Renaldo & the Loaf is a musical duo from Portsmouth, England, initially act… Read Full Bio ↴Renaldo & the Loaf is a musical duo from Portsmouth, England, initially active in the late seventies and most of the eighties, consisting of a pathologist (David Janssen or "Ted The Loaf") and an architect (Brian Poole or "Renaldo Malpractice", most often simply "Renaldo M").

Of all the groups that the Residents signed to their Ralph Records, Renaldo & the Loaf were the closest to their label heads in sound. Twisted, high-pitched vocals, child-like melodies, an atmosphere of menace and unease with a stripped-down approach to instrumentation characterised their output.

By their own assertion, they achieved their unique sound in part by striving to get unnatural synthesizer-like sounds using only what instruments they had available (acoustic ones.) To that end they routinely used muffled and de-tuned instruments, and often to striking effect, tape loops/manipulation. The two released four full-length albums, one collection, various songs on compilation albums, and several self-produced demos. They were "discovered" by The Residents when Brian dropped off a tape at Ralph Records headquarters in San Francisco, during a visit to the US. After being signed to Ralph, they collaborated with The Residents on Title in Limbo.

By 1989, the collaboration had lost its steam, and the duo disbanded after recording a sea shanty, "Haul on the Bowline," which appeared only on a Ralph various artists release. Brian Poole ("Renaldo") contributed to sporadic recordings in the 1990s. In 2006 upon the launch of the new Renaldo & the Loaf web site, the duo were reunited for the first time in the better part of two decades.

In October of 2016 they released their first studio album in 29 years, entitled "Gurdy Hurding". Vienna Label Klanggalerie has since re-issued all their albums. In June 2018 Renaldo & The Loaf played their very first genuine live show at Klanggalerie's 25th anniversary in Vienna, documented in the album "Long Time Coming."

External Links:
Website
Renaldo & the Loaf Myspace
The Loaf's Myspace
Renaldo's Myspace

Ow! Stew The Red Shoe
Renaldo & the Loaf Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Boom boom, Crash crash

Ratatatat

He knew it by heart and so did I
He said as we rode down the road
Without letting go of the boat he held
That hopped and croaked, like a toad

We didn't progress all that fast
For his back was glued to a wall
But he spoke of the life of one Joe Breem
Who met his death in the fall.....

One Joe Breem or Breen, the son of a lighthouse keeper, a strong, muscular lad of 15, who swam for miles in the night, a knife between his teeth, after a shark, out of sheer heroism

We stopped and I held the goat by the horn
He opened his mouth as to speak
But all that I heard was a kind of rattle
He must have been incredibly weak.

His silence seemed most natural to me
As we stood and then admired the view

Of the first bats that flew out of the night
Though there returned but a few.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Renaldo & the Loaf's "Ow! Stew The Red Shoe" offer a sense of surrealism and imagery that is difficult to grasp at first listen. The opening lines of "Boom boom, Crash crash, Ratatatat," create a sense of chaos and disorientation, which continues throughout the song. The singer of the song is riding with a man who holds a boat that croaks like a toad, and they are discussing the life and death of Joe Breem or Breen, the son of a lighthouse keeper. The narrative style of the song seems to jump from one idea to the next, but there is a sense of poetic quality in the way the lines are strung together.

As the singer and his companion stop to admire the view of bats flying out of the night, the man holding the boat becomes silent, and the singer wonders if the silence is natural. There is a sense that the events in the song are not meant to be taken literally, but rather as a reflection of the strange and often confusing nature of life itself. The use of animal imagery, such as the toad and the bats, adds to the surreal quality of the song, and the constant use of onomatopoeia and repetition creates a sense of rhythm and movement that is both playful and unsettling.

Line by Line Meaning

Boom boom, Crash crash
There were loud noises around them, possibly of explosions or gunshots.

Ratatatat
There were rapid and continuous sounds, possibly of machine guns or drums.

He knew it by heart and so did I
The singer and the person they were with knew a story well and were about to tell it.

He said as we rode down the road
The person they were with began to speak as they continued on their journey.

Without letting go of the boat he held
As they traveled, the person they were with continued to tightly hold onto a boat they were carrying.

That hopped and croaked, like a toad
The boat they were carrying moved erratically and made strange noises.

We didn't progress all that fast
Their journey was not moving at a quick pace.

For his back was glued to a wall
The person they were with was physically stuck and unable to move fast.

But he spoke of the life of one Joe Breem
The person they were with began to talk about the life of someone named Joe Breem.

Who met his death in the fall.....
Joe Breem died from a fall.

One Joe Breem or Breen, the son of a lighthouse keeper, a strong, muscular lad of 15, who swam for miles in the night, a knife between his teeth, after a shark, out of sheer heroism
The story of Joe Breem was about a young, brave man who swam a long distance at night with a knife in his mouth to fight off a shark, ultimately dying from a fall.

We stopped and I held the goat by the horn
At some point in their journey, they stopped and the artist held onto a goat by its horn.

He opened his mouth as to speak
The person they were with tried to say something.

But all that I heard was a kind of rattle
The person they were with made a strange noise instead of speaking, possibly due to being weak.

He must have been incredibly weak.
The person they were with likely struggled physically and was very frail.

His silence seemed most natural to me
Despite their attempted communication, the person they were with being silent felt normal to the artist.

As we stood and then admired the view
The artist and the person they were with took a moment to take in their surroundings.

Of the first bats that flew out of the night
They saw the very first bats emerging at night.

Though there returned but a few.
Not many bats returned to the area after the initial ones had flown out.

Contributed by Joseph F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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Boom Boom Crash Crash
Boom Boom Crash Crash
Boom Boom Crash Crash
Boom Boom Crash Crash
Boom Boom Crash Crash
Ratatatatat
He knew it by heart and so did I
He said as we rode down the road
Without letting go of the boat he held
That hopped and croaked, like a toad
We didn't progress all that fast
For his back was glued to a wall
But he spoke of the life of one Joe Breem
Who met his death in the fall.....
One Joe Breem or Breen, the son of a lighthouse keeper, a strong, muscular lad of 15, who swam for miles in the night, a knife between his teeth, after a shark, out of sheer heroism
We stopped and I held the goat by the horn
He opened his mouth as to speak
But all that I heard was a kind of rattle
He must have been incredibly weak
His silence seemed most natural to me
As we stood and then admired the view
Of the first bats that flew out of the night
Though there returned but a few