Datapanik
Momus Lyrics


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My computer broke down today
I'm going to throw my old friend away
Cos the hard disk crashed when the write head parked
In a quite calamitous way

And I won't get the data back
And I haven't backed anything up
I've lost a hundred gigs of memories
This whole thing's so fucked up

All my emails to the girlfriend
Who later disappeared
The videos of sex with her
I still watch to get off
Goodbye my old friend

My Photoshop experiments
With dogs with human heads
My huge harem of pregnant redheads
Lying with open legs
The endless masturbation fodder
The Instant Messenger chats
So goodbye friends

My computer broke down today
It's a personal tragedy
There's nothing much left of a human being
Without his memory

It's like I'll never have a life again
It's like I'll wander on an endless plain
Like my brain and face have been erased
And my life has been in vain

All the books that I was writing
All the albums half-composed
My photographs of holidays
I'll never take again
The cracked software from Pirate Bay
Before the pigs cracked down





My fuckbuddy list no longer exists
So goodbye friends

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Momus's song "Datapanik" deal with the theme of memory loss due to the failure of a computer. The song laments the loss of memories held within the computer, from personal files such as emails, photos, and compositions to more intimate ones like relationships, sexual videos, and masturbation fodder. The lyrics reveal the frustration of losing all these irreplaceable memories when there is no backup. The song narrates the feeling of being lost and erased, as if the brain and the face have been erased, leading to a life in vain. Momus reveals how technology has become so integral to our lives, affecting our behavior and emotions.


The song's title "Datapanik" is a play on words of the term "Cyberpanic." It refers to the state of anxiety experienced when we lose data or access to our online presence. The song echoes the growing dependence of humans on technology, especially computers. The vocalist compares the computer to an old friend, with whom he has shared his thoughts and experiences. The loss of such memories is akin to the death of a close friend.


Momus is also critical of the internet's role in facilitating piracy through the reference to "the cracked software from Pirate Bay." The softwares might have helped in personal work, but they ultimately contribute to the loss of information. The song is a warning and a lament of humankind's over-reliance on technology.


Line by Line Meaning

My computer broke down today
The moment my computer stopped working is the beginning of my personal tragedy.


I'm going to throw my old friend away
I have decided to dispose of this machine that I have associated with the computer-generated memories I've always relied on.


Cos the hard disk crashed when the write head parked
The computer's hard disk crashed due to the 'parking' of the writing head in a way that caused a disastrous result.


In a quite calamitous way
The hard disk drive was ruined catastrophically, which happened when I least expected it.


And I won't get the data back
My important data is lost and not retrievable.


And I haven't backed anything up
It is a sad fact that I have not taken any necessary backup steps to protect my precious memories.


I've lost a hundred gigs of memories
About a hundred gigabytes of valuable personal recollections went down the drain, and I don't think I will ever be able to recover them.


This whole thing's so fucked up
It's a miserable situation, and the pathetic excuse that my computer has given is inexcusable.


All my emails to the girlfriend
The emails that I sent to my lover in the past are gone forever, which is terribly heart-wrenching.


Who later disappeared
The girl I was referring to earlier is not present in my life, and that makes the loss even greater.


The videos of sex with her
I had to save, as a memento, the videos of the good times I had with my former girlfriend, but they too are gone forever.


I still watch to get off
Those videos were my only source for arousal; I do miss them even more now that I can't have them anymore.


Goodbye my old friend
I'm sorry to say goodbye to the machine that meant so much to me, but alas, we must part ways.


My Photoshop experiments
The collection of visual works I did using a particular program, Photoshop, are now irreparable and unreachable.


With dogs with human heads
I had once experimented with merging pictures of dogs and humans for my images, and now it's all gone.


My huge harem of pregnant redheads
As strange as it may sound, I had a library of pictures that featured pregnant redheaded women in large numbers, which cannot be seen anymore.


Lying with open legs
These pregnant women in the photos were always seen in suggestive positions such as this, which cannot be viewed anymore.


The endless masturbation fodder
These photographs were the stimuli for my sexual pleasure, and now that they are gone, my experience will never be the same.


The Instant Messenger chats
The transcripts of my conversations with a few friends through a messaging service are now gone, and so are the memories they contain.


So goodbye friends
This is also a farewell to the friends I have lost connection with, as all of our shared experiences are now lost to me.


It's a personal tragedy
Losing my only memories is a disaster that is exclusively personal to me and something I must confront alone.


There's nothing much left of a human being
As ridiculous as it sounds, everything in my life was stored on this computer, and without it, I don't have much left to myself.


Without his memory
Everyone has memories they save, and without that kind of recollection, I don't know what I would make of myself.


It's like I'll never have a life again
This accumulated loss from the computer failure is so immense for me that it's hard to envision living a full life without it ever again.


It's like I'll wander on an endless plain
With no memories to frame myself against, it's as if nothing makes sense, and I'm doomed to wander aimlessly forever in a lost world.


Like my brain and face have been erased
This loss of data is so significant that it's as if someone performed a brain operation on me or erased my authentic existence without my knowledge.


And my life has been in vain
With no memories to cling to, my existence has no purpose, and I may have as well been wasting my time all along.


All the books that I was writing
Any writing work I've been doing over the years, including books, essays, or anything, is now a dud as the data I need to complete it is long gone.


All the albums half-composed
Similarly, any music composing work I did over the years is incomplete, and therefore, it is all a waste without the particular data.


My photographs of holidays
The collection of pictures I captured on cameras throughout my holidays are now missing, and I regret not taking the essential backup steps to save them.


I'll never take again
I am as likely to create new memories starting now as to restore my old ones, so everything that is lost is… lost forever!


The cracked software from Pirate Bay
The various software I downloaded and saved over the years, which I don't possess the original license for, through illicit means now cannot be accessed due to data loss.


Before the pigs cracked down
The requirement to be more careful about pirating data didn't exist, and I downloaded large quantities of licensed software that I could not have paid for legally anyway.


My fuckbuddy list no longer exists
I'm as shocked as you are to know that I maintained a list of acquaintances I had sex with and without including the relevant data, this list is now defunct.


So goodbye friends
Again, it's another farewell to the virtual friends connected with those names, and this data loss has bid adieu to all these past experiences for me.




Contributed by Ethan J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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Comments from YouTube:

@musenheddo

There's something reminiscent (musically) of Alone Again, Naturally. Nice.

@itsukarine

i always come back to this.

@PinkBoxMoustache

This is such a great song and the video suits it so well.

@ghostinthetube

How strangely apt. The last time I lost my data was about a year ago, maybe two. It was just after I had bought Ping Pong, Slender Sherbet, Folktronic, and Joemus in mp3 format... and had forgotten to back them up. They was among the greatest losses. Of course, I could rebuy them. Those prurient IM conversations -- I mean, all my scholarly writings -- are never coming back!

@falgiano

Yeah this is great. Smart, funny, melancholic. I'm buying this record.

@setfiretothecouch

this song is so much more haunting than i feel like it should be. good golly i love it.

@emjr369

Can't believe this version has 300x more than the other, far superior one.

@lcanau

For important work, I run a batch file to sync daily for an internal backup and I make a copy in external hard drives occasionally, not as often as I should. It's a good idea to have two copies of your data on different locations.

@ArisukiArt

I don't back up my computer. I feel invincible. And then I lose everything that happened in my life for the last 10 years... ... ...

@NoriakiKakyoin

This song makes me sad.

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