Mr. Roboto

"Mr. Roboto"
Song

For other uses, see Mr. Roboto (disambiguation).

"Mr. Roboto" is a song written by Dennis DeYoung and performed by the band Styx on their 1983 concept album Kilroy Was Here.

Description and background

The song's chorus features the line, "Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto", which has become an unlikely catch phrase. Domo arigato is one of several Japanese phrases that translate to English as "thank you very much".

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 (Domo arigato Mr. Roboto)

また会う日まで (Mata au hi made)

どうもありがとうミスターロボット (Domo arigato Mr. Roboto)

秘密を知りたい (Himitsu wo shiritai)

The lyrics translate into English as follows:

Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto

Until the day we meet again

Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto

I want to know your secret

The song tells part of the fictitious story of Robert Orin Charles Kilroy (ROCK), in the rock opera Kilroy Was Here. The song is performed by Kilroy (as played by keyboardist Dennis DeYoung), 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 (MMM) and its founder Dr. Everett Righteous (played by guitarist James Young). The Roboto is a model robot which does menial jobs in the prison. Kilroy escapes the prison by overtaking a Roboto prison guard and hiding inside the emptied-out metal shell.

The robot-like catch phrase was created with a vocoder.

Stan Winston designed the Roboto costume and mask, which is displayed prominently on the cover of Kilroy Was Here.

The song also has a cameo in the Playstation 2 and PSP game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories in a mission where the player hijacks a robot. The mission title is "Domo Arigato Domestoboto."

There is a reference to the song in the movie "Austin Powers in Goldmember" wherein Austin departs from a meeting with a Mr. Roboto with the phrase Domo arigato Mr. Roboto.

Mr. Roboto was also revived for a short time by way of advertisement for the Volkswagon Golf Commercial.

In an episode of the American comedy series The King of Queens there is a scene where Doug and Spence are listening to Mr. Roboto in the car and acting as if they where singing.

In the 2005 film Fun with Dick and Jane, Dick (Jim Carrey) Sings "Mr.Roboto" while robbing a former employer, to which he didn't get the job, the scene is also in "Deleted Scenes" in the menu.

In the movie Shrek 2, in the quickie Far, Far Away Idol, this is the music that the character Pinnochio dances and sings.

Also, in the move Eight Crazy Nights by Adam Sandler, in a flashback to Davey's childhood during a basketball game, the song is played while Whitey does the robot.

The Japanese band POLYSICS have produced their own version of the song, although little remains of the Styx original other than the intro, used as the chorus in the POLYSICS version.

See also

• Robot (dance)

External links

• Lyrics at Styx's official site
• StyxCollector.com: Center For Roboto Research And Preservation