Songfacts®:

• This is the title track of Joe Walsh's first album for 20 years. The record was co-produced by ELO's Jeff Lynne. Analog Man and released June 5, 2012.
• The song was inspired by the changes in technology since Walsh recorded his previous solo set in the early 1980s. "There's a whole new world now that's digital, and a whole new technology I've really had to pay attention to recording this album," he explained to The Tennessean. "It's my first real shot at trying to do it all digital. I just say that it's a whole new world, and it's virtual, which means it doesn't really exist. It's an illusion that's computer-generated, and it seems to me that we are all spending more and more time in there, while our bodies sit in chairs, waiting for our minds to come back. It's great."
  
  "I'm not saying analog's better," he continued. "I'm just saying those of us who did the bulk of our recording and songwriting in the analog world have had to make some adjustments, and I'm not sure really if it's working for us or if we're working for it. Technology is going so fast. I do know that it ate the record business, and I know that it ate intellectual property. I hope it doesn't eat me! (laughs)."
• Ever long for the good old days? This is a lament for the passing of vinyl, among other things. When he appeared on the BBC Breakfast news programme in June 2012, Joe Walsh said that in the old days it was all buttons in the studio, nowadays you click a mouse. Not only that, the music all sounds so perfect, you don't need to make mistakes anymore, it's as though we're all living in the virtual world, as indeed many of us are most of the time. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Alexander Baron - London, England