The band's early releases, the 1978 singles "That's Too Bad" and "Bombers" plus the self-titled debut album, contained elements of punk, hard rock, heavy metal and new wave but were exclusively guitar driven with only occasional use of primitive synthesizer effects.

Heavily influenced by such writers as J. G. Ballard and Philip K. Dick, it tells the story of a futuristic park in which Machmen (androids with human skin) and machines rape and kill human beings to entertain spectators who, along with their numerically named robotic "friends" ("Down in the Park, with a friend called Five"), view the carnage from a nearby restaurant, "Zom Zoms" – the name inspired by a recurring reference to the Zum Zum restaurant chain in the Jobriath song "Scumbag".

In contrast to much contemporary post-punk music, and his own earlier releases, Numan's vocals were deliberately underplayed, leaving the slow and stately synthesizer work to evoke the song's melancholy atmosphere.

The 12" single included the same tracks as the 7" along with "I Nearly Married A Human (2)", a different mix from the version on Replicas this time featuring drum machine throughout and Numan's recitation of the song's title, the only words heard.

On various dates of the 2009 Nine Inch Nails Wave Goodbye Tour, Trent Reznor and his band performed a version featuring Gary Numan on vocals and David Bowie collaborator, Mike Garson, on grand piano.