"We Are 138" is a song by the American punk rock band

Misfits Misfits or The Misfits may refer to: Film and television * ''The Misfits'' (1961 film), a film starring Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and Montgomery Clift * ''The Misfits'' (2011 film), a Mexican film * ''The Misfits'' (2021 film), an American ...

. Written by vocalist

Glenn Danzig Glenn Allen Anzalone (born June 23, 1955), better known by his stage name Glenn Danzig, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, film director, and record producer. He is the founder of the rock bands Misfits, Samhain, and Danzig. He owns t ...

, the song was recorded in 1978 and released that same year on the band's single "

Bullet A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. Bullets are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax. Bullets are made in various shapes and co ...

", sharing the

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

with the title track. It was also included as the opening track on the Misfits' 1980 EP '' Beware'', as well as the opening track on the 1995

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

Collection II ''Collection II'', also known as ''Misfits II'', a compilation album of songs by the American punk rock band Misfits. Released on November 14, 1995, it serves as a companion album to the band's previous compilation, ''Collection I''. Both compi ...

''. "We Are 138" was recorded with the intention of it being included on the band's proposed debut album '' Static Age'', which remained unreleased in its entirety until 1996.

Recording and release

"We Are 138" was written by

and recorded at C.I. Studios in

New York, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...

by the Misfits in January–February 1978 for their proposed debut album '' Static Age''. The song was first released on the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of the band's single "

" in 1978, and would also be included as the opening track on their 1980 EP '' Beware'', which combined tracks from the previously released "Bullet" and "

Horror Business "Horror Business" is the third single released by the American horror punk band Misfits. It was released on June 26, 1979 through vocalist Glenn Danzig's own label, Plan 9 Records, and is commonly said to have been inspired by the unsolved murder ...

" singles. A live version of the song, recorded at a Misfits show in San Francisco, California in 1981, was included on the 1982 EP ''

Evilive ''Evilive'' is a live album by the American punk rock band Misfits. It was initially released as a 7-song EP in December 1982 and later added 5 more songs and released as an album in October 1987. It was released on frontman Glenn Danzig's ...

''. This version of the song features additional vocals by

Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1980, Rolli ...

, who was in the audience, and who joined in on a microphone while standing at the foot of the stage. "We Are 138" was later included as the opening track on the 1995

''. In 1996, ''Static Age'' was officially released in its entirety for the first time, as part of the boxed set '' The Misfits''. "We Are 138" was among the ''Static Age'' tracks included in the boxed set, and it would also be included when ''Static Age'' received a standalone release in 1997.

Lyrics and interpretations

The meaning of and inspiration for the song's lyrics have been subject to much interpretation. One common interpretation is that the song was inspired by the 1971

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar ...

THX 1138 ''THX 1138'' is a 1971 American social science fiction film co-written and directed by George Lucas in his directorial debut. Produced by Francis Ford Coppola and co-written by Walter Murch, the film stars Robert Duvall and Donald Pleasence, wit ...

'', directed by

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairm ...

, which is set in a

dystopia A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

n future wherein the emotions and desires of the human population are controlled by android police. Misfits bassist

Jerry Only Gerald Caiafa Jr. (born April 21, 1959), better known by his stage name Jerry Only, is an American musician, best known as the bassist for the Misfits and later the vocalist as well. He is the only member to appear in every Misfits lineup. Biog ...

and former Misfits guitarist

Bobby Steele Bobby Steele (born Robert Charles Kaufhold on March 18, 1956) is an American punk rock musician. He is the current guitar player, songwriter, and sole original member of the punk band The Undead. He has been a member of multiple other bands, m ...

have reportedly supported this interpretation. Danzig's former bandmates have also recalled Danzig having created badges featuring a half-human half-android with the number "138" on its forehead. According to an email sent by Steele on July 1, 1996 to an online mailing list known as the Misfits Bible:

We used to have badges with a picture of a robot with 138 on his forehead. I wonder if Jerry has one, or remembers it... He anzigused to tell us that if someone asked what it meant, we should just laugh, and in a mocking tone say 'What? You don't know?' and sound real snobby when you say it. Make them feel like every idiot but YOU knows what it means.

Only reportedly told a similar story to a fan after a performance on July 27, 1996, stating that the song "is like people being treated as androids where you have a number instead of a name... We had buttons made once, they were robots with '138' that looked like half human android kinda things". However, in a 2000 interview with TWEC.com, Danzig stated that the other members of the Misfits "didn't write it, and they don't know what the fuck it's about. It's about violence."

Personnel

The Misfits *

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

– bass *

Franché Coma Franché Coma (born Frank Licata August 17, 1957), is an American musician. He is the original guitarist of the Misfits. Coma joined The Misfits in the fall of 1977 as the band's first guitarist eight months after singer Glenn Danzig, bassist Jerry ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

Mr. Jim ''Mister'', usually written in its contracted form ''Mr.'' or ''Mr'', is a commonly used English honorific for men without a higher honorific, or professional title, or any of various designations of office. The title 'Mr' derived from earlier ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Production * Dave Achelis –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

* Tom Bejgrowicz – producer

Recording and release

Lyrics and interpretations

Personnel

References

Further reading