MINISTRY – What About Us? | Artificial Intelligence OST (2001)

Industrial metal band Ministry is featured in Steven Spielberg’s film Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001). Their song “What About Us?” is included in the soundtrack and plays during a scene in the Flesh Fair—a chaotic and gritty sequence in the movie. The Flesh Fair is where outdated or unwanted robots are destroyed for entertainment, and the band’s aggressive sound fits the dark and dystopian vibe of that moment perfectly.

Ministry’s song “What About Us?” from Artificial Intelligence: AI is a high-energy industrial track that channels themes of rebellion, anger, and societal critique—perfectly in line with the movie’s dark undertones. The song’s lyrics reflect a sense of defiance and a call to question injustice, particularly in systems that marginalize or destroy “others,” whether human or robotic.

In the context of the movie, the song amplifies the anarchic and brutal atmosphere of the Flesh Fair, where robots are tortured and destroyed in front of cheering crowds. While the song itself doesn’t explicitly reference robots or artificial intelligence, its raw aggression underscores themes of exploitation and the dehumanization of beings deemed “lesser.”

Just like another speck of dust that’s on the highway of life He Screams at anyone who’ll listen that the end is in sight So then he circles the wagons or he just circles then quits Cause the Highway could become the final battling pit So when the company wants, Another problem resolved Or if the company wants a choice of nothing at all Point your thumb out to the highway through the heat and the dust And raise your finger in the middle till you shout:

“What About Us!” x 4

Just like another last call, it means nothing at all You either kiss a lot of ass, or tear the clock off the wall Another warning ignored another sign of the times They say the sky is gonna fall, so why not drink till your blind So when the company wants another company-man Or when the company wants another 1,000 year plan You’ll let your boot go up the road you cannot possibly trust Till the screaming hits the ceiling and you ask:

“What About Us?” x5 “What About Us?” x4

Don’t follow my path to extinction, if I had a mind I’d leave it alone We speak of aliteration, can’t even get on medication Like a journey to the inside of carnal-fiction Release yourself where the preditor prays, rewind your mind, freeze your

World apart

Wage war on the eye which cannot see Destroy the temple of emptyness And what about them in the wake of damnation And what about us? Do We come from God?”

Just like the old soft shoe or the old song and dance The only check that’s in the mail is prob’ly already cashed Are you a victim of chance? is this the way to succeed? Or just a crack in the wall of what the people believe So when the company wants the final weapon online When the company wants to reposess your mind You gotta wonder if the fear that we loathe or trust Would ever waste a precious second trying to answer:

What about us x 6

Do We Come from God? What about them (echos and fades out)