This song is about self-identity. As teenagers and as young adults we felt that we were unique and felt that our clothing style, our sense of fashion, choice of music, in fact, every aspect was very distinct. We often ridiculed our parents’ thoughts and practices. We rebelled against our parents and, most importantly, we felt that we were the master of our own destiny and ‘self-made’.
What if this was not true? It would be shocking. This song shares such a revelation.
Welcome my son, welcome to the machine
Where have you been?
It’s alright we know where you’ve been
You’ve been in the pipeline, filling in time
Provided with toys and ‘scouting for boys’
You brought a guitar to punish your ma
And you didn’t like school, and you
Know you’re nobody’s fool
So welcome to the machine
The poet establishes the relationship and the context with the words ‘son’, ‘pipeline, and ‘machine.’ The father is addressing his son who just became an adult. The father devised a machine where a young boy was processed according to a pre-determined plan which is like a work ‘pipeline’ in a factory.
As a courtesy, the father asks his son, “Where have you been?” But soon he supplies the answer, “It’s alright we know where you’ve been…” The boy was is a ‘pipeline, filling in time.’
The boy thought that he was a rebel because he bought a guitar to punish his ma and he didn’t like school. You can interpret this as the boy did not like to obey the rules set by the generation before him. The boy thought that he was not under the control of anyone (nobody’s fool).
The father is welcoming the boy into the adult’s club and in the process is revealing the machine that the boy has just been through.
Welcome my son, welcome to the machine
What did you dream?
It’s alright we told you what to dream
You dreamed of a big star
He played a mean guitar
He always ate in the Steak Bar
He loved to drive in his Jaguar
So welcome to the machine
The boy dreamt of being a big star, playing a mean guitar, eating in a steak bar, and driving a Jaguar. The father reveals that the boy was totally controlled including what he dreamt and aspired for.
So welcome to the machine.
