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Down In The Park Lyrics
Down in the park where the mach-men meet the machines
And play 'kill-by-numbers'.
Down in the park with a friend called "Five".
I was in a car crash, or was it the war?
But I've never been quite the same.
Little white lies like "I was there".
Come to "Zom-Zom's", a place to eat,
Like it was built in one day.
You can watch the humans trying to run.
Oh look, there's a rape machine!
I'd go outside if he'd look the other way.
You wouldn't believe the things they do.
Down in the park where the chant is "death, death, death",
Until the sun cries morning.
Down in the park with friends of mine.
We are not lovers, we are not romantics,
We are here to serve you.
A different face, but the words never change...
Song Info
Submitted by
epitome_of_hate On Jun 17, 2002
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Ugh, it makes me so mad everyone thinks that this is a Gary Numan song from when he became a solo artist. He was in a band called Tubeway Army when they made it. Its on a Tubeway Army album called Replicas. No disrespect to Gary, I mean I love him, but its just a thing that bugs me a lot.
MrLongrove is right, this is based on an unfinished novel Gary wrote when he was younger, I believe the place was called Replicas and the machines were the government. The machmen were kinda like robots livng among humans. The 'friends' referred to in Are 'Friends' Electric and Me! I Disconnect From You were also kinda like robots, but they were rented (or something like that) by people and used to entertain. The Crazies were the few remaining humans left in Replicas, they lived underground.
Thats all I can really remember without rereading the album sleeve....
a great song from gary numan. this song is about the machine men (machmen), meet to hunt and kill humans in the park. while some get to watch from above at a place called zom zom's. it is a tragic look of how a human is raped, beatin down, or destroyed by the machmen. great song !!!
Part of Numan's sci-fi story. It's about a depraved futuristic society where humans being hunted raped and killed by machines for sport. This is Numan at his best...dark, gloomy and atmospheric. I've seen Numan live twice and this song is always a highlight for me.
It's about the passivity of being in the park without doing anything with some friends, just combating boredom (a force which is metaphorally attacking them); in any case, we are just ordinary people spending a time in the park. Great futuristic, dense and original modern sound from 79'!!!
@PeluCrespins Nope. See descriptions of his Scifi story below.
@PeluCrespins Nope. See descriptions of his Scifi story below.
In the album Resonator, Numan's newer version of Down in the Park has the last line as "A different RACE but the words never change". In the original he says "face".
I actually have an old cassette copy of Tubeway Army's "Replicas" and yes! "Down in the Park" is the last song on side 1! :))
Replicas was reissued back in the late 90s with a bunch of b-sides. The story behind the music is also included in the booklet. I sure with VH! would do a Behind The Music featuring Gary Numan.
VH1 that is
This reminds me of Battlestar Galactica. The Cylons have a model called "5" and rape machines (of sorts at the Farms) with machines who play kill by numbers (Centurions/Raiders).
I like how on the album cover he's looking out there's "the park". Great song...