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

Charlotte Caffey of The Go-Go's

Charlotte Caffey of The Go-Go'sSongwriter Interviews

Charlotte was established in the LA punk scene when a freaky girl named Belinda approached her wearing a garbage bag.

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"They're Playing My Song

A song he wrote and recorded from "sheer spiritual inspiration," Allen's didn't think "Southern Nights" had hit potential until Glen Campbell took it to #1 two years later.

Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues

Justin Hayward of The Moody BluesSongwriter Interviews

Justin wrote the classic "Nights In White Satin," but his fondest musical memories are from a different decade.

John Doe of X

John Doe of XSongwriter Interviews

With his X-wife Exene, John fronts the band X and writes their songs.

Emilio Castillo from Tower of Power

Emilio Castillo from Tower of PowerSongwriter Interviews

Emilio talks about what it's like to write and perform with the Tower of Power horns, and why every struggling band should have a friend like Huey Lewis.

Strange Magnetics

Strange MagneticsSong Writing

How Bing Crosby, Les Paul, a US Army Signal Corps Officer, and the Nazis helped shape rock and Roll.