Mr. Roboto

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For other uses, see Mr. Roboto (disambiguation).
Cover of Kilroy Was Here.
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Cover of Kilroy Was Here.

"Mr. Roboto" is a song written by Dennis DeYoung and performed by the band Styx on their 1983 concept album Kilroy Was Here. It is considered the most well-known Styx song among Generation Y, with the complicated concept of Kilroy Was Here offering comedic value to many.

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[edit] Description and background

The song's chorus features the line, "Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto", which has become an unlikely catch phrase. Domo arigato is one of several Japanese phrases that translate to English as "thank you, very much".

The song tells part of the fictitious story of Robert Orin Charles Kilroy (ROCK), in the rock opera Kilroy Was Here. The song is sung by Kilroy (as played by keyboardist Dennis DeYoung), a rock and roll performer who was placed in a futuristic prison for "rock and roll misfits" by the anti-rock-and-roll group the Majority for Musical Morality (MMM) and its founder Dr. Everett Righteous (played by guitarist James Young). He escapes the prison by overtaking a Roboto prison guard and hiding inside the emptied-out metal shell. The Roboto is a model robot which does menial jobs in the prison. The song may be understood as Kilroy's dedication to the robot that, through being sacrificed in such a way, allowed Kilroy to escape the prison.[1]

Stan Winston designed the Roboto costume and mask, which is displayed prominently on the cover of Kilroy Was Here.

[edit] In popular culture

[edit] The line "Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto"

[edit] Song played

  • In an episode of King of Queens, the song was heard over the radio in a car ride. The three characters bobbed their heads as the repetitious "Domo Arigato..." lyrics began.
  • A 1999 Volkswagen commercial starring Tony Hale. As Buster in the Arrested Development episode "The Ocean Walker", Hale dances and mimes to the song, in a reference to his prior role in the Volkswagen commercial.
  • The beginning of the first episode of the 2005 Japanese TV series Densha Otoko.
  • The 2005 Jim Carrey film Fun with Dick and Jane when Dick performs the song during a hold-up.
  • Internet phenom Fredryk Phox mimes a section of the song on one of his videos. The song is a cover version sung in Japanese.
  • The song was background music for one of the awards in the FIRST robotics competition.
  • At the end of the October 19, 2006 episode of My Name Is Earl ("Van Hickey"), Earl and Randy robot dance to the song with a strobe light flashing.
  • In Episode 9 of How I Met Your Mother ("Belly Full of Turkey"), the song is played in a strip club.
  • In Season 2 Episode 5 of My Name is Earl, the song is played during the end followed by Earl and Randy dancing in their motel with the strobe light.
  • Whitey Duvall dances to the song in the 2002 animated comedy Eight Crazy Nights.

[edit] Other

  • In his film Big Daddy, Adam Sandler lies to Joey Lauren Adams about once being invited up on stage to perform the voice of the robot at a concert.
  • In the Chappelle's Show sketches "Player Hater's Ball" and "The Time Haters", one of the featured haters is named "Mr. Roboto", but is Korean, not Japanese.
  • The German group Maschinenmensch did a Techno-Pop remix with the title "Domo Origato" in 2000. This was the only title the group ever released under their name.
  • A parody of the song, Bender Roboto, was recorded by Luke Ski in 2002 for his album Uber Geek. The song is sung from the point of view of Futurama's Bender.
  • In a Simpsons' "Treehouse of Horror" comic book, when the Simpsons and Ned Flanders go to Hell to save Ned's sons Rod and Todd, they cross the River Styx. While they do so, some of the lyrics of "Mr. Roboto" float around their heads.
  • The song was the opening theme music to the live-drama version of Densha Otoko, a story about an otaku falling in love with a beautiful girl out of his league.
  • Japanese electro-punk band, Polysics covered the song for their EP Lo-Bits. The song uses the chorus and the same chords, but has different verses and form.

[edit] Trivia

  • "Mr. Roboto" is Styx's second million selling single, following "Babe".
  • "Mr. Roboto" was #3 in the US and #1 in Canada.
  • In the world of P2P file-sharing, the song is often miscredited to Queen, though that band never recorded nor performed the song.
  • "Mr. Roboto" was ranked #61 on the "100 Greatest Songs of the 80's", according to viewers of VH1.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Kilroy Was Here. Unofficial Styx Lyrics Archive. Archived from the original on 2004-10-10.

[edit] External links