Best Song Ever: "Robots" By Dan Mangan

We've decided that "Robots" by Dan Mangan is the Best Song Ever!

So we talked to Mangan all about his awesome tune.

CHARTattack: Tell me about the genesis of "Robots." How and when did it start to take shape?
Dan Mangan: It was late 2006. I was living in my basement suite at the time — this little cave. I'd been listening to a lot of The Beatles.

"Robots" turned out to have an alt.folk kind of vibe, but initially I had envisioned it as really clunky — kind of White Album-esque. I think I was feeling quite influenced by the White Album.

I was thinking about my complete allegiance and attachment to my computer and how that was driving me nuts. I think that, maybe that day, I'd awakened and not really stepped outside — spent the whole day on my computer — and I was in this natural lightless basement. It's where those lines, "Oh I don't know what you've been told/But I don't get out much these days," came from.

It was a feeling of isolation and hibernation, but not in the good, regenerative sense, so much as in the depressing, mongering sense.

I'm assuming there's a heavy dose of metaphor involved here; who is the robot in this song?
The people who you deal with in your life who are seemingly acting completely on function. They're not partaking in any kind of spirit whatsoever. They're just kind of going about the things that they think they're supposed to be doing in life and not treating people very well.

It was occurring to me that the people who are seemingly the most robotic probably need the most love. They're the ones that require the most repair. Your initial reaction to someone who is quite cold is, "Screw you," but in actuality, they probably need the most cajoling back to life.

Would you say this song is one of the main reasons that you've attained the level of notoriety that you have?
I think it certainly helps. I remember thinking to myself, after putting the pen down on the outro ["Robots need love too/They want to be loved by you"], that it was likely the most catchy melody or bit of lyrics that I'd ever come up with...

Fortunately, it's resonated with some people, and that's amazing. It's annoyingly catchy — to the point where it sticks in people's heads and they might rue you later on. But I certainly think it's been a big part of all of the amazing things that I've been able to do since the record [Nice, Nice, Very Nice] came out.

It's funny when this happens. This song that you wrote — nobody else did — starts circulating, and it's on the airwaves, and you feel like you don't really own it any more. Like it's been processed out of you and it's been floating around... I can't say I feel a whole lot of personal attachment to it. It's pretty easy for me to let it go and be.

Why do you think people connect with it?
I guess it's the mixture of silliness or catchiness with a fairly serious metaphor. It's catchy and boppy and kids can sing along with it, but at the same time, I was writing the lyrics with a fair amount of seriousness as well. In a sense, it's almost a dark song, lyrically.

I think everyone experiences a song a little differently and it's hard to really elaborate on why someone would enjoy something you made.

Would you — or have you ever, since you recorded it — consider doing a concert without playing "Robots?"
I've done a lot of little, special shows... that were quite short, and I've certainly not played it at those. It's not the first song I go to. It's the kind of song that requires a crowd to help sing the ending, so if I'm at a college station and it's just me and a guy on the other side of the booth, it's not something I'd jump to play.

But when it comes to a full, headlining concert, I'd hazard to guess that it's been played at every concert I've done since the record came out.

Do you think that if you didn't play it at a headlining show, you'd get pelted by beer bottles?
I think that some people would be sour. It's tough; you never want to let one or two songs define you. You hope that you've got more inside of you.

People come to expect it, and I think that my peers — people I play gigs with — are like, "Oh, of course he's going to do that song." I get a lot of ribbing when it comes to ["Robots"], but I'll keep playing it for the time being, for sure.

Let's talk about robots in general. Do you have a favourite robot, real or fictional?
I don't think I do. Since the song has been circulating, I've received a number of robot-related gifts, but I wouldn't say I'm someone that's really all that into robots. I've never been a tech-savvy guy. Some people are really into Star Wars, but that's never really been me either.

R2D2 is pretty cool, though. The thing I liked about him is strength in silence. He wasn't saying much but he knew what he meant.

Do you think Astro Boy's family could ever truly love him like a real boy, or will there always be some unspoken distance because he's made of metal?
I was just having a conversation about a documentary where three Inuit children are put in [the home of] an upper class white family, back in the '60s, as an experiment — planting them in a completely different culture...

Could Astro Boy ever be loved like a real human? I guess that come down to the argument over whether robots can have feelings or whether it's just simulated feelings.

The thing that bothers me is the chemical aspect , or the biological aspect of emotion. When I'm feeling happy, am I feeling happy because certain happy chemicals are going through my veins, or are those chemicals going through my veins because I'm happy?

Do you think that one day humans will create a robot that's indistinguishable from a real person?
I'd be amazed if they hadn't already. I think we're well on our way. Think about the technological advances in my lifetime — 27 years. I remember rotary phones. Compare those to the device I have to my ear at this moment. There's more power in this cell phone than there were in 10 warehouses of computers back in the '70s or '80s...

I think we're on the verge of some very interesting artificial intelligence. I think we're going to get there eventually. It's going to be a melding of technology and humans. Whether it's going to be a physical thing, like having metal humans, I don't know.

Do you ever worry that some day, if we invent a smart enough robot, it and its kind might try to take over the planet, like in Terminator?
Yeah, sure, that kind of thing keeps me up at night. We did invent the atom bomb.

Will robots try to take over the planet? No. But will we design robots that people can use to take over the planet? Yes. I think we're going to be our own demise. It doesn't really seem like an if, but a when, to me.

Dan Mangan has kindly provided a free download of "Robots," which you can get by clicking here.