The 2000 Man

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Say all you Hip Kats and Smitten Kittens, what do you think these lyrics mean? Do they have anything to do with our current Y2K situation? They are from the 1967 Stones album, Her Satanic Majesties Request.

2000 Man Well my name is a number, a piece of plastic film And I grow many flowers in my little window sill Don't you know I'm the 2000 Man? And my kids they just don't understand me at all Though my wife still respects me, I've really misused her I'm acting in her affair with a random computer Don't you know I'm the 2000 Man? And my kids they just don't understand me at all Oh Daddy be proud of your palace Oh Mummy be proud of your son Oh Daddy be proud of your palace Oh Mummy be proud of your son Oh Daddy is your brain still flashing like it did when you were young? Or did you come down crashing seeing all the things you've done? Oh it's a big put on! Oh Daddy be proud of your palace Oh Mummy be proud of your son And you know who's the 2000 Man And your kids they just won't understand you at all

Lyrics Courtesy of Stones Lyrics and Tabs

-- Robert Manny (rmanny@thegrid.net), July 28, 1999

Answers

Robert,

That is my favorite song on one of my favorite albums. It has been since I was very young. (Actually, the guitar riff in "Citadel" is what turned me from a child into a teenager. The moment I understood that guitar riff, at about 12 years old, I was a different person.) I've played "2000 Man" in different bands I've been in, sometimes changing the word "random" to "Macintosh."

I never knew why I liked that song so much. When I first listened to it in the "Y2K context," I was simply blown away. I think those boys back there in 1967 were taking a lot of acid, and somehow tapped into a stream of universal consciousness that they didn't necessarily understand, and put it into this song. (I'm a "stream of consciousness" songwriter, and I've written songs that have taken me years to figure out, if I ever do. A psychologist friend of mine says that songs and poetry are "waking dreams")

Either that, or they just thought it sounded cool...

-- pshannon (pshannon@inch.com), July 28, 1999.


Hi PShannon, Thanks for your idea about the universal consciousness. It's the only explanation I can think of, unless someone in the group had been a programmer or had a close friend that was. It's all pretty amazing when you think that it was written more than 30 years ago. The act of posting the lyrics removed the poem's formatting, making it difficult to read so I'll post it again. Then I'll follow with my ideas about it, which my old Computer Programming instructor Lloyd thinks may have some validity.

2000 Man Well my name is a number, a piece of plastic film, And I grow many flowers in my little window sill. Don't you know I'm the 2000 Man? And my kids they just don't understand me at all. Though my wife still respects me, I've really misused her. I'm acting in her affair with a random computer. Don't you know I'm the 2000 Man? And my kids they just don't understand me at all. Oh Daddy be proud of your palace. Oh Mummy be proud of your son. Oh Daddy be proud of your palace. Oh Mummy be proud of your son. Oh Daddy is your brain still flashing like it did when you were young? Or did you come down crashing seeing all the things you've done? Oh it's a big put on! Oh Daddy be proud of your palace. Oh Mummy be proud of your son. And you know who's the 2000 Man. And your kids they just won't understand you at all.

Lyrics Courtesy of Stones Lyrics and Tabs

Some of my ideas: 1) The 2000 Man is computer data. 2) The Wife is computer programmers. 3) The Daddy is main frame computers (hardware). 4) The Mommy is operating systems code. (software and firmware) 5) The flowers are the beginnings of new ideas as shown on the VDTs, soon to become children. 6) The children are electronic devices and computerized business. 7) The "affair with a random computer" is the problem of porting software to other systems. 7) The "big put on" is the concept that society is just BS anyway. 8) The potential crashing, dare I say, is the Year 2000 problem, hence the title. Or is this just my demented imagination?

Robert

-- Robert Manny (rmanny@thegrid.net), July 28, 1999.


Well, Robert, it certainly is your "demented imagination," as well as their "demented imaginations" 30 some-odd years ago. My demented imagination certainly found lots of those same kinds of meanings. That's what imagination is all about, tapping into the larger stream, and seeing what makes sense to you. Also, that song needs to be taken in context with rest of the album (it was being made at the same time as Sgt. Pepper, and while it's "technically" not as good, I believe it is far more "interesting") and what was going on with the songwriters (drug busts and other legal problems) and the larger culture at the time. The song that I mentioned earlier, which is before "2000 Man" on the album, goes like this:

"Men at arms shout "Who goes there?" We have journeyed far from here. Armed with Bibles, makes us swear...

Candy and Cathy, hope you both are well... Please come see me, in the Citadel...

Flags are flying dollar bills, from the heights of concrete hills, you can see the pinnacles...

Candy and Cathy, hope you both are well... Please come see me, in the Citadel...

In the streets of many walls, hear the peasants come and crawl, you can hear the numbers called...

Candy and Cathy, hope you both are well... Please come see me, in the Citadel...

Screaming people fly so fast, in their shiny metal cars, through the works of steel and glass...

Candy and Cathy, hope you both are well... Please come see me, in the Citadel...

Oh well!"

And then, of course, there's "The Lantern" (after the lights go out) and "2000 Light Years From Home" (the resolution of the song cycle)

"On With the Show" at the very end, reminds that no matter what happens, life goes on...

-- pshannon (pshannon@inch.com), July 28, 1999.


What do you think of this one?

Edge of the Century by Styx (c) 1990

Livin' on the edge on the edge on the edge of the century

See the world in revolution Spinnin' faster all the time We're headin' for the end of somethin' Just about to step across that line Ohhh, can't you see ? We're starin' in the face of reality Ohhh, and you and me We're livin' on the edge on the edge on the edge of the century

Hear the way the earth is shakin' Feel the rumble miles away Say goodbye to Checkpoint Charlie Walls are fallin' everyday Ohhh can't you see ? Every step we take we're makin' history Ohhh baby you and me Livin' on the edge on the edge on the edge of the century Livin' on the edge on the edge on the edge of the century

You can't turn off the information Can't sit back in your easy chair Just can't ignore a generation Better get ready cause we're almost there Ohhh and we're movin' at the speed of life, yeah Into a brave new world where the strong will survive And dawn's gonna break and I'll meet you on the other side

You can't stand still while the earth is turnin' Can't take cover till the coast is clear Can't play guitar while Rome is burnin' Look out now 'cause the future's here Ohhhh And were movin at the speed of life, yeah Ohhhh Livin on the edge on the edge on the edge of the century Livin on the edge on the edge on the edge of the century Livin on the edge on the edge on the edge of the century On the edge.....

-- biker (y2kbiker@worldnet.att.net), July 28, 1999.


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