I Want to Be a Machine
Ultravox Lyrics

I found the bones of all your ghosts
I discovered the remains or remnants of all the things that haunt you

Locked in the wishing well
These hauntings were trapped and contained in a location where people typically throw coins, hoping for wishes to come true

While bird song gourmets dragged empty nets
While those who are passionate about bird songs were left empty-handed and unsuccessful in their attempts to catch any birds

I slumbered in my shell
I stayed uninvolved and disconnected, barely conscious to the events going on around me

In mitternacht, die mensch-maschine
In the middle of the night, the human-machine hybrid

Kissed me on my eyes
Encountered me and captured my attention

I rose and left the fire-ladies
I moved on from being distracted by passion and excitement

Glowing lonely in the night
And instead noticed how alone and forgotten these passionate things were in the dark

With all the pornographers
I embarked on this new journey along with other creators who are often criticized for creating material that is deemed inappropriate

Burning torches beneath the sea
And continued to create remarkable things, even under immense pressure (represented by the vast oceans)

[Chorus:]
Repeated throughout the song, this chorus expresses the desire to be more like a machine, unemotional and consistent in its production.

I stole a cathode face from newscasts
I gained inspiration from the blank, emotionless faces that often present news stories

And a crumbling fugue of songs
And also found inspiration in the incomplete and broken melodies of music around me

From the reservoir of video souls
This inspiration came from consuming countless videos with lost souls or people who have somehow lost touch with their humanity

In the lakes beneath my tongue
But this inspiration remained bottled up inside of me

In flesh of ash and silent movies
I continued to live as an imperfect human, shaped by tragedy and impacted by the silent moments that most people often overlook

I walked at boulevards again
I returned to a familiar path of navigating my life and my art

A nebula of unfinished creatures
And continued to find inspiration in the unrefined creations of my peers

From the lifetimes of my friends
Who I noticed often left their own creative work unfinished due to real-life circumstances

I hope your innocence has depraved me
I longed for others to have an impact on me, to corrupt or change who I am as a person

[Chorus:]
Repeated throughout the song, this chorus expresses the desire to be more like a machine, unemotional and consistent in its production.

Broadcast me, scrambled clean
I want to put myself out there for others to see, but I also want to detach from the emotions and flaws that typically come with being human

Or free me from this flesh
Even if that means being freed from the biological limitations of being alive in a physical body

Let the armchair cannibals take their fill
People who consume media passively can listen and take whatever they want from my work

In every cell across wilderness
But the reach of my art will be so expansive it will span every corner of the world and transcend cultures

We'll trip such a strangled tango
The process of creating will be both beautiful and stifling at the same time

We'll waltz a wonderland affair
But the finish product will be otherworldly magical or epic

Let's run to meet the tide tomorrow
Together, let's embrace whatever mundane or normal moments tomorrow may bring

Leave all emotion dying there
And let go of all baggage or negativity that comes with human emotions

In the star cold beyond all of your dreams
The resulting product will be so impressive that it will surpass have the people's limited imaginations

[Chorus:]
Repeated throughout the song, this chorus expresses the desire to be more like a machine, unemotional and consistent in its production.

Ah!
An exclamation of satisfaction or relief