“wow and flutter” is also a phenomenon of reproduced audio. (see:

Wow and flutter measurement - Wikipedia — Wikipedia

Measurement of wow and flutter is carried out on audio tape machines, cassette recorders and players, and other analog recording and reproduction devices with rotary components (e.g. movie projectors, turntables (vinyl recording), etc.) This measurement quantifies the amount of 'frequency wobble' (caused by speed fluctuations) present in subjectively valid terms. Turntables tend to suffer mainly slow wow.

It’s economic capital, not a state capital.

“The capital will have to follow” can have a multiple meanings here:

“Capital” can relate to economics, meaning assets or money owned by a private individual or entity, or relate to political science, meaning the geographic area where a government is headquartered.

In the economic reading, Laetitia is saying that capital flows into former Communist states that have been opened to the West. In her view, the movement of capital is inevitable, as evidenced by her use of future perfect tense (e.g. “will have”).

In the political reading, “capital” is a stand in for government in general. If society changes, governments must react. This reading is much more optimistic, since it give agency to the people. If we want change, we will have change.

This verse, like many early Stereolab songs, references Marxist criticisms of capitalism. The first two lines are a tongue-in-cheek pre-Marxist mindset where she believed capitalism has always existed and will always exist. The last two reference what she’s learned from Marxism: the bourgeoisie will take advantage of the collapse of the USSR to accumulate even more capital. This song was released in 1993 and the collapse of the USSR was fresh on everyone’s mind.

I thought IBM was born with the world: IBM (International Business Machines) is an example of a capitalist mega-corporation. These mega-corporations can outlive any one person so from her perspective it could have been around from the beginning of time.

The US flag would float forever: before Laetitia was exposed to alternative schools of thought she believed capitalism could work in perpetuity.

The cold opponent did pack away: the collapse of the USSR

The capital will have to follow: Marxists believe that capitalists have an unstoppable demand for more capital (money, wealth) and will turn to exploitation if they can’t get it through regular trade. Laetitia is suggesting that American capitalists will turn to the former Eastern Bloc and plunder them for their capital.