Brundtland and Berge were schoolmates in their hometown Tromsø, experimenting with electronic instruments in the early 90s and being a part of their city's techno scene. As they grew up in northern Norway, they listened to local artists like Bel Canto and Biosphere. The band has also expressed their interest in the music of Kraftwerk, Brian Eno, Giorgio Moroder, Art of Noise, Vangelis, Erik Satie, and Francis Lai. They were members of various electro acts in their youth, such as Alanïa, Drum Island and Aedena Cycle. After recording as part of Aedena Cycle, Berge and Brundtland left the group to form their own band, Röyksopp.
In 8 October 2001, Röyksopp released their debut album Melody A.M. on Wall of Sound label. This critically acclaimed downtempo album reached #1 in Norway charts, #9 in UK Albums Chart, #18 in US Top Electronic Albums. Melody A.M. spawned five singles: "So Easy" (released in 1999, re-released in 2002), "Eple" (released in July 2001, re-released in 24 February 2003; #16 UK), "Poor Leno", featuring Erlend Øye (released in 3 December 2001, re-released on 18 November 2002; #38 UK), "Remind Me", featuring Erlend Øye (5 August 2002; #21 UK), and "Sparks", featuring Anneli Drecker (2003; #41 UK).
The band became famous for their original music videos (the infographic-styled video by French company H5 for the track "Remind Me", won the 2002 MTV Europe Music Award for best music video). The single "Eple" (meaning "apple") was used by Apple Inc. as the music for the startup video for Mac OS X 10.3.
In 4 July 2005, the band issued their sophomore album The Understanding on Wall of Sound. The album was preceded by the hit single "Only This Moment", featuring Kate Havnevik (27 June 2005; #33 UK). Another four singles followed: "49 Percent" (26 September 2005; #55 UK), "Curves" (non-album single; 3 October 2005), "What Else Is There?", featuring Karin Dreijer of The Knife (5 December 2005; #4 Norway, #32 UK) and "Beautiful Day Without You" (26 June 2006).
Röyksopp's Night Out EP was released in 27 February 2006 and it contains live recordings from a concert in Norway, Rockefeller (Oslo) in November 2005. The album contains a new dance version of their single "Sparks" and a reinterpretation of the song "Go With the Flow”, originally by Queens of the Stone Age. In 5 March 2007, the group issued Back to Mine: Röyksopp, a compilation album from the Back to Mine series, compiled and mixed by the band.
On 23 March 2009, Röyksopp released their third album Junior on Wall of Sound. Röyksopp have invited several guest artists, like Robyn, Anneli Drecker, Karin Dreijer, Lykke Li, to perform on various songs from Junior. The first single "Happy Up Here" was released on 19 January 2009 (digital)/16 March 2009 (vinyl) and peaked on #3 in Norway and on #44 in UK. Another two singles supported the album' sales: "The Girl And The Robot", featuring Robyn (15 June 2009; #2 Norway) and "This Must Be It", featuring Karin Dreijer (2 November 2009).
Since 2010, the band started posting on their official site new exclusive songs available for free download (usually a song every month), known as Röyksopp.com Track Of The Month.
In 13 September 2010, Röyksopp released the fourth album Senior, the atmospheric counterpart of Junior. The first single from the album, "The Drug", was released on 9 August 2010.
Official site: http://www.royksopp.com
The Girl and the Robot
Röyksopp Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You never seem to know when to stop
I never know when you'll return
I'm in love with a robot
In the night, call you up and
Wanna know when you're coming home
Don't deny me, call me back
In the night, wait up for you
Even though you don't want me to
Go to bed, leave the lights on
What's the use
So you want to understand me
You just see what you want to see
There's no way I can help you out
You don't know what it's all about
Fell asleep again in front of MTV
God, I'm down at the bottom
No one's singing songs for me
I can't wait for tomorrow
When you're gone and rain starts falling
I just sit here by the phone
Don't deny me, call me back
I'm so alone
Oh, when you gonna come home?
Oooooh I just gotta know
When you gonna come home?
Oh
Baby I can't stand it when you go to work
You never seem to know when to stop
I never know when you'll return
I'm in love with a robot
In the night, call you up and
Wanna know when you're coming home
Don't deny me, call me back
I'm so alone
The lyrics to Röyksopp's "The Girl and the Robot" is a song about a woman who is in love with a robot. She cannot control her feelings for the robot would always go crazy every time the robot leaves for work. The woman is burdened with the fact that she never knows when the robot will come back. She longs for the robot’s presence, and calls him at night to know when he will return, but sometimes he never answers her calls. She waits for him, even when he does not want her to, and goes to bed with the lights on, revealing the hopelessness of her situation.
The woman is aware that the robot does not understand her situation and cannot see things from her point of view, even though he has all the answers to her questions. She waits for tomorrow and prays for the rain to fall, hoping that this would change things. She is helpless in her love for the robot and feels like no one is singing songs for her, living a life of loneliness. In the chorus, she questions when the robot will come back, revealing that her love for the robot is beyond understanding and is simply driven by pure emotions.
Line by Line Meaning
I go mental every time you leave for work
I become anxious and upset every time you leave for work
You never seem to know when to stop
You seem to be a workaholic and don't know when to stop working
I never know when you'll return
I am uncertain of when you will come back home
I'm in love with a robot
I am in love with someone who is emotionally distant and robotic in their behavior
In the night, call you up and
During the night, I call you up repeatedly
Wanna know when you're coming home
I want to know when you will return home
Don't deny me, call me back
Please don't ignore my phone call and call me back
I'm so alone
I feel very lonely and isolated
In the night, wait up for you
During the night, I wait up for you despite your wishes
Even though you don't want me to
Even though you do not want me to wait up for you
Go to bed, leave the lights on
I go to bed but leave the lights on, perhaps as a symbolic gesture that I am still waiting
What's the use
I question the usefulness of my waiting
So you want to understand me
You express a desire to understand me
You just see what you want to see
However, you only see what you want to see
There's no way I can help you out
I cannot help you understand me if you only see what you want to see
You don't know what it's all about
You do not truly understand what is going on with me
Fell asleep again in front of MTV
I fall asleep again in front of the television, perhaps as a way to pass the time while waiting for you
God, I'm down at the bottom
I feel very low and unhappy
No one's singing songs for me
No one is offering me any comfort or solace during this difficult time
I can't wait for tomorrow
I eagerly look forward to tomorrow, perhaps as a way to forget the pain of waiting
When you're gone and rain starts falling
When you are away and it starts to rain
I just sit here by the phone
I simply sit by the phone, waiting for your call
Oh, when you gonna come home?
Oh, when are you going to come back home?
Oooooh I just gotta know
I really need to know
When you gonna come home?
When are you going to come back home?
Baby I can't stand it when you go to work
I cannot tolerate it when you go to work
You never seem to know when to stop
You seem to have a problem with overworking
I never know when you'll return
I have no idea when you will come back home
I'm in love with a robot
I am in love with someone who is emotionally detached and unaffectionate
In the night, call you up and
During the nighttime, I repeatedly call you
Wanna know when you're coming home
I want to know when you will be coming back home
Don't deny me, call me back
Please do not ignore my calls and call me back
I'm so alone
I feel incredibly lonely and isolated
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: ROBIN MIRIAM CARLSSON, SVEIN BERGE, TORBJORN BRUNDTLAND
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@viriena
I go mental every time you leave for work
You never seem to know when to stop
I never know when you'll return
I'm in love with a robot
In the night, call you up and
Wanna know when you're coming home
Don't deny me, call me back
I'm so alone
In the night, wait up for you
Even though you don't want me to
Go to bed, leave the lights on
What's the use
So you want to understand me
You just see what you want to see
There's no way I can help you out
You don't know what it's all about
Fell asleep again in front of MTV
God, I'm down at the bottom
No one's singing songs for me
I can't wait for tomorrow
When you're gone and rain starts falling
I just sit here by the phone
Don't deny me, call me back
I'm so alone
Oh, when you gonna come home?
Oooooh I just gotta know
When you gonna come home?
Oh
Baby I can't stand it when you go to work
You never seem to know when to stop
I never know when you'll return
I'm in love with a robot
In the night, call you up and
Wanna know when you're coming home
Don't deny me, call me back
I'm so alone
@MRSHYYETI
This song never gets old - it's still about 50 years ahead of 2021!
@lemmymeringue8528
The only thing that dates it is her talking about MTV haha.
@shithoagie
I listened to this a ton while delivering pizzas in 2013 and driving cabs in 2015... still part of my "introspection rotation"
@madrx2
The synth on this song still gives me goosebumps all these years later, reminds me of a very special point in my life.
@blaxtapa
Man, theres not a single flaw in this song and it never gets old.
@4usprosperity
Fffo uoy is the best ffffff in all
@hayliverti6834
When song just released I thought it’s about a girl and a robot years later I realized it’s about a girl and a guy with no feelings
@FilipOscadal
really? 🤦♀️
@hliter117
Too much credits
@hliter117
@Jefferson Brecken loosing your life watching movies