LogFAQs > #882004796

I really did not like this song the first several times I've heard it. I've learned to appreciate what they were going for, the duality between this song and Airman, the way it works with the overarching suicidal theme of the four Robot Master songs on the album, I get it. I didn't get it at first; I heard this song, like, a dozen times before I went back to hear their Mega Man 2 album at all? But I get it now...though I still don't think The Haystack Principle works by itself. It leans so heavily on its relation to Airman (especially in the brief spoken word version), that you absolutely need to know that other song to get anything from this one.

And no one knows who Needleman is arguing with. Himself? He expresses some joy that if Megaman kills him that he'll at least not die alone, so that kinda sounds like there's no one else there. Protoman? The anonymous speakers lines sound like him. Compare the lines quoted earlier with part of Protoman's song "I'm Not the Breakman"


You say these things you do are what you choose
This thing you call your will I call a ruse
We follow our path, we walk the program
I’ve accepted the machine I am

That sounds exactly like what was being told to Needleman. But then, why was Protoman there in the first place? Maybe it's Dr. Wily clarifying why Needleman was made. At least one person believed the voice belonged to Airman (or possible the Doc Robot with Airman's data) because why not at this point?

So...whatever. I get why people would prefer this song. I get why some people think it's the best song they've ever done. Taking the lyrics of a past song and inverting them to compare and contrast the two characters is easily one of the most clever things the band has ever done and I have nothing against the song; but I much prefer the goofiness of Airman. It's fun in a way that Needleman isn't--and very actively doesn't want to be.

((Bleh, computer trouble kept me from posting this for a surprisingly long time.

EDIT: It was only six minutes from the write-up to when I got the additional two posts added? Felt much longer than that...))
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