such as shame. The next few lines seem to serve to explain why he was singled out ("We'd never met and they didn't have names, there was nothing I could do.")

Protagonist then starts turning on a crowd of onlookers, who are presumably used to the sight of people being taken away like this (coming from a little background on Numan's supposed story that lead to this album), so he starts freaking on them, letting them know it could have been anyone being taken.

Those last couple lines.. I'm not sure on them. The way Numan says "so I said..." just doesn't sit right with me, especially because from there the reaction seems to be that he got off scot-free. I believe this may be a case of unreliable protagonist--it would also explain why it cuts off so abruptly mid-story.

Well, I think Replicas is simply frustration at the robots he can't reason with.

"The police came" "I said it was me And I just walked away"

He knows it's no use trying to make the clones understand he's a individual without them antagonizing him. But then, he walks away, knowing that nothing comes through to them.

That's just my opinion.

I always thought it was about a guy who was falsely accused of a crime because he looks just like the one who actually did it. Police ask the crowd who did it and they point to him, because he is a "replica" of the real criminal. Mistaken identity has put innocent people in prison. This song seems to describe the experience from the wrongly-accused's point of view.

[Edit: grammar correction]

Mr. Wall is running for President of USA right now.

I really enjoy reading other people's opinions on this song in particular - I have just never been able to quite figure this one out!!