Discography:
1995 - Sleater-Kinney (Chainsaw)
1996 - Call the Doctor (Chainsaw)
1997 - Dig Me Out (Kill Rock Stars)
1999 - The Hot Rock (Kill Rock Stars)
2000 - All Hands on the Bad One (Kill Rock Stars)
2002 - One Beat (Kill Rock Stars)
2005 - The Woods (Sub Pop)
2015 - No Cities to Love (Sub Pop)
2019 - The Center Won't Hold (Mom+Pop)
2021 - Path of Wellness (Mom+Pop)
God Is a Number
Sleater-Kinney Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
An army out of digits, out of fax machines.
Mapping out the head and heart, mapping out the history.
If a part does not compute, cut it out, cut it free...
God is a Number
What you want to know, what can you believe?
tell me about God and Country, music, heart and history.
Answer me with computations, answer me with industry.
Knock on every door, programmed to receive.
Answer my communication! Display! Command! Retreat!
Looking for some kind of heart inside this great machine
I don't get an answer except 01 1 01 1 01...
The lyrics to Sleater-Kinney's "God Is a Number" explore the idea of humanity merging with technology and becoming digitized. The opening lines "We're a reference number, a code, a screen" sets the tone for the song's commentary on how humans have become just another set of numbers that can be manipulated and controlled through technology. The lyrics go on to describe how we are a part of a larger system of machines that operate without any sense of emotional intelligence. The song questions what is lost when humans become solely reliant on technology to answer life's big questions rather than seeking answers from a more spiritual or emotional place.
The line "tell me about God and Country, music, heart and history. Answer me with computations, answer me with industry" raises the question of whether technology has made humans lose touch with the more intangible aspects of life. The song seems to suggest that when we rely solely on technology to give us answers, we may be missing out on something more profound and meaningful.
In the second verse, the lyrics advance to suggest that the song's speaker is actively seeking something beyond the controlled, sterile existence that technology provides. The line "Looking for some kind of heart inside this great machine / I don't get an answer except 01 1 01 1 01" suggests a longing for something more human or spiritual. The repeated "01" sequence is a reference to computer code, emphasizing the idea that technology only provides a certain type of answer that may not satisfy the human longing for something more.
Overall, "God Is a Number" critiques the idea that technology is the answer to everything and raises questions about humanity's relationship with it.
Line by Line Meaning
We're a reference number, a code, a screen.
We see ourselves as mere codes and screens, products of a digital age, stripped of individuality.
An army out of digits, out of fax machines.
Our identity is digitized, surveilled and processed, with the efficiency of the machines that make us part of this army of numbers.
Mapping out the head and heart, mapping out the history.
We rely on these machines to map our every thought and emotion, and shape our understanding of history.
If a part does not compute, cut it out, cut it free...
We're programmed to erase the nuances that make us human, to excise any aspect of ourselves that doesn't align with the digital landscape around us.
God is a Number
We worship the omnipotence of digits and algorithms that dictate our fate, like a modern deity.
What you want to know, what can you believe?
We question the accuracy and reliability of the information propagated by the very systems we rely on.
Grow up on the internet, get off on t.v.
We're brought up in a world where the internet becomes our identity and TV is our surrogate reality.
Tell me about God and Country, music, heart and history.
We crave meaning and personal connections in a world that values an impersonal, cold tech-driven vision of progress.
Answer me with computations, answer me with industry.
We expect answers to everything, but we want them delivered with the coldly rational efficiency of machines and industry.
Knock on every door, programmed to receive.
We are endlessly seeking, but we are programmed to receive, waiting for the next byte of information to make sense of our lives.
Answer my communication! Display! Command! Retreat!
We expect instantaneous, responsive communication that capitulates to our every command, but we're also ready to retreat from the reality of those interactions.
Looking for some kind of heart inside this great machine
We're lost amidst the noise and shadows of technology and we long to find a way back to the human heart that we've lost along the way.
I don't get an answer except 01 1 01 1 01...
Yet all we get back from the machine is a series of numbers, devoid of heart and meaning, that only underscores how far we've drifted from our own.
Contributed by Liam W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.