If yesterday I told you about the most painless and fast production experience with ”Plastic”, this song is the exact opposite. It took ages and ages to get right which probably isn’t much of a surprise either as it’s a 7 minute long prog juggernaut. Still, both the arrangement and production took a long time. 

There’s an early version of the track that was released on the latest ”Banding Together” benefit compilation curated by Blow Up Radio that featured some of the arrangement but most notably a more punk rock approach which I personally loved as well but in the end didn’t suit the brooding nature of the album. I wanted a more sinister sound to the album version and finally started to find it when I slowed the drums down and went for a thundering tom bear instead. 

One of the things I especially like about the track is it’s long intro. Just when you’ve settled for ”oh, I guess this is an instrumental” somewhere after the 2 minute mark the lyrics kick in with dripping venom. Another favourite moment on the whole record for me is the scream leading into the last chorus. I mean, I sang it and mixed it so I know exactly what I did there, but nonetheless it still sends shivers down my spine when I listen to it. It’s just absolutely brutal and raw. Or pure emotion as some people might call it. 

The song is about being fooled into a certain behavioral pattern by someone because in the end it will pay off if you just stick to it. Instead you’re just another one of those gullible idiots feeding into someone else’s agenda, completely expendable and disposable – like 99% of us on social media if we don’t have millions and millions of followers, sponsorship deals and whatnot. The way social media companies have made a business out of all our personal lives, loves, pictures, thoughts and engagement is truly baffling. And at the same time we’re like the kid that came out to their parents and now the parents have kicked us out and won’t talk to us because we’re not what they wanted us to be. 

Algorithms suck if all they’re meant to do is to drive engagement and ad revenue. What they should be driving is true human interaction. But no. We’re just useful idiots.