Mr. Roboto
Written by Dennis DeYoung
Lead Vocals by Dennis DeYoung
Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto,
Mata ah-oo hima de
Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto,
Himitsu wo shiri tai
You're wondering who I am-machine or mannequin
With parts made in Japan, I am the modren man
I've got a secret I've been hiding under my skin
My heart is human, my blood is boiling, my brain I.B.M.
So if you see me acting strangely, don't be surprised
I'm just a man who needed someone, and somewhere to hide
To keep me alive-just keep me alive
Somewhere to hide to keep me alive
I'm not a robot without emotions-I'm not what you see
I've come to help you with your problems, so we can be free
I'm not a hero, I'm not a saviour, forget what you know
I'm just a man whose circumstances went beyond his control
Beyond my control-we all need control
I need control-we all need control
I am the modren man, who hides behind a mask
So no one else can see my true identity
Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, domo...domo
Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, domo...domo
Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, domo...domo
Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto
For doing the jobs that nobody wants to
And thank you very much, Mr. Roboto
For helping me escape just when I needed to
Thank you-thank you, thank you
I want to thank you, please, thank you
The problem's plain to see: too much technology
Machines to save our lives. Machines dehumanize.
The time has come at last
To throw away this mask
So everyone can see
My true identity...
I'm Kilroy! Kilroy! Kilroy! Kilroy!
Interpretation
[From the album liner notes:]
The Past
Dr. Everett Righteous, founder and leader of the MMM, (The Majority for Musical Morality) became influential in American politics through the use of his own cable T.V. network. He spoke about the evils of rock 'n' roll music, and how its permissive attitudes were responsible for the moral and economic decline of America. He was charismatic, entertaining, and above all, he understood the media. The MMM soon gained enough power to have rock 'n' roll banned.
Rober Orin Charles Kilroy was a world famous rock 'n' roll star. As this new law was passed, Kilroy and his band were finishing a national tour. Their last performance, at the Paradise Theatre, would serve as the test case. On the night of the concert, as Kilroy played to a packed house, the MMM marched in and stormed the stage. When it was over, a MMM protester was dead...Kilroy was convicted of murder and sent to a prison ship with other rock 'n' roll mistfits...
The Present
...is a future where Japanese manufactured robots, designed to work cheaply and endlessley, are the caretakers of society. "Mr. Robotos" are everywhere, serving as manual labor in jobs that were once held by humans.
Dr. Righteous enforces his own morality by holding nightly rallies where crowds hurl rock 'n' roll records and electric guitars into huge bonfires...Jonathan Chance, the rebel leader of an underground movement to bring back rock 'n' roll, has made Kilroy the symbol of his cause. Meanwhile, Kilroy has spent a number of years in prison. With no hope of release, he is subjected to the humiliation of mind control via the MMM cable network. In an attempt to contact Kilroy, Jonathan jams the airwaves of the MM network, replacing a mind control session with outlawed footage of a Kilroy concert. Inspired by Jonathan's message, Kilroy plots his escape. Late one night, he makes a daring attept to free himself by overpowering a Roboto guard. Disguised as a Roboto Kilroy moves freely throughout the city leaving graffiti coded messages for Jonathan. Jonathan discovers the "Rock Code" which leads him to the old Paradise Theatre, now the site of Dr. Righteous' Museum of Rock Pathology. There he sees the last Kilroy concert mechanically depicted by Kilroy look-alike robots as the violent end of rock 'n' roll...and there, he and Kilroy meet for the first time.
This song tells of Kilroy's escape from prison disguised as a Roboto. It exposes the thoughts in Kilroy's mind during his escape, as he reflects on the irony of his circumstances.
Here is an essay by T. J. Myers, which received an "A+" in a freshman writing class at Syracuse University in 1999:
Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto
New technology in industry is putting blue-collar workers out of work.
The album “Kilroy was here,” by the group Styx tells a fictitious story about a world famous rock star named Kilroy. The story is set in the near future, and each song tells a different part of that story and social meaning. The story briefly goes like this: Dr. Everett Righteous, the founder and leader of a group called MMM (Majority for Musical Morality), has his own television channel and “preaches” about the immorality of rock music. At one of Kilroy’s concerts the MMM storms the stage, captures Kilroy, and sends him to jail with other captured rock and roll stars. Also in this time, Robotos (robots) have taken over the meaningless jobs once done by humans, like factory labor, and work in jails. In Kilroy’s jail the MMM forced mind controlling propaganda at the rock and roll inmates all day. Meanwhile the leader of the rock and roll resistance, Jonathan, jams the signal and replaced it with an outlawed tape of one of Kilroy’s concerts. Kilroy’s hope is reborn and he escapes inside one of the “security guard” robotos. After his escape he leaves the roboto “mask” on while he searches out Jonathan. When he meets up with Jonathan he can finally escape from his “mask.”
This song’s literal meaning depicts his escape from jail, but the true meaning of this song is hidden in the words and expresses Dennis DeYoung’s (the lead vocalist and writer) thoughts about the average blue-collar worker.
He first educates the listeners about the workers in their meaningless lives. He sings of how the workers are human on the inside, but on the outside, treated sub-human, as if they only exist for the company’s profit.
My heart is human, my blood is boiling, my brain I.B.M
I’m not a robot without emotions-I’m not what you see
This is a metaphor about how being forced into working in dulldrum factory jobs is dehumanizing. He explains the futility of the workers efforts to get out of this type of work.
I’m just a man whose circumstances went beyond his control
Beyond my control-we all need control
I need control- we all need control
There is no way for these workers to escape their jobs, except through the use of robotos to do take their place.
He starts thanking the robots for taking their jobs in the third verse. This might seem contradictory to his entire ideal that robots are bad, but he is merely being facetious and sarcastic. The entire third verse is devoted to thanking the robotos for taking their jobs so they don’t have to “suffer” any more. The irony is explained in the part after the “thanking” when he states:
The problem's plain to see: too much technology
Machines to save our lives. Machines dehumanize.
He sympathizes with the workers because machines are taking the place of human jobs. This can be good or bad. Good in the sense that now people’s intelligence doesn’t have to be insulted anymore, but bad because people are losing their jobs. But what if the recently fired worker does not have the education to go out and find another job?
In short, they are screwed. Mr. Roboto is a song that addresses the issue of class, specifically the lower working class. In a world that technology is advancing so rapidly that robots and other automated machines take over human jobs, it’s too easy to overlook how this can affect people on the personal level. In fact the end of this song explains the workers getting “fed up.” They throw away the mask, so everyone can see who they really are, human beings with feelings.
“Mr. Roboto” explains what it feels like to lose your job to a machine.
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