SMT (Surface Mount Technology)
Words and music by Joe Ficklin © Feb 2024

G C The machines run all day / In a building by the bay D G As they pick and place components on a board G C D G Loading diodes and resistors / Capacitors, transistors C D G All for just a minimal reward G C Little robot arms are busy / At a speed that makes you dizzy D G Then the PCBs come sliding down the ramp G C D G Electric cannon fodder / To be checked for broken solder C D G Then racked and stacked and packed with cargo stamp G C Racing on the line / It's how I spend my time D G Everyday from dark to dark again G C D G This is how they work us / It's an entertaining circus C D G And it never, ever, never really ends G C Components on a reel / That lock in place by feel D G Add a stack of stock from nearby crates G C D G Load a program for the thing / And a warning bell will ring C D G And if you look you'll see the message states: C G We're making robots / That make the other robots D G That fix the robots everybody uses C G C G For industry and schools / Some military tools C D G We build devices ev'ry household chooses G C Little robot arms are flying / Building circuits without crying D G With precision know to only engineers G C D G To pass with each inspection / Reqires neat perfection C D G But the robots have no need of human fears G C The AI writes the code / A program now will load D G That has no need of human interface G C D G In time the code evolves / Addressing problems that it solves C D G Until a monster rises in it's place REFRAIN G C Little robot arms are making / Bigger robots that are taking D G Control of all the land and air and sea G C D G To late we see the danger / From the robots that got stranger C D G Patrolling now where humans used to be G C In our hunt for greater good / Did we wonder if we should D G Use technology to bridge the untold miles? G C D G As missiles fall from space / To kill the human race C D G In a bunker underground now Skynet smiles C G It's making robots / That make the killer robots D G That hunt the people hiding in the rubble C G C G No industry or schools / Just military tools C D G We built devices that just cause us trouble