Best Songs Ever: Kraftwerk 'The Robots'

“Paranoid Android.” “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.” “Intergalactic.” “Mr. Roboto.” There is no shortage of Best Songs Ever scribed in ode to androids. But the original bionic tribute can be traced all the way back to 1978, to West Germany and to Kraftwerk's meisterwerk, “The Robots”:

This song made a small dent in the US dance chart, where it peaked at #39. It is lifted from Kraftwerk's seventh album, The Man-Machine. There is very little else to tell you, so check out the band performing “The Robots” live on French TV in 1978 and then answer us the following question: “Where is originality like this in 2013?”:

Nowadays, when the band perform this song live, they are replaced by actual robot torsos. This is why Kraftwerk residencies bring the intranet's ticket outlets to a standstill, everybody:

Click here for more Kraftwerk courtesy of BitCandy's Best Songs Ever column.

Lyrics:

We're charging our battery
And now we're full of energy

We are the robots, we are the robots
We are the robots, we are the robots

We're functioning automatic
And we are dancing mechanic

We are the robots, we are the robots
We are the robots, we are the robots

Ja tvoi sluga, Ja tvoi rabotnik
Ja tvoi sluga, Ja tvoi rabotnik

We are programmed just to do
Anything you want us to

We are the robots, we are the robots
We are the robots, we are the robots

We're functioning automatic
And we are dancing mechanic

We are the robots, we are the robots
We are the robots, we are the robots

Ja tvoi sluga, Ja tvoi rabotnik
Ja tvoi sluga, Ja tvoi rabotnik

We're functioning automatic
And we are dancing mechanic

We are the robots, we are the robots
We are the robots, we are the robots

We are programmed just to do
Anything you want us to

We are the robots, we are the robots
We are the robots, we are the robots

We are the robots, we are the robots
We are the robots, we are the robots

We are the robots, we are the robots
We are the robots, we are the robots