2016 had a rough start for music lovers. With so many extraordinary musicians passing, it got me thinking about the impact music has on our lives. Music is both an influencer and a mirror. It creates trends and it reflects them. Of all of the deaths this year, David Bowie’s was the most painful for me personally.
I’m not alone in my sadness. He was a musician, songwriter, painter, and actor. But above all, he was an innovator.
In celebration of innovation, I put together a list of songs that praise or denounce technology.
Joe Walsh – Analog Man
Welcome to cyberspace, I’m lost in the fog
Everything’s digital I’m still analog
When something goes wrong
I don’t have a clue
Daft Punk – Technologic
Buy it, use it, break it, fix it,
Trash it, change it, mail, upgrade it,
Charge it, point it, zoom it, press it,
Snap it, work it, quick, erase it”
Arcade Fire – Deep Blue
Put the cellphone down for a while
In the night there is something wild
Can you hear it breathing?
And hey
Put the laptop down for a while
In the night there is something wild
Damon Albarn – Everyday Robots
We are everyday robots on our phones
In the process of getting home
Looking like standing stones
Out there on our own
Styx – Mr. Roboto
You’re wondering who I am
Machine or mannequin
With parts made in Japan
I am the modern man
Kraftwerk – Pocket Calculator
I am adding and subtracting
I’m controlling and composing
By pressing down a special key, it plays a little melody
Kip’s Wedding Song from Napoleon Dynamite
Yes, I love technology
But not as much as you, you see
Jamiroquai – Virtual Insanity
Now there is no sound
If we all live underground
And now it’s virtual insanity
Forget your virtual reality
Grandaddy – Jed the Humanoid
Jeddy 3 is what we first called him
Then it was Jed
Now Jed’s system’s dead
Therefore so’s Jed
Radiohead – Paranoid Android
I may be paranoid
But no android
St. Vincent – Digital Witness
People turn the TV on
It looks just like a window, yeah
Flaming Lips – One More Robot/Sympathy 3000-21
As the lights blink faster and brighter,
One more robot learns to be something more than a machine
When it tries the way it does
Make it seem like it can love
Buggles – Video Killed the Radio Star
Video killed the radio star
In my mind and in my car
We can’t rewind, we’ve gone too far
Pictures came and broke your heart
Put down the blame on VCR
Bad Religion – 21st Century (Digital Boy)
See, I’m a 21st century digital boy
I don’t know how to read, but I’ve got a lot of toys
Neil Young – Computer Age
And I stand before you
Or else we just don’t see the other
Computer age. Computer Age
Kraftwerk – Home Computer
I program my home computer
Beam myself into the future
Technology changes lives. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, but all of us our in a position to change our future for the better. When you sit down in front of your computer screen and turn the ideas in your head into reality, you are creating a new future. I don’t think any one lyric sums up the importance of dreaming and creating than this one from David Bowie. I’m excited about the dreams the children of tomorrow will dream.
And these children that you spit on / As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations / They’re quite aware of what they’re going through
David Bowie – Changes
It’s your turn. What songs would you add to this list?
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