My Mechanical Friend

Album: Frankenweenie (2012)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Nocturnals frontwoman Grace Potter wrote this song for the soundtrack of Tim Burton's 2012 animated remake of his short movie, Frankenweenie. The film tells the tale of a boy named Victor who loses his dog and uses the power of science to bring it back to life. Speaking with The Boot, Potter downplayed the difficulty of writing for somebody else's story. "I know it's strange, but I've always had a better time with other people's wild ideas. Coming up with my own is a deeply emotional and challenging thing to do," she said. "I saw the film before it was edited, in its entirety with the stuff behind the curtain. The writing of the movie and that overwhelming creepiness of a Tim Burton movie ... I wanted this song to be as creepy as the premise of the movie. So I started thinking about the mechanics of having a Frankenstein dog. The dog dies, and the kid wants to bring him back to life - that's something we all can relate to. You don't want something to go away, so you hold it up and try to make it work again."
  • Potter recorded her demo during an airplane flight, then upon landing, she received a text from her friend Wayne Coyne, lead singer of the Flaming Lips. "He always sends me crazy photos - and he sent me a picture of a brain in a jar," she recalled to The Boot. "I thought, 'Oh my gosh, I've gotta get this guy on the track! He's so on my wavelength right now!' So I sent the demo to him, and he and the Flaming Lips worked their magic on it."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Frankie Valli

Frankie ValliSong Writing

An interview with Frankie Valli, who talks about why his songs - both solo and with The Four Seasons - have endured, and reflects on his time as Rusty Millio on The Sopranos.

The Girl in That Song

The Girl in That SongFact or Fiction

Billie Jean, Delilah, Sara, Laura and Sharona - do you know who the girls in the songs really are?

Michael Schenker

Michael SchenkerSongwriter Interviews

The Scorpions and UFO guitarist is also a very prolific songwriter - he explains how he writes with his various groups, and why he was so keen to get out of Germany and into England.

Actors With Hit Songs

Actors With Hit SongsMusic Quiz

Many actors have attempted music, but only a few have managed a hit. Do you know which of these thespians charted?

Charles Fox

Charles FoxSongwriter Interviews

After studying in Paris with a famous composition teacher, Charles became the most successful writer of TV theme songs.

Rock Revenge Songs

Rock Revenge SongsMusic Quiz

John Lennon, Paul Simon and Lynyrd Skynyrd are some of the artists who have written revenge songs. Do you know who they wrote them about?