Artificial Man

Written by: Ray Davies

Published by: Davray Music Ltd.

Chord file

Lyrics:

Scene: After his capture, Flash is taken to a secret hideout to have
his brain cleansed, and his mind conditioned.
Flash, Mr. Black and the Mad Scientist sing:

Flash: I can't believe it's happening
I just want to stay the way that I am.
I don't want to live a lie in an artificial world.

Mr Black: Let's build an antiseptic world,
Full of artificial people.
Cure all diseases, conquer pain
And monitor the human brain,
And see what thoughts you're thinking.
Observe your feelings,
Secret fears,
Controlling everything you say and do
And we will build a master race
To live within our artificial world.
Tell it to the people all across the land,
We're going to build an artificial man
With the physique of a Tarzan
And the profile of a Cary Grant,
A superior being
Totally made by hand.
Throw out imperfection,
Mould you section by section,
Gonna make you the ultimate creation.

Flash: I can visualise the day
When the world will be controlled by artificial people,
But I don't want to live a lie in an artificial world.

Mr Black: Tell the world that we finally did it,
Made a man that's totally programmed,
Preconditioned thoughts and emotions,

Push-button artificial man.
Did you ever want to live forever?
Well here's your chance to be a total automaton
'Cos we've improved on God's creation
An outdated homo sapien.
Make you taller if you want it
Make your hair grow longer if you need it.
If it doesn't exist then I guess we can breed it.
There'll be no disagreements,
We'll dedicate our lives to achievements,
And organise your life and keep it totally planned.

Flash: I can visualise the day
When the world will be controlled by artificial people,
But I don't want to live a lie in an artificial world.

Mr Black Tell the world we finally did it.
& Mad Modified the population,
Scientist: Put your senses and your mind
Under constant observation
Even when you're dreaming.
Replaced your nose, heart and lungs,
So shake me with your artificial hand.
We went and built a master race
To live within our artificial world.

This song can be found on the following releases:

stereo mix, recorded Jan-Mar 1974 at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London
Preservation Act 2 May 1974 USA RCA Victor CPL2 5040 12" vinyl 2-LP set (double album), 33 1/3 RPM
Preservation Act 2 26 Jul, 1974 UK RCA Victor LPL2 5040 12" vinyl 2-LP set (double album), 33 1/3 RPM
Preservation (A Play In Two Acts) 30 Jul, 1991 USA Rhino R2 70523 2 CD set
Preservation Act 2 14 Jul, 1998 USA Konk/Velvel 63467-79722-2 CD
The Kinks' Greatest - Celluloid Heroes 25 Sep, 2001 USA Konk/Velvel/Koch VEL-CD-79734 CD
Preservation Act 2 21 Sep, 2004 USA Konk/Koch VEL-SC-79809 SACD (hybrid)
Greatest Hits 1970-1986 30 Oct, 2007 USA Konk/Velvel/Koch Records VEL-79822 3 CD set
Picture Book 8 Dec, 2008 UK Universal/Sanctuary 5313049 Multi CD box set
Preservation Act 2 21 Jun, 2010 UK Konk/Koch/Universal Music 2738379 CD


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