Lyric discussion by PtolemyKitty 

Ugh, it makes me so mad everyone thinks that this is a Gary Numan song from when he became a solo artist. He was in a band called Tubeway Army when they made it. Its on a Tubeway Army album called Replicas. No disrespect to Gary, I mean I love him, but its just a thing that bugs me a lot.

MrLongrove is right, this is based on an unfinished novel Gary wrote when he was younger, I believe the place was called Replicas and the machines were the government. The machmen were kinda like robots livng among humans. The 'friends' referred to in Are 'Friends' Electric and Me! I Disconnect From You were also kinda like robots, but they were rented (or something like that) by people and used to entertain. The Crazies were the few remaining humans left in Replicas, they lived underground.

Thats all I can really remember without rereading the album sleeve....

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