Mr. Roboto
| "Mr. Roboto" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Styx | ||||
| from the album Kilroy Was Here | ||||
| B-side | "Snowblind" | |||
| Released | February 11, 1983 | |||
| Recorded | 1982 | |||
| Genre | Synthrock, new wave, synthpop | |||
| Length |
5:30(album) 4:44 (single) | |||
| Label | A&M | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Dennis DeYoung | |||
| Producer(s) | Styx | |||
| Styx singles chronology | ||||
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| Audio sample | ||||
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"Mr Roboto"
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"Mr. Roboto" is a song written by Dennis DeYoung of the band Styx, and recorded on the Styx album Kilroy Was Here. It was also released as a 45 RPM single in a 4:44 radio edit, which has the synthesizer intro removed (available on "Greatest Hits" released by PolyTel in Canada in 1992), with the song "Snowblind" (from their previous album Paradise Theatre) as the B-side. In Canada, where they were generally more popular than in their native U.S., it went to #1 on the RPM national singles chart,[1] becoming their third single to top the charts in that country (following "Babe" in 1979–80 and "The Best of Times" in 1981). In the U.S., it reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.[2]
Description and background
The song's chorus features the line, "Dōmo arigatō, Mr. Roboto", which has become a catchphrase.
The Japanese lyrics at the beginning of the song are as follows:
どうもありがとうミスターロボット (Dōmo arigatō misutārobotto)
また会う日まで (Mataauhimade)
どうもありがとうミスターロボット (Dōmo arigatō misutārobotto)
秘密を知りたい (Himitsu o shiritai)
The lyrics translate into English as follows:
Thank you very much, Mr. Robot
Until the day (we) meet again
Thank you very much, Mr. Robot
I want to know your secret
The song tells part of the story of Robert Orin Charles Kilroy (ROCK), in the rock opera Kilroy Was Here. The song is performed 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). The Roboto is a model of robot which does menial jobs in the prison. Kilroy escapes the prison by overpowering a Roboto prison guard and hiding inside its emptied-out metal shell. When Jonathan Chance (played by guitarist Tommy Shaw) finally meets Kilroy, at the very end of the song, Kilroy unmasks and says "I'm Kilroy! Kilroy!", ending the song.
The robot-like catchphrase was created with a vocoder. The song heavily features the Oberheim OB-Xa and PPG Wave synthesizers.
Stan Winston, who would become well-known through his work on Jurassic Park, designed the Roboto costume and mask, which is displayed prominently on the cover of the album Kilroy Was Here.[3] The track was released as the first single from the album at the last minute instead of "Don't Let It End" at the request of A&M Records. As a result of this song, the Japanese phrase "domou arigatou" entered popular American vernacular.[4] In addition, many have cited this song and the album as potentially having alienated older fans, some calling it "jumping the shark" for the band.[5] Though the song and album may not have resonated with older fans at the time, it remained relevant for younger generations and James Young has said that due to the song, "we're a part of pop culture."[6]
Composition
The song is not in any one key and is instead in a related set of modes. The intro begins in A-flat Mixolydian mode, ending in an F (dominant to B-flat). The singing begins, the chords alternating between a second-inversion B-flat (4–3 suspension resolution) and G-flat Lydian mode. Out of the "Domo" part, the song bursts into G-flat Lydian. It changes to E-flat minor Aeolian mode at "I am the Modren [sic] Man", and this is the dominant key for the remainder of the song. Some portions of the song transition to E-flat major (similar to a Picardy third) as a transition point (to the "secret, secret" part as a pivot chord (see modulation) and to A-flat Mixolydian, a modal change from the G-flat Lydian that the same part took in the beginning of the song). It transitions back to the familiar G-flat Lydian and then E-flat minor as the singer introduces himself as Kilroy.
Video
The song's video, directed by Brian Gibson, depicts Jonathan Chance (played by guitarist Tommy Shaw) walking in Rock Museum to meet Kilroy and a robot approaches. After this, it morphs into five robots moving and dancing. Shortly thereafter, the robots transform into the members of Styx and including a clean-shaven Dennis DeYoung (he shaved his trademark moustache off at the conclusion of the Paradise Theater tour in 1982 and has remained clean-shaven to this day). The video then alternates between the band playing the song on a stage and scenes from the Kilroy Was Here backdrop film. Then, the members of Styx morph back into the robots and DeYoung confronts the robots, screaming in the ear of one of the robots before collapsing. DeYoung awakens to see he is being experimented on and runs off. The video cuts back to the ending of the first scene and Jonathan Chance climbs on to the stage. Before the robot removes his mask to reveal Kilroy, another shot of the robot with lights on is used to end the clip.
Uses in media
Covers
- The Japanese new wave band Polysics covered the song in 2002.
- The American rock band The Protomen covered this song on their 2015 album The Cover Up.
- The German progressive metal band Annon Vin covered the song on their 1996 album A New Gate.
- The French progressive metal band Bender covered the song on their 1995 album Futura.
- Skylar Astin, as Jean Baptiste and with the cast of Throat Explosion, performed this song as a mash-up with Counting Stars on Glee's Season 5 episode City of Angels.
Other
In 1999, the song was featured in a TV commercial for the Volkswagen Golf, emphasizing the car's standard eight speaker cassette stereo system. [7]
The song "Mr. Roboto" is featured as a playable track in the 2009 music game Band Hero.
In March 2011, a Japanese restaurant, Mr. Robata, opened in New York City, citing that the name was chosen to reflect the style of Japanese cooking, robata, as well as the Styx song.[8]
In the Simpsons episode Team Homer, Homer sings a portion of the song in order to try to encourage his bowling team.
References
- ↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
- ↑ "The Hot 100 : Apr 30, 1983 | Billboard Chart Archive". billboard.com. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
- ↑ Wood, P. (2014, Apr 02). "5 things to know about Styx." Gazette, p. B4.
- ↑ Perusse, B. (2007, Mar 26). "With all these fans, who needs critics?" The Gazette.
- ↑ Penhollow, S. (2007, Jun 01). "For Styx, still best of times supergroup embedded in 'fabric of pop culture'." Gazette, p. W3.
- ↑ Ho, R. (2008, Jan 17). "Sound Check: Rock of ages rolls with fans." The Atlanta Journal–Constitution, p. P9.
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwsrMJ3DsiA
- ↑ Mulcahy, James (2011-03-23). "Zagat Buzz Blog: First Look: Mr. Robata, A Restaurant Inspired by Styx, March 23, 2011". Zagat.com. Retrieved 2013-07-09.
| Preceded by "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson |
Canadian RPM number-one single April 9–16, 1983 (2 weeks) |
Succeeded by "She Blinded Me with Science" by Thomas Dolby |
