3 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
Mechanical Man Lyrics
i'm a mechanical man
2 mechanical arms
2 mechanical legs
i'm a 2+2=4 man
me feel swell
we work well
me want what you want
me feel swell
me work well
me want what you got
2 mechanical arms
2 mechanical legs
i'm a 2+2=4 man
me feel swell
we work well
me want what you want
me feel swell
me work well
me want what you got
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
I don't think it is about a robot at all...I think the idea is that people are becoming 'robotic' or 'mechanical' within our society. Go to work, work hard, rest. Go to work, work hard, rest. Go to work, etc. I am a mechanical man, just like everybody else, working in my mechanical system, just like everyone else. I wan what you want, I want the same thing everyone else does. I want what YOU GOT - keep up with the jones'- consume, and you'll be 'happy'.
That's what I got out of it anyway, and it makes sense if you study Devo's original lyrics/message.
Guess it's saying how if we actually created a robot or machine with feelings that it would eventually want more than just to work as a slave. Or it could be saying that we should watch how much we depend on technology or how far we go with it.
Those are both pretty devo (small d) notions; overdependence on technology leads to deevolution and atrophy, robots are people too.
The change from "me want what you want" to "what you GOT" reminds me of the last line reversal from "Freedom of Choice" - "freedom FROM choice is what you want."
Also, if you make a robot that wants what humans want, it's going to want what the humans have because there's never enough to go around. It's like Blade Runner.