Who are "138" in the song "We are 138" by The Misfits?

Question

I was thinking about this, of all things, while I was doing aerobics the other day. I remember hearing "We are 138" on the Misfits Evil Live album with Henry Rollins providing background vocals...well, more like background shrieks.

What is "138"? What do they mean by 138? What was songwriter Danzig referring to?

Answer 1

According to Jerry Only, the song is about the movie THX-1138. Danzig claims it to be about the book I, Robot.

Answer 2

It's from an idea of the film THX-1138. That is the sign of a person in a future world who has a number and not a name. Go watch the movie, it's quite good. Since THX-1138 would be to hard to sing, they shortened it to 138.

Answer 3

According to the Misfits fan site www.onethirtyeight.com, Danzig (who wrote the song) has refused to explain “138” and implied it is an original invention with a secret, personal meaning. “It’s about violence,” he has said, in reference to the entire song.

Danzig’s notoriously cryptic and touchy nature aside, just about every Misfits-ologist agrees it is obviously a reference to George Lucas’ 1971 film “THX-1138.” The movie starred Robert Duvall has the title character, a man struggling to break free from an Orwellian future world patrolled by violent androids with eyeless silver mannequin faces.

Granted, Danzig refers to “138,” not “1138.” But the references to robots, androids and dehumanization are pretty clear. In addition, other Misfits members recall the band once producing promotional pins featuring an “android face” with “138” written on the forehead. And many other Misfits songs were admittedly inspired by horror and sci-fi movies.

Thus, “We Are 138” implies that we are dehumanized robots.

Lucas himself has continually used the film’s title as an inside joke. A license plate in “American Graffiti” (1973) features the title in scrambled form; in “Star Wars” (1977), Princess Leia is held in “cell block 1138.” His famed THX sound processing system and sound/video certification program are named for the film.

Lucas reportedly took the title from his phone number in his college days, though an earlier title including other letters and numbers puts that in doubt.

Answer 4

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