Both Numan's music and his transgressive public image are known for his sense of alien coldness and embrace of avant-garde influences. Becoming of the founding fathers of electronic-based pop music, Numan's reach extends far beyond his lone American hit, “Cars,” which still stands as one of the defining new wave singles. That seminal track helped usher in the synthpop era on both sides of the Atlantic, especially his native England, where he was a genuine pop star and consistent hit-maker during the early 80s. Even after new wave had mostly petered out, Numan’s influence continued to make itself felt. His dark, paranoid vision, theatrically icy persona, and clinical, robotic sound were echoed strongly in the work of many goth rock and (especially) industrial artists during the past several decades. For his part, Numan just kept on recording, and, by the late 90s, he’d become a hip name to drop. Prominent alternative rock bands have covered his hits, with Numan himself playing live with Nine Inch Nails briefly to much acclaim, and a goth-flavored brand of industrial-type music christened darkwave looks to him as its mentor.
Numan was born Gary Anthony James Webb on March 8, 1958, in Hammersmith, West London, U.K. A shy child, music brought him out of his shell; he began playing guitar in his early teens and played in several short-lived bands. Inspired by the amateurism of the punk movement, he joined a punk rock group called "The Lasers" in 1976. The following year, he and bassist Paul Gardiner split off to form a new group, dubbed "Tubeway Army", with drummer Bob Simmonds. They recorded a couple of singles under futuristic pseudonyms (Valerium [or Valerian], Scarlett, and Rael, respectively) that attempted to match their new interest in synthesizers. Scrapping that idea, Webb rechristened himself Gary Numan and replaced Simmonds with his uncle Jess Lidyard. Thus constituted, "Tubeway Army" cut a set of "punk-meets-Kraftwerk" demos for Beggars Banquet in early 1978. That work ended up being released several years later as 'The Plan'.
That summer, Numan sang a TV commercial jingle for jeans, and toward the end of the year the group’s debut album, 'Tubeway Army', appeared. Chiefly influenced by Kraftwerk and David Bowie’s Berlin-era collaborations with Brian Eno, the album also displayed Numan’s fascination with the electronic, experimental side of glam rock (such as in some works by Roxy Music and Ultravox) and Krautrock (such as in some works by Can). He also drew much influence from transgressive science fiction writers such as Philip K. Dick, people who challenged conventional thinking through exploring the affects of new technology.
The group’s second album, 'Replicas', was released in early 1979. Its accompanying single, “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?", was a left-field smash, topping the UK charts and sending 'Replicas' to number one on the album listings as well. The record also included “Down in the Park", an oft-covered song that stands as one of Numan’s most 'gothic' outings.
Numan had become a star overnight, despite critical distaste for any music so heavily reliant on synthesizers, and he formed a larger backing band that replaced "Tubeway Army", keeping Gardiner on bass. "The Pleasure Principle" was released in the fall of 1979 and spawned Numan’s international hit “Cars”, which reached the American Top Ten and hit number one in the UK; the album also became Numan’s second straight British number one. He put together a hugely elaborate, futuristic stage show and went on a money-losing tour, and also began to indulge his hobby as an amateur pilot with his newfound wealth.
Numan returned in the fall of 1980 with "Telekon", his third straight chart-topping album in Britain, and scored two Top Ten hits with “We Are Glass” and “I Die: You Die”; “This Wreckage” later reached the Top 20.
In 1981, Numan announced his retirement from live performance, playing several farewell concerts just prior to the release of "Dance". While "Dance" and its lead single, “She’s Got Claws”, were both climbing into the British Top Ten, Numan attempted to fly around the world, but in a bizarre twist was arrested in India on suspicion of spying and smuggling. The charges were dropped, although authorities confiscated his plane. His retirement proved short-lived, but when he returned in 1982 with "I, Assassin", some of his popularity had dissipated - perhaps because of the retirement announcement, perhaps because the charts were overflowing with synthpop, much of which was already expanding on Numan’s early innovations (which were starting to sound repetitive). "I, Assassin" was another Top Ten album, and “We Take Mystery (To Bed)” another major hit, but in general Numan’s singles were starting to slip on the charts; the title track of 1983’s "Warriors" became his last British Top Twenty hit (excluding reissues and collaborations).
Numan and Beggars Banquet subsequently parted ways, and Numan formed his own Numa label, kicking things off with "Berserker" in late 1984. Sadly, longtime collaborator "Paul Gardiner" died earlier that year from a drug overdose. 1985’s "The Fury" became the final Numan album to reach the British Top 30. Over the next few years, Numan collaborated occasionally with "Shakatak’s" Bill Sharpe, releasing four singles and one album from 1985-1989.
Following 1986’s "Strange Charm", Numan signed with IRS, but the relationship was fraught with discord from the start. IRS forced Numan to change the title of 1988’s "Metal Rhythm" to "New Anger" for his first North American release since 1981 (and also remixed several tracks), refused to release his soundtrack for the film "The Unborn", and would not fund any supporting tours for "New Anger" or 1991’s "Outland". When his contract expired, Numan returned to Numa for 1992’s "Machine + Soul".
1994 brought the release of the industrial-tinged "Sacrifice", the first glimmering of Numan’s return to critical favor and underground hipness. Over the next few years, bands like "Hole", "The Foo Fighters", and "Smashing Pumpkins" covered Numan songs in concert, and Marilyn Manson recorded “Down in the Park” for the B-side of the “Lunchbox” single; moreover, "Nine Inch Nails" cited Numan as an important influence. With his fan base refreshed and expectations raised, Numan delved deeper into gothic, metal-tinged industrial dance on 1997’s "Exile". However, he didn’t truly hit his stride in this newly adopted style until 2000’s "Pure", which was acclaimed as his best work in years and expanded his cult following into new territory.
In 2003, Numan enjoyed fleeting chart success once again with the "Gary Numan vs Rico" single “Crazier”, reaching No.13 in the U.K. chart. Rico, who is an up and coming artist from Glasgow, also worked on the remix album "Hybrid" which featured reworkings of older songs in a more contemporary industrial style. In 2004 Numan took control of his own business affairs again, launching the label Mortal Records and releasing a series of live DVDs as a precursor to his highly anticipated new studio album, "Jagged" which was released on 13 March 2006. An album launch gig took place at "The Forum, London" on 18 March 2006. Numan announced a UK tour commencing in April 2006 and plans to tour other countries, including the USA, during the year in support of the release. Numan also to launched a "Jagged" website to showcase the new album.
Numan contributed vocals to four tracks on the April 2007 release of Ade Fenton’s debut solo album "Artificial Perfect" on his new industrial/electronic label Submission, including songs “The Leather Sea”, “Slide Away”, “Recall” and the first single to be taken from the album, “Healing”. The second single to be released in the UK was “The Leather Sea” on July 30, 2007.
In 2008, he released a double CD remix album "Jagged Edge", based around 2006’s critically acclaimed "Jagged", co-produced with Ade Fenton. The pair are currently in the studio working on Numan’s 18th studio album "Splinter", due for release in 2009.
While Numan is known for his electronic music innovations, he prefers real instruments. He explained in an interview with Songfacts: "I didn't go the technology route wholeheartedly, the way Kraftwerk had done. I considered it to be a layer. I added to what we already had, and I wanted to merge that. There's plenty of things about guitar players, and bass players, and songs I really love that I didn't particularly want to get rid of. The only time I did get rid of guitars was on Pleasure Principle, and that was in fact a reaction to the press. I got a huge amount of hostility from the British press, particularly, when I first became successful. And Pleasure Principle was the first album I made after that success happened. I became successful in the early part of '79 and Pleasure Principle came out in the end of '79, in the UK, anyway. And there was a lot of talk about electronic music being cold and weak and all that sort of stuff. So I made Pleasure Principle to try to prove a point, that you could make a contemporary album that didn't have guitar in it, but still had enough power and would stand up well. That's the only reason that album didn't have guitar in it. But apart from that one album they've all had guitars - that was the blueprint."
The official website can be found here: www.garynuman.co.uk
Down in the Park
Gary Numan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Where the mach-men meet the machines
And play 'kill-by-numbers'
Down in the park with a friend called five
I was in a car crash
Or was it the war
But I've never been quite the same
Little white lies like I was there
Like it was built in one day
You can watch the humans
Trying to run
Oh look there's a rape machine
I'd go outside if he'd look the other way
You wouldn't believe
The things they do
Down in the park
Where the chant is "death, death, death"
Until the sun cries morning
Down in the park with friends of mine
We are not lovers
We are not romantics
We are here to serve you
A different face but the words never change
Gary Numan's song "Down in the Park" paints a cryptic picture of a dystopian future world where technology seems to have taken over entirely. The seemingly innocent title of the song is misleading as the macho men are meeting with machines to play kill-by-numbers, creating an eerie atmosphere where we imagine human life in a completely different context. Numan's vocals are as important as the lyrics, he shares this observation with his listeners, adding emphasis to the dark tone of the song. The singer of the song recalls a traumatic event, but they can't seem to remember if it was a car crash or at war, and it's still affecting them until this point. With little white lies, they try to convince others that they had been there. Then, Numan describes a local eatery called Zom-Zom's, which seems to have been built overnight, and the humans are attempting to flee from something ominous. The rape machine mentioned in the lyrics plays on this unsettling feeling related to the loss of control and the unknown. The singer of the song is afraid to go outside, indicating even more fears about what's awaiting him in the outside world.
The last stanza of the song puts the singer into perspective as someone who is not a lover nor a romantic, but in this world, he is a performer. He is here to serve his audience and offer them a glimpse of this stark, dark world. He is here to prove a point, and the words that he speaks are necessary for us to understand the dystopian world that Gary Numan has created in the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Down in the park
The scene is set in a park
Where the mach-men meet the machines
Men who act like machines gather together
And play 'kill-by-numbers'
They engage in a game where killing is mechanical
Down in the park with a friend called five
The artist is in the park with a friend named Five
I was in a car crash
The artist was in a car accident
Or was it the war
The singer is uncertain if it was a car crash or the war that changed him
But I've never been quite the same
The singer has been permanently altered by traumatizing experiences
Little white lies like I was there
The artist tells small lies to cover up the truth
Come to "Zom-Zom's", a place to eat
There is a restaurant named Zom-Zom's in the park
Like it was built in one day
The restaurant was constructed quickly
You can watch the humans
The mach-men can observe the natural humans in the park
Trying to run
The humans try to flee the mach-men
Oh look there's a rape machine
There is a machine that is designed to rape
I'd go outside if he'd look the other way
The singer wants to avoid the machine
You wouldn't believe
The things they do
Down in the park
The park is a dark and twisted place
Where the chant is "death, death, death"
The mach-men chant about death
Until the sun cries morning
They continue this chant and activity until daybreak
Down in the park with friends of mine
The singer is also with other associates in the park
We are not lovers
There is no physical intimacy between the artist and associates
We are not romantics
They do not believe in romance
We are here to serve you
The artist and associates see themselves as providing a service
A different face but the words never change
The faces of the mach-men may be different but the theme of their actions remains the same
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Songtrust Ave, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Gary Anthony James Webb
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@zornbratton
Down in the park
Where the machmen
Meet the machines
And play 'Kill by numbers'
Down in the park
With a friend called 'Five'
I was in a car crash
Or was it the war
But I've never been
Quite the same
Little white lies
Like 'I was there'
Come to 'Zom Zoms'
A place to eat
Like it was built
In one day
You can watch the humans
Trying to run
Oh look
There's a rape machine
I'd go outside
If he'd look the other way
You wouldn't believe
The things they do
Down in the park
Where the chant is
'Death, death, death'
Until the sun cries morning
Down in the park
With friends of mine
We are not lovers
We are not romantics
'We are here to serve you'
A different face
But the words never change
@mrm8850
Down in the park
Where the mach-men meet the machines
And play 'kill-by-numbers'
Down in the park with a friend called five
I was in a car crash
Or was it the war
But I've never been quite the same
Little white lies like I was there
Come to "Zom-Zom's", a place to eat
Like it was built in one day
You can watch the humans
Trying to run
Oh look there's a rape machine
I'd go outside if he'd look the other way
You wouldn't believe
The things they do
Down in the park
Where the chant is "death, death, death"
Until the sun cries morning
Down in the park with friends of mine
We are not lovers
We are not romantics
We are here to serve you
A different face but the words never change
@khalidrashid6645
Gary Numan doesn’t get the recognition that he deserves, a true pioneer of early electronic music that paved the way for others after him
@joergdochnahl5130
Ist treu.
@nonewmsgs
Hear hear!
@WestbustahSaucedo
Yep
@DSmith-mg6ui
I remember that Robert Christgau, rock critic for the late great but now defunct Village Voice, once referred to him as "such a small talent".
@alexanderjames6328
@@DSmith-mg6ui That's what we'd expect from a 'clueless' American critic, not much going on from the neck up. Mr Numan is an underrated talent.
@goodlife6145
I had the song playing in my head as I walked through the empty city centre during most of 2020. It felt like a song whose time had come.
@StellaMayfair7
Wow, good call on matching this song to that weirdness! I didn't think of this song at the time but certainly felt that eeriness as I walked through downtown, surrounded by skyscrapers, but with nary a human in sight. "Spooky" doesn't begin to cover it.
@NuisanceMan
@@StellaMayfair7 No humans, but I didn't see any mach-men, either!
@jacquelineiona1996
I match this song to a park in Philadelphia in the late 70s and I was a teen ...some crazy sh*t happened to me and others in that creep park... I think about it when I listen, cannot help it. This song takes me there but I still love the song. There were several 'rape machines' that got away with it too. Tried with me but I escaped several times 🙏 and you wouldn't believe the things they did