Computer World

Album: Computer World (1981)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Four years after the first mass market personal computer, the Apple II, went on sale, Kraftwerk released Computer World, a concept album about the rise of computers within society. Its title track foresees the marriage between the corporate world and technology.
  • Business, numbers
    Money, people
    Computer world
    Computer world


    Kraftwerk released "Computer World" in both German and English-language editions. The German version replaces the repeated "computer world" with the line "denn zeit ist geld," which translates into English as:

    Computer world
    Because time is money
  • The song hints at an international conspiracy using computers to spy on people.

    FBI and Scotland Yard
    Interpol and Deutsche Bank


    Kraftwerk's Ralph Hutter told NME in 1981: "Well, now that it has been penetrated by microelectronics our whole society is computerized, and each one of us is stored into some point of information by some company or organization, all stored by numbers. When you get into Germany at a border, they place your passport into a machine connected to the Bundeskriminalamt in Wiesbaden so they can check whether you can enter or leave, for various reasons other than whether your passport is correct. It goes much further than that, there's a whole philosophy of, etc. - it's our 1981."
  • Kraftwerk recorded Computer World at their private Kling Klang studio, hidden away in Düsseldorf, Germany, between 1978 and 1981. Ironically, the German electronic pioneers did not own a computer at the time.
  • Performed only by electronic instruments, Computer World contains eerily prophetic lyrics about the way technology would come to dominate society. However, Hutter rejected the suggestion that Kraftwerk are futuristic, insisting, "We were maybe just in time."
  • Fun Fact: Time magazine chose the personal computer as its Person of the Year on December 26, 1982, the first non-human ever. Ironically, the writer of the story wrote it on a typewriter, since Time's newsroom would not get computers for another year.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Jon Anderson

Jon AndersonSongwriter Interviews

Jon Anderson breaks down the Yes classic "Seen All Good People" and talks about his 1000 Hands album, which features Chick Corea, Rick Derringer, Ian Anderson, and many other luminaries.

A Monster Ate My Red Two: Sesame Street's Greatest Song Spoofs

A Monster Ate My Red Two: Sesame Street's Greatest Song SpoofsSong Writing

When singers started spoofing their own songs on Sesame Street, the results were both educational and hilarious - here are the best of them.

Song Cities

Song CitiesMusic Quiz

Nirvana, Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen are among those who wrote songs with cities that show up in this quiz.

Kip Winger

Kip WingerSongwriter Interviews

The Winger frontman reveals the Led Zeppelin song he cribbed for "Seventeen," and explains how his passion for orchestra music informs his songwriting.

Weird Al Yankovic

Weird Al YankovicFact or Fiction

Did Al play on a Beach Boys record? Did he have beef with George Lucas and Coolio? See if you can spot weird but true stories.

Annie Haslam of Renaissance

Annie Haslam of RenaissanceSongwriter Interviews

The 5-octave voice of the classical rock band Renaissance, Annie is big on creative expression. In this talk, she covers Roy Wood, the history of the band, and where all the money went in the '70s.