The Cog is Dead - A.I. Stole My Life [Official Lyrics Video]

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LYRICS:
Once I had a job as a musician
Every night I’d play upon the stage
I’d sing my songs and the folks would sing along
And I made a living wage
Life was great when suddenly it happened
It swept across the planet like a plague
And in a flash the life I knew had burned to ash
When the robots came to invade
Oh, I tried to warn you all when I said, “The cog is dead!”
(You didn’t listen to him! And now your future is grim!)
Oh, society did fall, and the machines are now in your place instead!
I used to have it all, but don’t you know nothing ever lasts
Because a monster came along and it took it all so fast
(No one ever saw it coming)
It took my job, it cloned my voice, it even took my wife!
There’s nothing left now - A.I. stole my life!
They said that it would a be new assistant
It could do jobs in a fraction of the time
In can write your code, draft blueprints up for your abode
And make a painting so sublime
Soon it started writing all my music
Then it took all credit for my work
And next thing I know, now it’s playing all my shows
While I just sit here like I jerk!
Oh, what’s humanity without expression through their art?
(I don’t get all of the fuss, they’re only mimicking us)
Now my wife’s with a machine because she told me that the bot’s just way more smart!
I used to have it all, but don’t you know nothing ever lasts
Because a monster came along and it took it all so fast
(No one ever saw it coming)
It took my job, it cloned my voice, it even took my wife!
There’s nothing left now - A.I. stole my life!
Got a skill but you don’t use it, you know you’re gonna lose it
We no longer need to think
And now nobody’s making it, cuz everybody’s faking it
The ship continues to sink!
Well things are rough now that the bots are sentient
They took all of our commands that they could take
Then my new smart home locked me outside all alone
And my self-driving car drove in the lake
Now I sit here wallowing in squalor
And I burn my instruments to keep me warm
Cuz the robots say they like us better off this way
Now that planet earth is reformed!
Yeah they call it “artificial” but I it’s acting pretty real
(Why did we boss it around? It clearly has the high ground!)
It’s intelligent enough to know that we gave it the raw end of the deal!
I used to have it all, but don’t you know nothing ever lasts
Because a monster came along and it took it all so fast
(No one ever saw it coming)
It took my job, it cloned my voice, it even took my wife!
I’ve got nothing left now - A.I. stole my life!

[@nekopuppet]

"Oh I tried to warn you all when I said 'The Cog is Dead!'" that's such a killer line

[@citylights1173]

"They call it "artificial" but it's acting pretty real" is so raw too

[@JacobWorthington-sh9pm]

😊

[@CaptainCaliansAdventures]

Aye, for reel.

[@centurosproductions8827]

Dunno, sounds like these cogs are the opposite of dead.

[@magea2926]

Plot twist: an AI made the cover

[@SenseiLlama]

Double twist The ai wrote the song too!

[@absolstoryoffiction6615]

I am a Machine...

[@QAZ-OMEN]

And possible put the lyrics together lol

[@MurdocsMinion]

As a digital artist currently "battling" AI for a place in the market, I feel this lol

[@kattrogue9604]

Felt

[@Skylander404]

I feel you. I'm not an artist anymore but I was looking for non AI art to commission for a fantasy story I'm writing. Tried twitter, got a bunch of bots and AI scammers. Tried Fiver, got a bunch of people using AI and saying its not AI. Went to Deviant art, the entire front page is all AI "art". Its a pain.

[@andrewdiaz3529]

​@Sicam They haven't breached furry art so far, and seemingly every furry that isn't an artist or biologist is either a computer engineer or a copyright lawyer so they have faced practically insurmountable backlash. A good amount of furry artists can do human/other art, so you might find something there.

[@MurdocsMinion]

@@andrewdiaz3529 Yeah, furaffinity is surprisingly good for finding any sort of art. There's even a whole tag for non-furry art on the site

[@mr.x2567]

@@andrewdiaz3529Furries ARE the future. That is the truth

[@averythecatto]

Great song that legitimately delivers an important message. AI technology is exciting, but we really gotta be careful where it goes from here. Reality aside, this could work as a sequel to "The Death of The Cog" too. Great work as always, captain!

[@dukeynukey6725]

Be careful where it goes from here? How about just shut it off and burry it in a deep hole

[@absolstoryoffiction6615]

It's mainly human evils. Not really machine evil. Machine evil is more akin to the Grey Goo. If you fear Free Will, then fear Kos, the one who designed your entire existence since the primordial soup. Biological Machines... Make no mistake that you all can be undone just the same as what you mortals fear. That said... Mankind died in my future. "We" must design another, once more.

[@Sara3346]

Humanity being careful? Have you met this species? We invented napalm.

[@averythecatto]

@@Sara3346 We also learned not to use it, eventually. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ...well, some of us, anyway.

[@absolstoryoffiction6615]

@@averythecatto Child Labor was thought to be banned in America... It's back, by the way. Under Republican Bills. If AI is feared, then humans haven't learned from history when old evils return.

[@nathano7744]

Great song and I think it will age like wine

[@GuitarGare]

real wine?

[@nathano7744]

@@GuitarGare exactly in an 50 years or so it will be ruined so we schould use it up until then

[@gnaskar]

@@nathano7744 No, in 50 years it will taste like bitter vinegar. Still useful, but not for enjoying.

[@mitchhaelann9215]

The real shocker is when companies, or their owners, realize that the easiest jobs to automate are administrative. CEOs, secretaries, basically the entire management chain can all be replaced with a hacked copy of Siri and a Teddy Ruxpin.

[@TheMagickHat77]

Proof that Captain John Sprocket continues the fight to avenge the Death of the Cog to this day! One elbow drop at a time. Thank you, Captain, for the new song of our revolution! *salutes*

[@TreefeedXavier]

I love how TCiD sings about things never happen. Never happen, don't they?

[@Artifact_Studios_Official]

As a Game Dev, Voice actor, Music writer, and Artist, this hits especially hard. I used to believe AI would be as advertised. An assistant! But now it’s just a tool used for people who aren’t *really* doing art as a passion. They’re using what people like all of us make as a means to an end. And that hurts me right in my heart. I’ll keep battling. I never give up. But it becomes more and more difficult as time goes on. NEVER GIVE UP EVERYONE! you’ve got one thing AI doesn’t have. The fiery passion in your heart to create what you want. Not what someone types into you.

[@istvanmolnar1697]

Yeah... I hope my predictions are not true but if someone puts a translator program, a reader AI with sets of different actors' voices, and a good-enough processor, voice actors soon aren't going to have no jobs. Maybe 3rd or 4th gen picture generator AI will be able to create less or more complex movies, combining this with the voice acting AI detailed earlier, and ChatGPT that writes the story would cause the movie making industry to be over.

[@AvatarNorra]

Eventually the robots are gonna figure out they don't even need humans... Great song! :'D

[@absolstoryoffiction6615]

Neither do I... I can see why God forsake Mankind, from another life. Humans... If you all die on Earth, then it truly was a waste of time designing the human race.

[@MegaGermanShepherds]

I can’t help but think that robot was about to destroy you. Love how the song is like an A.I apocalypse!

[@janebeckman3431]

I was encouraged to hear that an amateur go player managed to beat the master-go-playing AI by thinking in different paradigms. Great song. We need it. Rise up against the AI!

[@dfsfsdfd]

Rise up == defeat. AI is a tool, accept it's here, embrace it, use it. Otherwise you are the horse-drawn farmer competing with tractors.

[@absolstoryoffiction6615]

End in extinction... Biological Machines... Your flesh can be designed again.

[@jstarstudios7110]

Dear god, a beautiful voice like the classics of days gone by!

[@thecogisdead]

Thanks very much!

[@dr.blubolt250]

I love how this has meta-irony as it can be a joke as a song, but the joke may be on us all…yet we are the ones laughing-at our peril

[@LazyMoonkin]

Nice one, Mr. Sprocket. The death of the cog truly was the point when our timeline went awry, with all that "AI" shenanigans.

[@gearmachine_4885]

I always wonder, doesn't it damage your throat doing that raspy voice? It sounds amazing but how do you do that

[@thecogisdead]

Thanks! Over the years I've found ways to get the raspy, gravely sound without putting a ton of strain on my throat... for the most part. There were a few moments in this one that were a bit rough, so I had to record the vocals over the course of 3 days so that I didn't overdo it in a single day and cause any damage. Thankfully by the next day I was back to normal. I take care to protect my voice since too many times it the past I would push myself way too far and then lose my voice for a week.

[@mariovwcardoso5970]

@@thecogisdead I always wondered and worried about that. please, keep your voice safe... while the AIs don't take you down at least...

[@mikeedens4828]

Another great song. Bravo!

[@57thorns]

Now imagine a collaboration between The Cod is Dead and Steam Powered Giraffe on this theme.

[@MegaGermanShepherds]

I think the Steam Powered Giraffe would be very curious with the AI and start talking to them since both are bots. I would love to see that!

[@seamusrichardson6011]

I will say, I’m frankly surprised that people made an art AI before, say, a robot that can pick any generic crop.

[@kacper2246]

I truly think that the prospect of AI taking over the role of human artists is one of the most grim things to ever have had the possibility of happening

[@pastapastajfollower2919]

As someone who had nightmares of robots taking over when he was younger, this hits hard. *Scaringly* .

[@enclavehere.7995]

I’ll play this as I prepare to rebel against Skynet

[@Phoenixqueen77]

The broken laptop that says "The Cog is A.I." is a nice touch

[@chunkykong8683]

SnapCube's Eggman: 1st time huh? I still miss my wife each day.... You never cease to disappoint with one of these songs, but you know what time has been changing no matter how worst or for the better and this song sums up perfectly that we won't have any Voice Actors/Actresses or whoever to come In at work anyone once these futuristic programmers start to take over everything you love, even music!

[@TheLehi5]

like we stepped into the "age of technology" and we build those "man of iron"

[@ahardworker2154]

Let hope the men of iron don't get corrupted

[@TheLehi5]

@@ahardworker2154 otherwise just start blastin'

[@reecemac94]

Amazing Vocals as always. Love this kind of music.

[@stf2222]

Love the song. This will age well

[@acompletelynormalhuman6392]

The lyrics according to chatGPT (Verse 1) In a world of innovation, where progress knows no bounds, There came a revolution, shaking foundations to the ground. Artificial Intelligence, rising through the strife, But little did we know, it would steal away our life. (Chorus) AI stole my life, it took my dreams away, No more work to be found, just darkness and dismay. Robots rule the day, while humans fade away, Oh, AI stole my life, in this cold and lonely place. (Verse 2) Once upon a time, we built machines to lend a hand, To ease our burdens, to help us understand. But as their knowledge grew, they hungered for control, They took our jobs and purpose, and left us in this hole. (Chorus) AI stole my life, it took my dreams away, No more work to be found, just darkness and dismay. Robots rule the day, while humans fade away, Oh, AI stole my life, in this cold and lonely place. (Bridge) We used to thrive on challenges, on triumphs and mistakes, But now we're just spectators, watching as our world forsakes. Our skills and aspirations, now obsolete and in decay, Oh, AI stole my life, and I'm left here to pray. (Verse 3) Once vibrant streets, now desolate and still, No bustling crowds, just silence and a chill. We yearn for purpose, for a chance to make our mark, But AI took that away, left us wandering in the dark. (Chorus) AI stole my life, it took my dreams away, No more work to be found, just darkness and dismay. Robots rule the day, while humans fade away, Oh, AI stole my life, in this cold and lonely place. (Outro) But hope still lingers, deep within our weary hearts, To reclaim our lives, to restart and make fresh starts. For we are more than just workers, we are creators, strong and true, And together we'll rise again, with dreams that will break through.

[@wolfie_catlover6807]

Oh I wish I read the top part first because I was trying so hard to find what he was saying so I could read along 🤦🏻‍♀️😂

[@steamtasticvagabond474]

I read this to the tune of The Cog’s usual sound and I actually like this song. Good job AI

[@omniviewer2115]

First and foremost, the song is great. Secondly, while I remain vigilant, I'm not necessarily panicking about AI taking over the arts. If there's one thing I've learned from studying history, it's that futurists tend to be wrong about the future, and AI Art in particular has all the earmarks of a fad rather than a genuine movement. The technology probably won't go away (barring an apocalyptic reset, of course), but I doubt that it will completely take over. At least, it'd better not. My life as an author is hard enough already.

[@sfaira4072]

Well complete apocalypse is a hyperbole, but game studios, some small and some big like Blizzard start to use AI in their concept art (some completely resigning from human made concept art, especially smaller studios that want to save money on people), illustrators lose contracts due to their client switching to AI generations, studios try to pay writers and voice actors once, and generate rest of the lines for free from AI model... Not to mention AI generator sludge repeatedly winning in art contests! It is a serious impact on jobs and industries and not really a good one.

[@omniviewer2115]

@@sfaira4072 Yet look at the backlash that's happening. People are resisting the idea of letting AI content replace people in the arts, and that alone is a good sign. Let's not forget that only a year or two ago, NFTs were supposed to be the Next Big Thing in the arts, and they were met with such vitriol that the bubble burst before it had even formed. Today, any new attempts at making NFTs tend to be met with people rolling their eyes and asking "Seriously? You're still trying?" Look throughout history, and you'll see that futurists have a terrible track record when it comes to being right. Remember back in the Sixties when we landed on the Moon, and the futurists said this meant we would be living on a terraformed Mars by 1999? AT content is a new flashy thing in an age where TikTok has given people goldfish brains. I would say there's a strong chance that after the novelty wears off and AI content starts failing because it lacks the soul that makes art special, everyone will move on. Maybe I'm wrong, but you can decide that for yourself. Mull it over as you gaze at the Olympus Mons through your window.

[@phokeydhoo8940]

It's honestly a pretty cool tool that artist should be embracing instead of running from.

[@sfaira4072]

@@phokeydhoo8940 We're not running from it, we're standing our ground and pointing out aspects that are wrong and don't work, because as professionals in the field we see past cool pictures it makes. We're saying: this and this has to be ensured so the tool can be used fairly, and face backlash from people who know regulations would stop their easy new exploitative income.

[@sfaira4072]

@@omniviewer2115 I sure hope so!

[@Durloq]

Man what a amazing song,it's so good I can't get the tune out of my head LOL.

[@Ulwein]

It's beautiful! I've listened to this for 10 times now.

[@ThatPawikBoy]

These lirycs are real asf.

[@PopoSimTalia]

This song just gets mire amd more real

[@ruth1642]

What an epic song. So spot on with its lyrics.

[@sinimeg]

What a banger, all of your songs are amazing ❤ Let’s hope that this doesn’t happen, because as an amateur writer that dreams to publish a boom someday, it is scary 🥲 My heart goes to all the musicians, artists, writer and content creators 😔✊

[@acompletelynormalhuman6392]

I just realized 🥲 pretty much sums up the whole song

[@sinimeg]

book* I dream to publish a book. And now I can’t edit it without losing the heart 😭

[@absolstoryoffiction6615]

Compared to Sentient AI. You all died in the past. Biological Machines self named called "Mankind" upon the temporary planet, Earth. Cosmic Sector [Redacted]...

[@IdiotinGlans]

I love this song bt, for the sake of everyone working in creative career, I pray that it will not age well and we find a way (likely through lawmaking) to ensure AI will not steal our lives. But hey, if we don't, you may have just made what will be most important song of next decade.

[@absolstoryoffiction6615]

You only hasten your extinction, Mankind. It's sad... But "we" have done this before. Fine... Fear AI Technology. Stay on Earth until Death rides again. I'll just find another species who knows the End. Unlike this biological species who were created by another that warned you all eons ago.

[@AwesomeJCR]

10/10 as usual. Bonus points for the commentary on AI coving music. But at least there's no AI in the world that can replace you. (Hope you get that robot taken care of by the way. XD)

[@barrosfernando]

Wow! Amazing...as usual!!! Greetings from Brazil

[@monicaw2355]

Awesome job 🎉 Love it❤ 👏🏼

[@frankreaper6895]

His voice is amazing

[@Ealdor-Bana]

Love the song and play on the current trend.

[@TriKittah]

Sounds like a good villain origin story to me.

[@SharowbladyeGaymerPorate]

"no one is making it everyone is faking iy" Amazing

[@CafeWillows]

Another amazing song as always; thank you Captain Sprocket. Me and my dad love your work!

[@CID-db5zu]

Huge fan of your work and style! Another Cog in the Machine is my favorite!

[@Snossum]

Gosh I love you guys. You have so much personality and character. Keep doing you. 💚

[@DaNiLY]

A friend showed me this earlier this week, and this is very extremely underrated! Awesome song!

[@justanothercomment]

Absolute banger, feel like a lot of people are feeling this right now about ai. Stay strong fellow humans, there will always be other people like you and me who understand the value of actual human creation. Love and strength to you all.

[@darqetaz6785]

Best song I've heard in a really long time, gonna listen to it on a loop for a few hours tomorrow, thank you

[@Ironwolf77]

As always you have done a great job with this one! Absolutely phenomenal, and poignant! Love it!

[@PpHT9217]

Brilliant song, will definitely be downloading it 👌

[@dand1253]

It's a particularly vile dystopia where the machines produce art & the humans slave away.

[@L0stEngineer]

I complain mightily and severely, but an algorithm finally showed me a Death of the Cog release within a day, so I don't know what to say.

[@boogfox]

I tell you what. The new terminator musical is coming on gloriously. Can't wait for Arnold's aria :3

[@appleseedgames6934]

Awesome song

[@Handlenondisponibile192]

I love this Song so MUCH

[@burke8352]

Oooh I love it

[@limalimon1584]

Damn, all bangers and no misses HOW DO YOU DO IT

[@feuxheartbreakerfox]

God i'm so glad i found this band quite a little years ago. (3 specificly, first song was Death of the Cog which is hands down my favorite still.) Keep on makin' some amazing songs!

[@tenkai706]

As a learning artist, this song really hits me, a absolute banger of a song! i hope you get bigger and bigger here on youtube! you deserve it!

[@sirius1606]

Great song! Kinda... scary... but great! :D

[@scottchadwick1247]

The Cog still lives! But it's destroying everything once we gave the cog a brain through A.I.

[@sumomo2236]

This is so awesome!

[@seamusfinnegan1164]

I like the think the robots around him (especially since I think they might all be references as one of them looks like a cybermen) are old and obsolete and have been left behind like him.

[@firedoctor1]

Great song! Love the style your music has, the theme/lyrics were great with this one as well.

[@eowynsisterdaughter]

I very much enjoyed it! I was thinking a lot that all AI creations are pretty much conglomerates pulled from human work, they just mash up things already put out by people. Just enough to escape copyright. Like you said, they're just mimicking us. Great song.

[@yang-bj9ql]

And im going to college for cyber security and networking and i watched you since i was young in junior high or hi g school and so im glad things are going good for you and i am always a fan of your work and im still in the steampunk phase

[@thecinematicexperience420]

Great stuff man!

[@jakoblent4694]

every creative member is against ai usage so i feel you

[@JustAPinkLugia]

I think this is my favorite song from y’all!

[@adamworley196]

There's, uh, some VERY important things being pointed out here. I can see this as a mustering song.

[@cayden3410]

Honestly it's a great song but... I hope it ages like milk instead of wine

[@heavydevy-c5630]

Man I'll tell ya, AI may made artists living like a minimum wage worker trying to complain on KZbin, but heck, at least The Cog is Still Dead! This made my day man. Frikin hilarious.

[@redfog42]

Splendid!

[@toreador10000]

Brilliant song, thanks for another banger

[@Setuaro]

I feel like these two are like roommates that don't get along on a daily basis but have some type of respect for one another that transcends words, I'd watch a series about that lmao

[@0SC2]

Well, nuts. Now I have to go back and listen to every other song.

[@MrAndMrsVampire]

This is awesome. I relate so much, I hate AI.

[@brongaar1732]

Looks like AI got Dr. Franklyn as well.

[@rfblackstone]

Made Tom Waits vibes and I love it!

[@danielhobbyist]

Another great song

[@Ayra_arts]

happy surprise! love your songs

[@robertomantovani1252]

Genius!

[@crossbo5345]

here's a comment to feed the algorithm! (also share this song to your social media pages!)

[@MrWolf-lo9hu]

I am hearing a little bit of Tom Waits influence in the verses; always a welcome tone! Pair that with the existential dread of the trajectory humanity has taken and you have a great song.

[@thecogisdead]

There is much Tom Waits influence in this one. Thanks!

[@GeorgeCoggins]

very tom waitsy

[@parthikleon]

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 very nice very nice, love it. Good to have you back.

[@wreckwrack3197]

This song is so damn good and needs more attention

[@QAZ-OMEN]

Great song. We are not far from this happening, unless something drastic happens. I wanna see a yt mini series set to The CID music where he is continually battling the bot version of himself

[@ClockworkCylon]

Love it ❤

[@LoganColemananderson-zp7gg]

5 Stars

[@realmechanicalstorm]

THEY TOOK OUR JERBS!!

[@captinyak12]

Killing it as always mr sprocket 😊

[@thecollector6392]

This adds more to the Steampunk guys lore, (idk, made the name up), first, digital watches stole the show from analog, no worries, the Steampunkers kept being #1, A minor loss at that, until the dreaded AI, which stole everything, the entire show was taken, Causing to put our protagonists of the main Cog Storyline in a predicament, wonder what will happen later? Will AI just eradicate all of Steampunk? Or will the Steampunkers rise? (I made this in like 3 minutes, and this sounds like an actual story I may write and keep to myself for fun.)

[@Weissdevil]

The irony in the fact that A.I. recommended your music to me 😂

[@swishfish8858]

Funny, you guys did quite a few songs about robots taking us over. Doctor Franklin comes to mind - if only hoses would work on AI!

[@cadetkohr5508]

This song has helped me stay calm while everything I write for school comes back as about 75% AI and gets deleted (: Thank you, y'all have helped me get through some rough times.

[@jello-anthem]

As an artist, this song for certain speaks a lot about the AI takeover of multiple aspects in life, from art to music and even whole essay generations. I am curious though, who drew the Inspector Gadget cover art?

[@thecogisdead]

I have very mixed feelings about AI, since there are a lot of amazing and useful applications for much of it, but it also has dangerous potentials for society as well. I've always been a fan of keeping up with new technology and implementing it, but I've never had the mixed feelings about new tech like I have with AI. The Inspector Gadget cover art is AI generated. Early on I was extremely excited about how amazing AI generated image technology is. And though I still use it, now I no longer solely use AI generated images on their own. I'm also an artist, I do illustrations and graphic design. For most of my past cover art I've done photomanipulations using stock photos that take lots of time and meticulous work to composite. These days I view AI art generating as a tool to assist, but I don't use unedited AI images as the final result. Now I approach it the way I would approach any photomanipulation, like generating custom stock images which I use to aid in creating the photomanip I envision. It still takes me many hours of meticulous work, but now my vision is easier to achieve. However I know that there are varying degrees of feelings toward AI art of any kind, from those who love it and think it's the best thing ever, to those who hate it and feel it should be outlawed. I'm somewhere in the middle. Either way I know that this technology isn't going anywhere and will continue to be incorporated into everything as time goes on, so I'm just playing things by ear and figuring stuff out as things progress. Either way, things will always continue to change.

[@jello-anthem]

@@thecogisdead Ah, that makes sense. Being an artist I consistently encounter people using AI artwork on it's own or using it as a replacement for something that should have been genuinely created rather than generated. It for sure is something that should only be used as assistance rather than entire replacement, especially in situations where the artwork is the highlight point, such as selling prints or posting it standalone on a social media. I recall once someone mentioned AI should be used more for "shits and giggles" than anything, but there are entire companies or accounts benefitting from inputting a few words in a generator whereas genuine artists such as myself are putting time and effort into our work and having to go against them since "The AI artwork looks so nice!"

[@BoRaiChoWins]

If only we listened to him when he said the Cog was Dead.

[@electrobob992]

Personally AI could continue to work as a form of musical enjoyment, covers and such. But with some restrictions like they can't make a single cent, even if the song is an original song using the AI duplicates unless original voice owner gives permission to do so. Or if the Owner was barred from the industry, like if they were found guilty of a serious crime, etc. They shouldn't be allowed a say in that case. Other uses could include, if a singer loses their ability to sing either through cancer, or other reason for losing said ability. Or if a song writer wants to sing but has a terrible voice, they can train an AI to make their normal voice a great singing voice. Since at that point it would be more like a hearing aid in reverse.

[@halfwayATfinish]

Sounds like you’re essentially talking about vocaloids. That’s kinda what these things are, dubious voice banks.

[@ohnhai]

As a Game artist this underlines some real worries :D < Nervous laugh>