"Mr. Roboto" is a song written by Dennis DeYoung of the band Styx, and recorded on the Styx
album Kilroy Was Here.
It was also released as a 45 RPM single in a 4:44 radio edit, which has the synthesizer
intro removed, with the song "Snowblind" as the B-side.
In Canada, where they were generally more popular than in their native U.S., it went
to #1 on the RPM national singles chart, becoming their third single to top the charts in that
country.
In the U.S., it reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Description and background The song's chorus features the line, "Dōmo
arigatō, Mr. Roboto", which has become a catchphrase.
The Japanese lyrics at the beginning of the song are as follows:
どうもありがとうミスターロボット また会う日まで
どうもありがとうミスターロボット 秘密を知りたい
The lyrics translate into English as follows: Thank you very much, Mr. Robot
Until the day meet again Thank you very much, Mr. Robot
I want to know your secret The song tells part of the story of Robert
Orin Charles Kilroy, in the rock opera Kilroy Was Here.
The song is performed by Kilroy, a rock and roll performer who was placed in a futuristic
prison for "rock and roll misfits" by the anti-rock-and-roll group the Majority for
Musical Morality and its founder Dr. Everett Righteous.
The Roboto is a model of robot which does menial jobs in the prison.
Kilroy escapes the prison by overpowering a Roboto prison guard and hiding inside its
emptied-out metal shell.
When Jonathan Chance finally meets Kilroy, at the very end of the song, Kilroy unmasks
and says, I'm Kilroy!
Kilroy!, ending the song.
The robot-like catchphrase was created with a vocoder.
The song heavily features the Oberheim OB-Xa and PPG Wave synthesizers.
Stan Winston designed the Roboto costume and mask, which is displayed prominently on the
cover of the album Kilroy Was Here.
The track was released as the first single from the album at the last minute instead
of "Don't Let It End" at the request of A&M Records.
Composition The song is not in any one key and is instead
in a related set of modes.
The intro begins in A-flat Mixolydian mode, ending in an F. The singing begins, the chords
alternating between a second-inversion B-flat and G-flat Lydian mode.
Out of the "Domo" part, the song bursts into G-flat Lydian.
It changes to E-flat minor Aeolian mode at "I am the Modern Man", and this is the dominant
key for the remainder of the song.
Some portions of the song transition to E-flat major as a transition point and to A-flat
Mixolydian, a modal change from the G-flat Lydian that the same part took in the beginning
of the song).
It transitions back to the familiar G-flat Lydian and then E-flat minor as the singer
introduces himself as Kilroy.
Video The song's video, directed by Brian Gibson,
depicts Jonathan Chance walking in Rock Museum to meet Kilroy and a robot approaches.
After this, it morphs into five robots moving and dancing.
Shortly thereafter, the robots transform into the members of Styx and including a clean-shaven
Dennis DeYoung.
The video then alternates between the band playing the song on a stage and scenes from
the Kilroy Was Here backdrop film.
Then, the members of Styx morph back into the robots and DeYoung confronts the robots,
screaming in the ear of one of the robots before collapsing.
DeYoung awakens to see he is being experimented on and runs off.
The video cuts back to the ending of the first scene and Jonathan Chance climbs on to the
stage.
Before the robot removes his mask to reveal Kilroy, another shot of the robot with lights
on is used to end the clip.
Uses in media Covers
The Japanese new wave band Polysics covered the song in 2002.
Movies The song was featured in the 2002 film Eight
Crazy Nights, starring Adam Sandler.
The 'Shrek2' DVD bonus features includes an American Idol spoof, complete with Simon,
Fiona, Shrek, and the cast who watch "Pinocchio" sing 'Mr. Roboto.
In the 2005 film The Perfect Man, Holly's mother is taken on a date by Lenny to Styx
tribute band and the first song sung is Mr. Roboto.
Lenny observes that the vocalist is not as good as the original, but if one closes the
eyes one won't tell the difference, to what Holly retorts that she does.
The tribute band vocalist is played by Dennis DeYoung.
Television A 1999 commercial for the Volkswagen Golf
featuring actor Tony Hale is widely credited with bringing the song back into popularity.
He later parodied this in an episode of Arrested Development.
In Chuck, Jeffster play Domo Arigato at Ellie and Devon's wedding in the episode Chuck Versus
the Ring.
In Glee, the glee club Throat Explosion performs a mash-up with this song and "Counting Stars"
from the American pop rock band OneRepublic in the episode "City of Angels".
Late night talk show host Jimmy Fallon lip synched the song in a "Lip Synch Battle" against
actress Emma Stone during an episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon airing
on April 28, 2014.
The first two and a bit minutes are used as the first track on the Japanese TV series
Densha Otoko.
In the second season of Revolution [NBC] episode 14 Aaron Pittman, played by Zak Orth, awakens
to Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto as it plays on a radio alarm clock at the very end of the
episode.
Other In March 2011, a Japanese restaurant, Mr.
Robata, opened in New York City, citing that the name was chosen to reflect the style of
Japanese cooking, robata, as well as the Styx song.
References
External links StyxCollector.com: Center For Roboto Research
And Preservation