Mailing list etiquette + Showroom Dummies, Kraftwerk

I recently signed up to a Kraftwerk mailing list, after a friend I’d met on Last.fm informed me of its existence. It’s the second such list I’ve been a member of. The previous one was much too full of newbie questions so I signed off. That was a couple of years ago. Anybody who’s read this blog for any length of time will know how much of a Kraftwerk geek I am. Heh, I think I’m too enthusiastic and am probably showing myself up a bit – if the lack of responses to my posts is anything to go by! Oh well, someone did write back once and agree with me. Just hope they don’t turf me off for being a terrible bore…

Anyway, here’s an example of my daftness, written in response to the following brief request:

I’m looking for all the information about the song “showroom dummies” …The meaning behind the lyrics , the kind of instruments they use , every stupid little detail is welcome !

Here’s what I wrote back:

Well, I’ve always thought that the song is about Kraftwerk themselves and their experience of new-found fame. How should they deal with the pressure of expectation? Gone is the freedom of the autobahn. In its place the steel rails of the Trans Europe Express (think of the relentless repetition and heaviness of the beats) and the showroom mannequin (what kind of Europe endless is that?). Showroom Dummies is a companion to Hall Of Mirrors. Both are deeply felt.

Kraftwerk chose to explore the very restrictions that for many signal a creative dead end. That such an experience also reflects the opportunities and limits of global technologisation is either an incredible coincidence or, more probably, an example of their genius. There’s a lot of irony in the overlap between the psychological and the conceptual layers in Kraftwerk’s oeuvre and almost certainly a deliberate critique of post-industrial society too. For example, the song begins as a lament about being showroom dummies trapped behind glass, but what do they do when they break out? They go and dance, a regimented activity dictated by a repetitive beat. The theme is later emphasised in the lyrics to The Robots:

We’re functioning automatic
And we are dancing mechanic

We are programmed just to do
Anything you want us to

That’s my tuppence ha’penny’s worth, hope it’s of some interest.

Shrugs shoulders. Well she did ask!