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,
You're just walking round your little mazes figuring out how to get by,
How to get laid and get famous, get yourself paid, impress the guys.
You think you're thinking for yourself
But when you get on the subway's most crowded part just to stand behind a
Girl
Then you are just a robot, executing a program.
You are just a robot, an imitation of a man
You're taught to divide the world into buddies and wives, sluts and wimps;
And ever since, you've kept a scorecard - how else to prove you're such
The pimp.
You think you're thinking for yourself
But when you when you can't get any the consentual way so you decide to
Use some force
Then you are just a robot, executing a program.
You are just a robot, an imitation of a man
She told me one night when we were lying quiet and cold, something not
Right.
It had been months since the good times, once there was sun, now there was
Night.
And she said to me as she turned on the light,
"there's something you don't know keeps me from feeling right.
I once knew a guy, I'd seen him around.
He knew all my friends, he came from town.
One night at a party, we both were there,
He followed me into the bathroom, he grabbed my hair,"
And she said "I still remember just how the floor felt and how my head
Would hit the tub."
Now where is that robot, put a stake through my true love
Where is that robot, should get struck down from above
You are just a robot, executing a program, an imitation of a man
How to get laid and get famous, get yourself paid, impress the guys.
You think you're thinking for yourself
But when you get on the subway's most crowded part just to stand behind a
Girl
Then you are just a robot, executing a program.
You are just a robot, an imitation of a man
You're taught to divide the world into buddies and wives, sluts and wimps;
And ever since, you've kept a scorecard - how else to prove you're such
The pimp.
You think you're thinking for yourself
But when you when you can't get any the consentual way so you decide to
Use some force
Then you are just a robot, executing a program.
You are just a robot, an imitation of a man
She told me one night when we were lying quiet and cold, something not
Right.
It had been months since the good times, once there was sun, now there was
Night.
And she said to me as she turned on the light,
"there's something you don't know keeps me from feeling right.
I once knew a guy, I'd seen him around.
He knew all my friends, he came from town.
One night at a party, we both were there,
He followed me into the bathroom, he grabbed my hair,"
And she said "I still remember just how the floor felt and how my head
Would hit the tub."
Now where is that robot, put a stake through my true love
Where is that robot, should get struck down from above
You are just a robot, executing a program, an imitation of a man
Lyrics submitted by Die All Peacocks
Robot Lyrics as written by Daniel Bewernick Carl Albrecht
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Songtrust Ave
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think that the situation in this song is the same one that inspired "Mother's Day". This is about the guy that raped his girlfriend and you can feel the hatred for him in lyrics: for hurting the girl and the current relationship. What he had done to her may now be playing a part in the current relationship (trust, intimacy, etc). Matthew, I assume it's his experience, is disgusted that any one, especially a man, could do something so terrible ("an imitation of a man") and feels unjust for himself and his girlfriend.
this song is amazing. i like how matt includes dialogue in a few of his songs. a very real meaning behind it, too. i've gone through something very simliar to this so it really hits home.
This is an amazing, beautiful song. I think it is clearly about the same event (or at least topic) as Mother's Day, but there is a fundamental disparity between the two. Mother's Day addresses the man in question as if he was indeed another human being, with thoughts and feelings, just trying to make his way through life like everyone else. It says what it says assuming it is addressing a rational fellow person, trying to persuade him that what he did was wrong. This song, however, takes the opposite stance--the man it addresses is not a person, but rather something far less. The man in Robot is just that--he has no feelings or rational thought. There is no point in trying to convince him of anything, because he will never learn.
I tend to agree with the perspective adopted in Mother's Day.
compare the start of this track with the start of delays hideaway....surely the same
Very interesting point of view from this band, about the fact that unfortunately young men are "programmed" by socitey, friends and parents to see women as trophies, and fight for those trophies, and get as many as you can. For a lot of men, this is the "normal". That\'s why they keep doing it. That\'s why it sometimes escalates to abusive situations. And that\'s why it\'s hard to erradicate it. All we can do is make sure our children grow up seeing women as human beings, and make sure we put in jail all those adult robots out there getting into abusive situations.