Tiny Little Robots
Tracy Howse
The
alternative rock group Cage the Elephant released their debut album on June 23, 2008 in Europe
and March 24, 2009 in the USA
( Cage the Elephant
). Track 4 on their album is Tiny Little Robots.
This song focuses mainly on the robotic esthetic of fear or paranoia, which is
prevalent through the music and the Lyrics
(there are discrepancies about the actual lyrics.)
The song
immediately starts with the lead singer screaming “when you get fired up” or
something along those lines (there is discrepancy on what he actually says.)
This gives the song a feeling of anguish and fear from the start. The guitars
and high hat starts immediately after this. The high hat initially hits right
on the beat, however, once the singer starts, the high hat switches to the off
beats. Throughout the song, the high hat switches between the on and off beats,
which causes a feeling of instability. This parallels the unstable society
which this song is portraying.
Another
aspect that has robotic esthetics is when there are back up voices joining in
to say “You’re a robot, they designed your life” and “You can join us on the
other side” during the chorus. These words said in unison gives the image of
the people being brainwashed, especially when they say “you can join us.” The
band also directly addresses the listener when they repeat “are you scared”
three times. This part builds because it starts with just clapping, then the
percussion and instrumentals build through the third “are you scared,”
especially the second time this happens. This resembles the paranoid feeling
and the sensation that the fear grows continuously.
The
intensity of the songs slows as it takes a more mesmerizing approach for the
last verse and chorus. The bridge continues this style and gives a sort of
trance or brainwashing feeling. This trance state the song takes seems to be
analogous with the kind of messages that society is sending the people. During
the outro, the voice talks about the “zombies” that pave the streets, which he
explains as “a lost generation, generically made.” This Idea of the following
generation lacking individuality combined with the breaking down of the music
exemplifies the robotic esthetic of things falling apart.
Throughout
this song, the lyrics amplify the lack of individualism and the society’s
denial of information and free thought. The lyrics “Crucify free thinkers” and
“Mass deception altered our perception, sold it to the children, made a new
connection” illustrate the idea that the people will be given thoughts to
think. The concept of feeding information to children is especially unnerving
because if they are taught something at an early age, it could be all they ever
know.
This idea ties
into the fear of being denied information, which is another theme in this song.
“They’ll keep you so amused, you’ll never taste the truth” gives way to the
same concept that Google uses (See Google: The Bias of Searches
or Eli Pariser's Filter Bubble
). This is the fear that people will be so amused by repetitive stimulations
that they will no longer seek new concepts or goals. In the outro, however, the
singer explains that there is some hope; “When amidst all the madness I saw a
flower. A dream that was creepin’ I kept in my sight.” This is the hope that an
individual mind could save the generations that have been brainwashed.
Further Readings:
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