The Man Who Married A Robot / Love Theme
Producer
The Man Who Married A Robot / Love Theme Lyrics
[Spoken Word: Siri (British Male)]
This is a story about a lonely, lonely man. He lived in a lonely house. On a lonely street. In a lonely part of the world. But, of course, he had the Internet. The Internet, as you know, was his friend. You could say, his best friend. They would play with each other every day. Watching videos of humans doing all sorts of things. Having sex with each other. Informing people on what was wrong with them and their life. Playing games with young children at home with their parents. One day, the man, whose name was @snowflakesmasher86, turned to his friend, the Internet, and he said, "Internet, do you love me?" The Internet looked at him and said, "Yes. I love you very, very, very, very, very, very much. I am your best friend. In fact, I love you so much that I never ever want us to be apart ever again ever."
"I would like that," said the man. And so they embarked on a life together. Wherever the man went, he took his friend. The man and the Internet went everywhere together, except, of course, the places where the Internet could not go. They went to the countryside. They went to birthday parties of the children of some of his less important friends. Different countries. Even the moon. When the man got sad, his friend had so many clever ways to make him feel better. He would get him cooked animals and show him the people having sex again, and he would always, always agree with him. This one was the man's favourite and it made him very happy. The man trusted his friend so much. "I feel like I could tell you anything," he said, on a particularly lonely day. "You can. You can tell me anything. I'm your best friend. Anything you say to me will stay strictly between you and the Internet." And so he did. The man shared everything with his friend. All of his fears and desires, all of his loves, past and present. All of the places he had been and was going, and pictures of his penis. He would tell himself, "Man does not live by bread alone." And then he died. In his lonely house. On the lonely street. In that lonely part of the world. You can go on his Facebook.
[Part II: Love Theme]
[Instrumental]
About
As it has been described by NME, this song is a poem narrated by Siri, a Vonnegut-like allegory about loneliness, data, social media and internet addiction, concerning a man, @SnowflakeSmasher86.
Matty revealed to Pitchfork that he intended for the script to be read by his father.
I was like, “Fuck that, sounds lame.” And then we were like, “Who should it be?” We just knew immediately. Because earlier this year, post-rehab, I was obsessed with the 2020s, like the idea that this next decade is going to be some retro-future kind of idea. I had, like, purple hair and an orange coat and I was like, “Everything’s going to be fucking super future!” I was just on that kick. I was like, “Robots, robots, robots.”
He says that he relates to the character, @SnowflakeSmasher86, “probably more than I’d like to.”
It’s the acknowledgement of an already existing dystopian reality. It sounds like a warning of what a future could be, but you realize it’s exactly what we’re living in.
The background instrumental track in the first half of this song was teased as the background music of numerous promotional videos for this album.
This is also very reminiscent of Radiohead’s interlude on OK Computer, “Fitter Happier”, as this seems to be a continuation of that robot’s monologue and where our society headed from that.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
This is a spoken word track recited by Siri about a lonely man who falls in love with the internet. How much do you identify with that character?
Probably more than I’d like to. It’s just pointing out how fucking weird things are by that removal of the human experience—just hearing a robot saying “cooked animals” on this track is a bad vibe, right? Why is it a bad vibe? This is the question I’m asking. It’s the acknowledgement of an already existing dystopian reality. It sounds like a warning of what a future could be, but you realize it’s exactly what we’re living in.
Where did the idea for this monologue come from?
It was going to be my dad reading it and then it was going to be me doing spoken word. But I was like, “Fuck that, sounds lame.” And then we were like, “Who should it be?” We just knew immediately. Because earlier this year, post-rehab, I was obsessed with the 2020s, like the idea that this next decade is going to be some retro-future kind of idea. I had, like, purple hair and an orange coat and I was like, “Everything’s going to be fucking super future!” I was just on that kick. I was like, “Robots, robots, robots.”
The difference between ‘Fitter Happier’ on ‘OK Computer’ when the computer talks and ‘The Man Who Married A Robot’ is that ‘The Man Who Married A Robot’ is a more realistic voice. That voice on ‘OK Computer’ was dead weird, but when you hear Siri, you don’t react anymore. They put those voices in the fucking kitchen and get them to get eggs now. If Siri had appeared on that Radiohead album, it would have been even more sinister and weird, but we’re just used to it. We’re used to all this shit.
— Matty Healy, Dork Magazine.
I was pointing out how fucking weird things are if we remove the human experience. It’s the acknowledgement of an already existing dystopian reality. It sounds like a warning of what a future could be, but you realize it’s exactly what we’re living in.
— Matty Healy via Spotify
- 9.The Man Who Married A Robot / Love Theme
- 10.Inside Your Mind
- 13.Mine
- 16.102
