LogFAQs > #956446775

92. Kraftwerk The Model (1978)
from the album The Man-Machine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFq2pU21cNU

Key lyrics:
It only takes a camera to change her mind

Throughout their career, Kraftwerk have made songs about roadways and trains and robots and pocket calculators. It should come as no surprise that their one hit with a human subject is somehow among their coldest productions. The Model is a light take on the stalker genre, framed as a photographer who cant forget a model who has since hit it big. Kraftwerks typical vocal monotony grows genuinely uneasy while discussing a human woman.

The central synth-line bubbles up and down with every word, dominating a wide space between each line. This interplay between voice and synthesizer is a definitive turn. Before The Man-Machine, their work could be classified as an early form of general electronic music. They featured vocals, but largely as atmospheric scene setting rather than a lead part. While shifting their focus to a person, it is clear that Kraftwerk turned to a more human sound. With the structure of a dance track, The Model helped lay the foundation for synth-pop.

Their more strictly electronic sensibilities linger on this track, the sections between verses going off on extended tangents before returning to the central structure. The Model acts as a rare, distinct bridge between two eras - but it plays to the best of both worlds. The instrumental sections suggest curiosity about the ever-changing world, while the vocals capture a sickening idea of how little changes about human nature as technology evolves. It is detached, but only to highlight the crudeness of the narrator. There is a bright and shiny world outside, but some have nothing better to do than lust after someone they will never see again.

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My top 100 games (with write-ups): https://foolfantastic.com/top-100-video-games-project/