Synopsis

DEVO's "Don't Shoot (I'm a Man)" presents a stark, stylized portrait of paranoia and social control. A silhouetted commuter drives through a threatening urban landscape while a rooftop sniper watches from above. The imagery shifts to a fleeing man wearing a vest marked "DON'T SHOOT / I'M A MAN," before grim male and female authority figures confront the viewer. The band does not appear, leaving the song's anxious refrain and graphic imagery to create a bleak, satirical vision of everyday life under surveillance.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video does not feature any members of DEVO. Instead, it uses silhouettes, stark compositions, and deliberately impersonal authority figures.

• DEVO first released the video online on April 10, 2009, ahead of the song's appearance on the 2010 album *Something for Everybody*.

• The song's repeated plea and references to being tased connect the video to contemporary fears about police power, public surveillance, and the vulnerability of ordinary people.

• The vest worn in the video turns the song's title into a literal visual slogan, making the central character look both like a worker and a target.

• "Don't Shoot (I'm a Man)" was one of the new songs DEVO introduced during its 2009 live performances, before the album was released.

• A live version of the song was later issued as a music video, providing a more conventional performance-based counterpart to the conceptual studio video.