electronic :: songs

(sumner and marr)

you keep calling but i’m not at home
to give me your explanation
i’m not waiting on the telephone
with a feeling of frustration

i always thought that if you understood
you’d clean up this mess and you’d do me some good

i don’t need you anymore
i’m not the man you’re looking for
i don’t need you anymore
i’m not the man you’re looking for

can’t you see there’s nothing in your head
and your body’s on vacation
i keep hearing what i never said
you got me in your conversation

now it’s too late and you get what you see
i don’t like this hatred, it just isn’t me

i don’t need you anymore
i’m not the man you’re looking for
i don’t need you anymore
i’m not the man you’re looking for

i don’t need you anymore
i’m not the man you’re looking for
i don’t need you anymore
i’m not the man you’re looking for

i don’t need you anymore
i’m not the man you’re looking for
i don’t need you anymore
i’m not the man you’re looking for

i don’t need you anymore
i’m not the man you’re looking for
i don’t need you anymore
i’m not the man you’re looking for

album version—5:38

electronic
electronic+disappointed
electronic (remaster)

only four or five chords are repeated throughout this early classic, such minimalism being the key to its melodic appeal. defiant, emotional, yet precise and economical, it boasts a fadeout so sublimely catchy that it surpasses ’80s-era kraftwerk for sheer addictive simplicity—it was the first song marr and sumner ever wrote together, so it’s clear that they had an instant chemistry and hit it off straight away.

reality is home to some incredibly subtle playing from the two musicians: marr’s evil wah-wah snakes its way through the aerodynamic synths in the instrumental section while bernard’s ultra-thin harmony in the chorus is coolly crucial to its emotional impact. it epitomises all the irresistible contradictions in pop: structural logic and sonic clarity combined with genuine passion and an enduring theme… reality could be described as “disco blues”.