A Machine Spiritual (In The People's Key)

Album: The People's Key (2011)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Conor Oberst explained the meaning of this haunting atmospheric ballad to NME: "It's the idea of when in the not-so-distant future, artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence and humanity as a notion is just kind of quaint."
  • This is one of a handful of songs that Oberst wrote before sessions for The People's Key commenced. He told Billboard magazine the rest of the songs "were closely related and tied together and more deliberate... to where I saw [the album] was headed." The result weaves together topical, social and political issues, to help tie things together.

    "I don't think it's overtly political," Oberst explained. "There's a certain desire for common ground between people, just the idea that we're all kind of in the same boat and are all the same as far as the way human beings go. There's this future that's coming that's really trying to, I think, divide us more and in a lot of ways strip us of our human nature in the sense that now when you walk into a room it's like 20 people all staring down at this little screen in their hands, typing away, not looking at each other. That's kind of scary, and it's going to just keep going that way. I think it's a dangerous position to put ourselves in because our only chance of solving problems or disagreements is by talking to each other and seeing ourselves in each other."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World

Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat WorldSongwriter Interviews

Jim talks about the impact of "The Middle" and uses a tree metaphor to describe his songwriting philosophy.

Song Titles That Inspired Movies

Song Titles That Inspired MoviesSong Writing

Famous songs that lent their titles - and in some cases storylines - to movies.

Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds

Jim McCarty of The YardbirdsSongwriter Interviews

The Yardbirds drummer explains how they created their sound and talks about working with their famous guitarists.

Ian Gillan of Deep Purple

Ian Gillan of Deep PurpleSongwriter Interviews

Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan explains the "few red lights" in "Smoke On The Water" and talks about songs from their 2020 album Whoosh!

Superman in Song

Superman in SongSong Writing

Not everyone can be a superhero, but that hasn't stopped generations of musicians from trying to be Superman.

Rick Astley

Rick AstleySongwriter Interviews

Rick Astley on "Never Gonna Give You Up," "Cry For Help," and his remarkable resurgence that gave him another #1 UK album.