Dolby promoted himself as a kind of mad scientist, an egghead that had successfully harnessed the power of synthesizers and samplers, using them to make catchy pop and electro-funk. Before he launched his solo career, Dolby had already worked as a studio musician, technician, and songwriter. After starting out as a teenaged live sound man, mixing The Fall, The Members and others using a PA he built himself, he formed the arty post-punk band Camera Club (also known as Bruce Woolley & the Camera Club) with Bruce Woolley, Geoff Downes, Trevor Horn and Matthew Seligman. Within a year, he had left the group and joined Lene Lovich’s backing band and gave her his song "New Toy", which became a British hit in 1981. That same year, he released his first solo single, "Urges", on the English independent label Armageddon. By the autumn, he had signed with Parlophone and released "Europa and the Pirate Twins", which nearly cracked the UK Top 40.
Dolby started playing synthesizer on sessions for other artists in 1982. That year, he played keyboards on Def Leppard’s Pyromania and Joan Armatrading’s Walk Under Ladders. His most distinctive session credit is that keyboard line after the chorus on Foreigner’s "Waiting for a Girl Like You". In that eventful summer, Dolby also collaborating with New York rappers Whodini to create "Magic’s Wand" – a pivotal early hip hop track (the first rap single to shift 1 million copies), and it also single-handedly started the new jack swing movement.
Even with all of these achievements, 1982 was most noteworthy for the release of Dolby’s first solo album, The Golden Age of Wireless, in the summer of 1982, the landmark album reaching number 13. "Windpower", the first single from the record, became his first Top 40 UK hit in the late summer. Other cuts from the album include "The Airwaves", and "One of Our Submarines", a meditation on the futility of empire.
In January of 1983, Dolby released an EP, Blinded by Science, which includes what would become his most well-known track, "She Blinded Me with Science" featuring a cameo vocal appearance by the notorious British eccentric Magnus Pike, who also appeared in the song’s video. "She Blinded Me with Science" was a minor hit in England, but the EP and the single became a major American hit in 1983, thanks to MTV’s heavy airplay of the video. Eventually, the song reached number five on the US charts and it was included on a resequenced and reissued version of The Golden Age of Wireless, which peaked at number 13 in America.
The Flat Earth, Dolby's second album, appeared in early 1984, and harkens back to a time when songs mattered more than the video, even as MTV was discovering its strength. Opening with "Dissidents", conjuring up images of blacklisted authors and ugly snow, gray from oppression, with Matthew Seligman’s bass at the fore, lavish, growling, popping through octaves, funk-a-fied and twinkling with harmonics throughout the album. The title track is an R&B daydream of piano and Motown stabs of rhythm guitar. "Screen Kiss" has a similarly ethereal quality, and the lyrics are lush with imagery. The cover of Dan Hicks’ 1967 "I Scare Myself" is a balmy jazz club cocktail – faithfully nostalgic, right down to a bittersweet trombone solo from Peter Thomas. "Hyperactive" is one part bizarre to two parts infectious; guest vocalist Adele Bertei fuels the fire to what was already destined to be a memorable diversion beyond the reach of Top 40. The single became Thomas’ biggest UK hit, peaking at number 17.
During 1985, Dolby collaborated with artists including Stevie Wonder, Dusty Springfield and Herbie Hancock; and notched up some more high-concept production credits. George Clinton's Some of My Best Jokes Are Friends, Prefab Sprout’s Steve McQueen, and Joni Mitchell’s Dog Eat Dog were all midwifed by Dolby, who also was musical director for David Bowie at Live Aid. Also in 1985, he began composing film scores, starting with Fever Pitch. In 1986, he composed the scores for Gothic and Howard the Duck, for which he credited himself as Dolby's Cube. (That credit led to a lawsuit from the Dolby Labs, who eventually prohibited the musician from using the name "Dolby" in conjunction with any other name than "Thomas.")
Aliens Ate My Buick, Dolby's long-delayed third album, appeared in 1988 to a mixed reaction, although "Airhead" became a minor British hit. That same year, Dolby married actress Kathleen Beller. For the rest of the late 80s and early 90s, Dolby continued to score films, producing and building his own computer equipment.
1992’s Astronauts and Heretics, features guest stars such as Eddie Van Halen, Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir and Ofra Haza. The album opens with "I Love You Goodbye", one of Thomas’ most evocative songs, and ends with "Beauty of a Dream" which is also a contender for that honour. Highlights found inbetween include "Cruel" (a duet with Fairground Attraction’s Eddie Reader), "I Live in a Suitcase" and "Close But No Cigar".
The following year, Dolby founded the computer software company Headspace in Silicon Valley, releasing The Virtual String Quartet as its first program, and also pioneered technology for music on mobile phones. For the rest of the 90s, Headspace occupied most of Dolby's time and energy. In 1994, he released The Gate to the Mind’s Eye, a soundtrack to the animated short film Mind’s Eye. Also that year, Capitol released the greatest-hits collection, Retrospectacle.
Thirteen years after Astronauts and Heretics, Dolby returned to live performance in 2006 with his solo Sole Inhabitant tour, which covered North America and the UK, with Thomas recreating the highlights of his earlier work from scratch, with a camera mounted like a miner’s lamp on his head, and a big screen showing the view from the artist, turning what would be a fairly dull one-man-and-a-rack-of-synths into a fascinating audio visual experience and an unintended masterclass for music technology students.
UK indie label Invisible Hands Music released a CD and DVD box set recorded on the Sole Inhabitant tour. These fresh and modern reinterpretations of Thomas’ work to date precedes a new studio album due in 2008, which is as-yet untitled, but does include a song about Britney’s ex Kevin Federline (“K-Fed”) who used an uncleared sample from "She Blinded Me with Science" and did not respond to legal approaches until a ‘cease-and-desist’ was posted in the comments field of his MySpace page. That song is called "My Karma Hit Your Dogma", and bodes well for a mighty return to form, combining Thomas’ humour and intelligence with a unique musical vision.
2011 saw Dolby get busy by returning with a new studio album A Map of the Floating City on 29 October. The album is broken down into three genres of Urbanoia's tales of city experiences; Amerikana as Dolby's take on his years living in America and it's roots music; and Oceanea: songs of life by the sea in his home country of England. The music was debuted first as download EPs to Dolby's online community and then previewed by a transmedia interactive game also called the FloatingCity.com.
Thomas Dolby is taking the music back on tour as a solo artist and with varying line-ups of bands, doing two tours of the UK in 2011, and has his first trip to Australia in February 2012 followed by dates in Japan. In March Dolby kicks off the Time-Capsule.tv tour at the SxSW Festival in Austin playing dates in USA and Canada through April. He will have a trailer parked at venues on his tour where you can produce a 30 second video offering words of wisdom to whoever will be walking the earth in the future. Dolby wants to give people a chance to “explain to an alien visitor what went wrong with our civilization. Our species may not be around on this planet much longer, so you might as well leave a welcome message for the next guys.”
May The Cube Be With You
Thomas Dolby Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Made the perfect pleasure drug and he called it the Cube
A Cube so potent in a stroke it turned nightmares to dreams
He flew right past the planet Earth and he gave it to me
Then he said
May the Cube be with you
And your father
Ever after
You might care to spend an evening with Marilyn Monroe
Share a cell with Jimmy Cagney or Paris with Brando
Drop some bombs on Maggie Thatcher or Ronnie Reagan
You see Cube power comes by the hour so why not have fun?
Right here
May the Cube be with you
And your father
May the Cube be with you
Ever after
Half a million people are such a sight to see
Lying in the sunshine in a private fantasy
But you got to have more
You won't stop 'til you get it all
And I would give it to you baby
But the law is catching up with me
Pending my interrogation and stuck for an excuse
I thought up two more variations on pastry abuse
I'm so very sorry constable but what can I do
When half the Western world is turning on to Dolby's Cube
May the Cube be with you
And your father
May the Cube be with you
Ever after
In Thomas Dolby's song "May The Cube Be With You", we see a story weaving together science fiction and drug use. The song follows the story of a martian who creates a powerful happy drug called the Cube, which is so strong it turns nightmares into dreams. The martian gives the Cube to the singer, and he describes the wide range of pleasurable experiences that he and others have had while on it. Despite this, the singer is eventually caught by the law and is left trying to explain his actions.
The song's title is a pun, referencing the famous line spoken in the Star Wars franchise: "May the force be with you." However, instead of the force, Dolby uses the word Cube to reference the powerful drug in the song. The Cube represents a gateway to a paradise, with the singer listing off various indulgent and taboo actions that one can experience while on it. This includes spending time with famous people like Marilyn Monroe and Jimmy Cagney or conducting acts of terrorism against political figures.
The song can be interpreted as a commentary on the dangerous allure of drugs and the short-term escape they offer from reality. Along with this social critique, there's a more lighthearted side to the song, showcasing Dolby's playful writing style. In conclusion, "May The Cube Be With You" is an entertaining and thoughtful example of Dolby's creativity in both storytelling and lyrical composition.
Line by Line Meaning
Late one night a happy martian with nothing to do
A martian who was happy and idle created a powerful drug called the Cube.
Made the perfect pleasure drug and he called it the Cube
The martian created the drug Cube which offered immense pleasure.
A Cube so potent in a stroke it turned nightmares to dreams
The Cube was so powerful that it could convert nightmares into sweet dreams in no time.
He flew right past the planet Earth and he gave it to me
The martian flew past Earth and gave the Cube to Thomas Dolby.
May the Cube be with you And your father May the Cube be with you Ever after
The singer wishes that the Cube stays with the listener and their family forever.
You might care to spend an evening with Marilyn Monroe Share a cell with Jimmy Cagney or Paris with Brando Drop some bombs on Maggie Thatcher or Ronnie Reagan You see Cube power comes by the hour so why not have fun? Right here
The Cube offers immense pleasure and one may want to spend time with popular personalities, commit crimes or just have fun while under its influence.
Half a million people are such a sight to see Lying in the sunshine in a private fantasy But you got to have more You won't stop 'til you get it all And I would give it to you baby But the law is catching up with me
The singer claims that half a million people enjoy their fantasies with the drug. He is willing to provide it to others too but is bound by law enforcement agencies.
Pending my interrogation and stuck for an excuse I thought up two more variations on pastry abuse I'm so very sorry constable but what can I do When half the Western world is turning on to Dolby's Cube
The singer is being interrogated and comes up with ludicrous excuses. He feels guilty about people turning into Cube and blames himself.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Thomas Morgan Robertson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
The Cringe Connoisseur
Amazing amazing song and seriously underrated artist
STUDIO BENCIVENGA Marcus Bencivenga
I loved it in the 80s and i love it now - funk is good for your health
Hayley Candlin
i absolutely love this song, why the hell is it so underrated?!
Thomas Minarchick Jr.
Why didn’t MTV play this on heavy rotation?! Dr. Funkenstein is a genius
Thomas Minarchick Jr.
regitPaws bombed?
regitPaws
@Thomas Minarchick Jr. Yeah, watch the video 1:11
Thomas Minarchick Jr.
regitPaws I thought you meant he really planted one. He was wild. Dolby blowing up the White House is what did it
ro63rto
In Italy they kept on playing the video. Got me hooked to both Thomas Dolby and George Clinton.
STEFF ST. MOORE
For 35 years I hoped to see that video again! The quality of the video's image is fantastic. Thank you so much for sharing! The "live" mention in the title is a misnomer, but I guess you did that to avoid it being censored? On a side note, I'm at a loss to understand why 7 people could "dislike" that video, honestly!
Juan Pablo Rodríguez Zamora
What a great song!