History
Hard-Fi frontman Richard Archer describes this song as being about "Having no money"; the song however, is much deeper than that, it tells of the kind of life Archer may have lived before reaching success, "Go to a cash machine, to get a ticket home, a message on the screen, says don't make plans you're broke" and "I try to skip the fare, ticket inspectors there." Another issue that he mentions is "What am I gonna do? My girlfriend's test turned blue (she had become pregnant)... I can't afford to be a daddy so I leave tonight".
Also interesting to note of this song is the reference/adaptation of an old folk song. The lyrics towards the very end of the song are: "There's a hole in my pocket! My pocket! My pocket!" This is an adaptation of the folk song, "There's A Hole In The Bucket."
The original release of "Cash Machine" was not intended by the band to be chart eligible, instead it was released to get the band radio play and hype for the following release, "Tied Up Too Tight". As a result, it was released with a free sticker, a stunt pulled to force the single into being released. The single sold approximately 3,000 copies, which was about how many copies of the single were actually released and would have reached #40 had it been eligible.
The band had pre-planned to release the song later which turned out to be on 26 December 2005, where it reached #14 in the UK Singles Charts, #15 in the US Modern Rock chart and top 40 in the Netherlands, Italy and Ireland.
The song is featured as part of the FIFA Manager 06 soundtrack.
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