Pocket Calculator
Kraftwërk Lyrics

@crankyoldperson6871

That’s so freaking cool.

@LAJ-47FC9

The guy in this video is so happy about the fact that he has a pocket calculator. I aspire to this level of excitement about everyday life.

@tylisirn

+Liara Ashlynn Jennings You have to remember that in 1981 pocket calculators were still quite a new thing, having only been generally available for less than 10 years and expensive for much of that time.

@michaeltsung9741

Also keep in mind that by holding down a special key, it plays a little melody....

@06eric

video? what video?

@danielfrancis7798

In 1981, I would have been excited to have a pocket calculator. That shot was expensive back then! Also o would be doubly excited if it made Speak and Spell sounds like this one does in the song.

@thegremlin9876

Liara Ashlynn Jennings have you ever heard other kraftwerk songs ?

@popcultureo4246

Rest In Peace Florian Schneider, you will be playing with your own pocket calculator in heaven!

@blixa2426

❤️😔✊🏻

@alejandrochavarria3059

grandiosooo

@cameronduffy6979

Heaven is thermodynamically unfavourable.

@Spartan7793

I'M THE OPERATOR WITH MY POCKET CALCULATOR
BEEP BOOP
BUUUUUUUURP

@user-jx3qv5dl3b

>BUUUUUUUURP

Lost.

@fabianmoracerdas.3366

Ya no existe el Yamaha, DX-7 el podia hacerlo con solo verlo.Todavia en 1995 se conseguia 850 000. Mil esta descontinuado.

@alex-E7WHU

Perfect.. 🤣

@paigelivesay2977

My geometry teacher won't stop playing this song in my class because we never bring calculators to class

@RhythmAddictedState

Your teacher is great :D

@roberto8650

I'm a math teacher. Tell your math teacher, if you are still in contact with them, that I am most pleased.

@jojo-uh9in

im gonna tell my kids that he\she was god

@johnk.2508

Who needs a calculator anymore? Our phones can be a calculator and so much more!

@mxs4193

John Kangas on exams you can’t use a phone because it would allow you to cheat. If you spend the whole time prepping for the exam calculating with your phone you won’t have the instincts for using a normal calculator and you’ll have trouble during the exam. Trust me, this has a big effect so don’t be lazy and carry your calculator

@bassanio65

RiP Florian Schneider. I've never found the special key that plays a little melody, but I will keep trying.

@jamesoffutt2801

Hopefully he did put it down for us to learn before he died

@ZanaGBYT

Chances are that this originated from a Casio VL-1 or similar toy

@MobiusBandwidth

@@ZanaGBYT I still have one of those.

@ZanaGBYT

@Dz Nutz well i am strictly referring to calculators that play melodies, but yeah

@havefun123for

Do you mean the Stylophone?

@AgentXPQ

This is so silly, but totally badass at the same time.

@rickprol-pc8ds

"Silly"?!? Hmm, not really Bad Ass Yes!!!!!!!

@asdawasda

rick prol dude his comment was 7 years ago

@chrisryan6464

Yeah he's probably not even alive anymore

@RelaxingWalks

I've been looking for a new YouTube channel to subscribe to. Thanks for commenting on this song.

@itsreeah2663

Yes

@ylette

I've never been able to tell whether Kraftwerk were ironic or genuine.

@Skoggangr

That's german humor

@porflepopnecker4376

They're both.

@jlande6

Wirebiter64 I would say both

@primeresearcher6538

Genuinely iconic ironic

@leoelliondeux

It’s called self-awareness

@ryanwilliams8750

RIP Florian. Ihre Musik wird weiterleben!

@AgentXPQ

I have a Japanese 45 of this on Green Vinyl.
As soon as I got past how absurd this song is, I began to consider it a masterwork.

@TheAlienGangster

Kraftwerk Masterwerk

@meowcow8279

I just found Kraftwerk. I thought to myself they are German Devo, in a way.

@deanbevilacqua6041

Aren’t Divo the American Kraftwerk 😵‍💫!

@sgtbilkothe3rd

@@deanbevilacqua6041 indeed, Kraftwerk existed for many years before Devo did.

@imnotwhoisaidiwasnt5756

I Love Kraftwerk; DEVO is better.

@kanirip

Until you have listened to this on vinyl and watched the needle surfing the wax while the beeps echo back and forth, you haven't lived

@jameshollingworth1607

Just listening to Pocket Calculator, I'm 53yrs, O the memory's came flooding back to my teens! Absolutely Splendid, seeing the old Album Covers too, should of kept all my Vinyl! JIMMY Hollingworth, York UK.

@marktangney89

My daughter is extremely Obsessed With Kraftwerk!! she loves them soo much!! she is 13 years old now and has been listening to kraftwerk since she was 1 and a half😊☺🇩🇪🎶

@arkansoul

52 people are still using an abacus...and not a pocket calculator...

@1Trupurpose

Or a slide ruler?

@troybradley1927

Or taking their shoes off to count with their fingers and toes.

@sdft1138

Or missclicked

@redlinefrenskytwo4245

They must be primitives for using an abacus.

@rahuldoes

214+

@craigbutler8351

I used to listen to the whole album while waiting for my sinclair zx81 to load up.

@rjjcms1

Those were the days :-/

@whammersbach

in reality the sinclair zx81 was waiting for YOU to load up!

@lelandsmith983

Just saw Kraftwerk live in Austin Texas, it was amazing, and this is the song still finding its way into my head almost a week later. Dubstep stands on the shoulders of Kraftwerk

@GamingRevenant

I'M THE OPERATOR WITH MY POCKET CALCULATOR.

PRICELESS :D

@TyNyTcz

look at the live performance, you'll get it.

@LaptopLarry330

TyNyTcz I agree.  In the concert performance, the members of Kraftwerk are playing miniature instruments, and are grooving to the rhythm of the music.  They even let members of the audience in the front rows press some of the keys on their devices to set off preprogrammed sounds.  This is as about as interactive that Kraftwerk ever got with their audience during their concerts in the 1980s. 
 

@blazeelvirafirehoof7844

I AM ADDING. AND SUBTRACTING. I'M CONTROLLING. AND COMPOSING

@alphayun7401

whats a pocket calculator?

@steelcitydubber

Timeless

@LDUKMusic

Cortana told me that is is her favorite song. On the windows phones.

@UltimatePerfection

She's an operator on her pocket calculator.

@MCVirella

*****, Cortana also told me that her favorite song is Bill Murray singing the theme song to Star Wars.

@PositivelyNegativeOfficial

LDUKMusic Well, Cortana has led us all here. I believe it's a sign.

@kevaughndennis5620

lol she also led me here

@MikiBabe

me too xD Hahah

@NYKgjl10

Easily one of my favorite KraftWerk masterpiece.....This still sounds fresh after all these years =)

@alreason

the model is also cool aswell

@NYKgjl10

@@alreason No doubt about it sir.

@aresaurelian

@agent8359

By pressing down the special key it plays a little melody.

@davidmorland7237

AgentUnknown Just love this !.

@RelaxingWalks

@@davidmorland7237 Beep beep, bloooooop.

@wolf1303

Classic!

@dishwasherjones6392

90 people didn't press down a special key that plays a little melody.

@headroomofficial8511

Love that comment man haha

@tonydev631

No words can describe the joy this brings

@crsd1966

It really IS more FUN to compute.

@nabucodonosorii9725

He is the operator with his pocket calculator.

@IHeartNoise

Smooth operator

@luisarturoleonfrausto8641

Nabucodonosor II He's ading

@dusathemaid

And subtracting

@ridjexmc

He's controlling

@Eva-ul3bv

and composing

@Kirke182

Saw them during the Computer World tour. When they came through during Autobahn, the audience was white intellectuals and some of the hipper kids who heard it on the radio and came to check it out. By the time they came through for this tour, half the audience was black. Kraftwerk had such an influence on the techno movement that the black kids all knew who they were cuz DJs were playing Kraftwerk in their sets at the clubs. This was in Detroit, btw, the home of techno. It was funny how quickly and thoroughly the audience had changed and it was exactly what the band was aiming for. Not bad for a group of clean-cut white guys from Germany. This album predicted the rise of the computer in 1981 when computers had yet to make a dent in society. Few synths at this time were computers and the only games were tennis and chess. But they predicted the computer would rise up and conquer the world but that we need not be afraid of this. In fact, we would be completely seduced by it and we have been. Way ahead of their time.

@tadknuf7979

So...black people can be 'intellectuals'? That seems a bit racist to me dude..

@tadknuf7979

@@adarshvenkateswaran795 HAHA true.

@DisgruntledPigumon

@@adarshvenkateswaran795 @datastuff and the amount of you finding racism that doesn’t exist in every comment and replying with actual prejudice makes you sound like you were born 20 years ago.

@luisgustavo5210

@@tadknuf7979 I got it this way: white intellectuals= elitist crowd. The guy above doesn't used the right words to express this, but i think that was his point.

@AngryBrother360

Thanks to Electrifying MoJo!.

@zachhaywood1564

This song is just so endearingly silly, I love it

@FurlogTheGiant

Texas Instruments                         brought me here

@music2obscureyou330

Furlog Giant And they dont have a clue!

@vladtheimpaler5550

smoking a bowl at 2 am brought me here........

@mfmatthew420

DOWN TEXAS INSTRUMENTS UP AMALOG DEVICES YUUUP

@laurenklitsch3600

Mars instruments brought me here

@mfmatthew420

@@music2obscureyou330 down Texas instruments up analog devices!! 🔥🔥🔥

@TheDallasDJ

By pressing down a special key, it plays a little melody. (Classic)

@MrCrazytodd

I've officially fond the most geekest music in the world. It's this.

@ShamrockParticle

it's great, isn't it?
+1

@schaferhundschmidt1798

The German and Japanese versions are even geekier.

@GB3770

check out the square root remix - that shits insane....

@rustykuntz94

I'm sorry but DEVO IS that a way >

@_ms.mannequin_

Whatever. It's awesome.

@lupodelupis3672

Kraftwerk's electropop is really timeless!

@willthethrill180

This was my Friday celebration song back in High School. Good memories rockin out to this gem during 6th period 😎

@MrWeedle420

I came here because I like Kraftwerk.

@helenarichard

I came here because it reminded me of Macron

@dubdeuce1517

yeah

@thewolfin

I came here because Pocket Operators look like calculators

@davidmorland7237

There's not a better reason than that !.

@fuckamericanidiot

Clap.....................................................................clap.

@reddogvideo6524

When I first heard this in 1981 on the old CFNY whilst driving,, I was mesmerized from the very first notes. I cranked it ... What IS this ... SOUND?? Hard to appreciate in today's terms but in a world way before cellphones, laptops & the internet, there was something so futuristic about Pocket Calculator and Kraftwerk. The track didn't sound like a typical synthesizer. Not any bass I ever heard. The voices detached, robotic, continental.. 

Then I thought, BAM! Computers made this song. Computers!!! I had no idea that this was even possible.
I thought it was the future of music. I was at least partly right. Love the Kraftwerk still!

@lundsweden

Probably a little Casio VL-1 (also known as VL-Tone) on bass and some other sounds. There is a little toy like instrument in one section called a Stylophone. Other sounds are the Maestro drum machine (hacked) and the Speak & Spell Startup and function sounds. There could be a Texas Instruments Language Translator on there as well. Kraftwerk were into chiptunes long before the Chiptune genre!

@reddogvideo6524

@@lundsweden 40 years on, the song is still very cool to me, compared with some of the 80s schlock that was so forgettable. Whatever computers they used back in the day, Kraftwerk were game-changers in the emerging euro-techno sound.

@BarbieChaite

@@lundsweden I have the VL-1 but didn't know we could make the bass onto it

@acuarius2370

My friend Robert McGregor (RIP) introduced me to Kraftwerk by giving me this album... Best album i ever had (Tijuana Baja California Mexico)

@petergorm

If you have a nice stereo, this is amazing to listen to on good volume!

@cacophonycake2234

I'm convinced these guys time-traveled back to the 70s/80s & gave us their music from far into the future!
They're simply OUTSTANDING! Trained in classical music, went Prog-Rock in the early 70s, expressed musical ideas & compositions with mechanical instruments ... ever-filled with HEART & SOUL ... I LOOOOOVVVE KRAFTWERK!

@ostapbender4414

The Godfathers of Techno!

@nitty5771

So right'

@mo1168

ich schäme mich dafür das kraftwerk für techno missbraucht wird :-D deren idee war sicher nicht dumpfe idioten zu bespaßen

@AndySo2000

Id have to disagree, lots of folks were making electronic music at the same period of time. It's like saying pink floyd created raves. I know people  will hate me saying that, and I'm a guy who was a dj for 15 years and also a producer who releases on 5 labels. I can't find anything on this that resembles techno, maybe 90s electro breaks, but not really techno. By techno do you mean the genre itself, or are you trying to say edm by calling it techno?

@yyz4761

+Andy S Dude? Seriuosly? Lots of folks? 90's? You are comparing genres? Fucknuts, these guys came out of the 70's ,there was no Techno, electronica, house, acid, anything,..... Can you possibly be more obtuse?
They are the founders, the pioneers, deal with it, give them credit. Were you even alive back then? That is a rhetorical question. When these guys dropped their shit, it blew peoples minds and opened the doors for the rest, give props or fuck off!

@eggwhisk

I realise this thread is very old but I think Kraftwerk were instrumental in taking synthesised music to the next level with sequencers etc, and being unashamedly 'electronic' about it - just like techno. Some 80s hip-hop/breakdance acts sampled Kraftwerk (Afrika Bambaaata) and purely subjectively I think they wanted to be techno.
That said Donna Summer's I Feel Love is IMO the earliest Techno track... would be interested to know other opinions

@clariessagaines5607

Ich liebe Kraftwerk!!

@valyri

I love how the Translate button even translates the name "Kraftwerk" to power plant. Makes sense, I guess x3

@blackcitroenlove

+Khoven That's exactly what it means :)

@valyri

blackcitroenlove I know thattt, I just found it to be a bit silly and amusing.

@blackcitroenlove

+Khoven Ah, I see. I apologise. I sometimes misunderstand.

@BigHotSauceBoss69

A MILLION BASS-BOOSTED TRAP RAP SONGS COULD NEVER COMPARE TO HOW HARD THIS BANGER GOES

@barneyhooky294

Big FACTS yo!

@TheBradcake

This is the epitome of human creativity

@joevillarreal9953

I was so excited when I first got my pocket calculator back in 1984. I would of LOVED this song if I knew it existed back then 😃

@factionfrenzy

WE GETTIN OUTTA THE MATHS LESSON WITH THIS ONE🔥🔥🔥💀💀💀💯💯💯🥶🥶🥶

@ruthdixon7807

by this point most of the world had caught up with them, but no one else was able to craft such great pop from grafting sounds.

@EctoBuzz

I remember buying the 45rpm vinyl record back in the days. It was fluorescent yellow.

@markli3889

EctoBuzz still got mine 😆

@BeefheartLynch

I know it's an old thread, but I also had the yellow vinyl 45. The B side was Dentaku (Pocket Calculator in Japanese) I made a ton of friends with that 45 and copious amounts of hash.

@driverkaldie

These guys where there time ahead by decades, still great music !

@fotis1964

Centuries not decades.

@cpcnw

I was the first kid in my school to own a calculator. It was a Sinclair Cambridge and cost me a small fortune in AAA batteries. I made it from a kit which cost £14.99 an took me a year to save up for. It had a divide by zero bug which would put it into a kind of super fast countdown mode.

@David_Rafuse

A fine machine...but it was no TI-30 😏

@michaelmertens8879

I have the original Casio FX-501P calculator that was the first calculator able to produce music. It was purchased in 1978 at Blue Lake Discounts in Madison, WI. I had just graduated from UW...Go Bucky. I still use the calculator all the time. First program I wrote on it was a mortgage calculator!

@Made1984.

I was reading a book entitled Extraordinary Vinyl and this single was issued as a glow in the dark disc with a translucent sleeve.

@AK-Drakoin

I saw them live last night for their 3D tour! It was absolutely amazing and now all their songs are stuck in my head

@ronalds2080

Brings me back to when i got
My first stereo installed in my first car. I bought this cassette
To try out the cassette player.
Awesome tape.

@sissonsk

The carcasses of my calculators litter my house.

@josielpontocom

27 people never had operated a pocket calculator

@conanlimaperu

Como disfruto estos sonidos! ! ! ! Bien Kraftwerk! Bien. Nunca pasaran de moda. Saludos desde Lima - Perú.

@Tambov40

I heard this song a grand total of one time c. 1982-1986 on the radio, and they didn't announce who the artist was; I've thought about the song a few times since then and finally researched it today and found out today who the artist is 30+ years later.

@leofreitas2532

Basically this influenced 100% of video games ost

@MYFAVORITES5

Yup.

@jimmy_jamesjams_a_lot4171

There’s something strikingly similar to the mixing of this record, and those records of Jean-Michel Jarre. It starts out analogous to how a day starts: with the sun coming out in the morning. The clouds bringing their shade, the activities of birds and the ebb and flow of the seaside. Those leads that bring these embellishments as though it were God breathing fresh air into all life and every facet of nature. DEFINITELY something shared in Jean Michel Jarre tradition. I feel SO LUCKY to live in a place where great humans have been compelled to produce this type of audio performance. Musicians of this caliber are themselves Gods. To be sure, I only need to listen to their creations!!

@larrycwik1960

Jean-Michel Jarre is another great, along with Kraftwerk.

@JCWarrior247

I asked Dragon Assistant if it was a robot and it said "I'm the operator with my pocket calculator". Looked it up and here I am cool song.

@yyz4761

+Lex Graham That is funny!

@johnlow1201

Kraftwerk.issuper.genial.group

@FMDad-dm5qo

About 2:21, when the main theme comes back, is when you realize this funny little tune has built up a lot of momentum

@Irisfall7

Cortana directed me here because it was her favorite song

@MyurrDurr

She told me her fav song was Danny Boy?!?

@puffynoodle5997

Me too.

@StardustKarma

same XD

@weirdestweirdo9445

Same here.

@futurepaver2039

SAME xD

@AlexZawodniak

Such a simple melody, but genius nevertheless! One of their more laid-back songs.

@38wonderfullife

Just remember simple is hard to make

@davidwilliammusic

Yeah its total genius

@BarbieChaite

@@davidwilliammusic the bass line grooves

@otters-vintage-all-sorts

​@@38wonderfullifeBauhaus principle, which describes Kraftwerk perfectly.

@davidbarradine7902

Casio fx 602p programmable calculator was used for some of the instruments on this track. one of the best programmable calculators ever made.

@nutlet1

coolest

@MrVelna

Are you sure ? Thought it was the former fx 502p ...

@remcovandenengel6496

Stylophone was used for sure

@ladyrob4110

This song hit the states in the early 80's and we went nuts over it. You had to play this song at every house party!!! Thanx

@marcosvelasquez5924

the first foreigner song i heard and i loved it... thanks for share it

@diamondcreeperfilms1836

Kraftwerk is such a cool band. I saw them play live!!!!! IT WAS SOOOO COOL 

@jonathandellasantina7715

You're lucky!

@robertmelia3780

The start of modern dance music. 🌹

@yyz4761

I don't know who this"Cortana" is but if she's turning this many people on to Kraftwerk she is alright by me!

@christinaocasio

+yyz Cortana is the new Windows assistant, like Siri. It operates on both Windows and Android phones and tablets.

@yyz4761

+Christina Ocasio Thank you, this was the first I ever heard of it.

@alexandercellamare308

+Christina Ocasio also from the game halo, that's where they got her from.

@IVR02

She's the shitty Microsoft knockoff of Siri.

@yyz4761

+alexander cellamare Cool, thanks for the reply.

@APoleYouKnow

"I am adding."

As if that would impress me...

"...And subtracting!"

REAL SHIT?!

@apolloptx

My friends band used to perform a punk version of this song at their shows. It was fucking amazing. Super heavy bass.

@MrJunkieBrewster

I would have very much enjoyed to see your friend and his band perform that.

@rjay4019

That too cool!!! What an original idea.

@Jaimebugs

1981 FOREVER!!!

@busystudying6711

I’m forever grateful that my physics teacher played this during tests

@lupodelupis3672

Kraftwerk's electronic music stimulates the mind! 😉

@deondewit3175

When I press a key it plays a little melody. Classic. Can only be Kraftwerk.

@rainmaker690

I recall hearing and dancing to this as a kid when this came out (yes, I am aware I'm dating myself--yeah, I'm old and decrepit---hee hee hee) it was just a nice,goofy,little funky tune that was fun to listen to on the radio (in the pre-Internet days.)  Interestingly enough, the majority of Kraftwerk's music (and the Art Of Noise,too) were played only on local R&B stations in the Detroit area---apparently they were too darn weird for the mainstream pop stations, but they went on to influence the techno scene anyway.

@FallinForInfinity101

My computer's favorite song, apparently

@powderphysics

Since everyone else is announcing where they got here from: I was on a road trip and someone added this to the music list. I loved it so much I just had to come and find it

@bkrbyex4339

Did it have the song.."autobahn" on it too?

@cameliarencher5189

Pocket calculator was an introduction to high tech and the industry.

@robophreeq

When I first heard this, I thought it was the most ridiculous and silly song ever written. Couldn't stand it. Then I listened to it a few more times, and I thought, well, that's kind of catchy, I guess. Then I listened to it a few more times, and I thought... This is the greatest song ever written in the history of the WORLD. Amazing. Kraftwerk - LEGENDARY.

@Electrohedron

The dry voice fooled me at first. It doesn't have to be filled with complexity and virtuosity in order to be a piece of art.

@leesverder2019

Funny reaction

@bkrbyex4339

I know the type of people who loved this song

@pankaburek59

I discovered this song not long time ago i think months ago

I remember my first hours after finding out kraftwerk and hitting replay at telephone call and radioactivity

@richard7645

It just oozes greatness!

@bobgreen623

This is really funky!

@dylanelder5390

Sounds just like a retro game

@SonicMLE

I met Kraftwerk on Thursday in Chicago. Had to admit that Pocket Calculator is still my fav Kraftwerk tune. So silly and fun. 

@mraaronhd

Oh wow! PM Dawn sampled this on their song “If I wuz you”. I noticed it as soon as I heard it!

@ig-8892

SOMEONE NEEDS TO DO A CALCULATOR COVER OF THIS SONG, IT'D BE PERFECT!

@loreleiofthemist

https://youtu.be/jEDChHFUiVA

@miranda7598

No way its classic.

@xxJ0xx

It’s been 40 years since I heard this. This was popular in the 80’s when breaking and popping were big.

@scottrhodes6234

Thanks for the stroll down memory lane. I really appreciated it.

@Sw33tG4mer

This is very catchy and good.

@joeb1336

great song with such a great tune, SICK TUNE

@davidwilliammusic

The music is so infectious - one of my favourites from them

@planetosirf7958

the person in this digital audiovisual product is the operator and controller of his small sized calculator that fits inside his pocket

@ralucagymnast

This is an incredible song, one of my faves ever.

@alexwason8292

I'm so glad Craig Ferguson told me about Kraftwerk. It is glorious.

@yyz4761

+Wade Reese Yes indeed! Birth of electronic music and the birth of video music at the same time, all in one. Glorious indeed!

@briteness

I used to have a single of this. The vinyl was the yellow color seen in this video, and the sleeve was a black-and-white graphic image of this picture of the computer, printed onto clear plastic. I've gotten rid of hundreds of records through the years and I almost never miss the ones I let go, but I wish I still had that one. No idea what actually happened to it.

@geoffharris5472

I remember the first time I herd man machine, I was hooked, and 30 something years later I still am….
There will never be another Kraftwerk

@aprilmoon7680

Danke Florian Schneider.

@matt-irby

Reminds me of the fun of math.

@yyz4761

+Matthew Irby Of course! When your adding.... and subtracting.

@cheshirecat5824

As Kraftwerk said it best - I'm the operator with my pocket calculator 😁

@MariusIosifTodea

I really love Kraftwerk even now,they created my musical culture

@MrTomkimber

I'm a Kraftwek noob - enjoying this a lot though!

@Dreamskater100

Lol! I love Kraftwerk! What's a noob?! Curious!

@michaeltsung9741

A newcomer

@opposite.

Kraftwek?????

@AstonMerryGold4Ever1

Im only 14 and i just heard kraftwerk and their music, and im really starting to love kraftwerk

@trasee8319

@A security guard at Black mesa east wing hey there

@teeeeeveeeee314

This and 'The Mix' version of Radioactivity are neck and neck for my fave Kraftwerk song of all time!

@brian_snapp

The break dancing crews in my neighborhood used to play lots of Kraftwerk.