Allmusic had this to say about the Residents: "Over the course of a recording career spanning several decades, the Residents remained a riddle of Sphinx-like proportions; cloaking their lives and music in a haze of willful obscurity, the band's members never identified themselves by name, always appearing in public in disguise -- usually tuxedos, top hats and giant eyeball masks -- and refusing to grant media interviews. Drawing inspiration from the likes of fellow innovators including Harry Partch, Sun Ra, and Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band, the Residents channelled the breadth of American music into their idiosyncratic, satiric vision, their mercurial blend of electronics, distortion, avant-jazz, classical symphonies and gratingly nasal vocals reinterpreting everyone from John Philip Sousa to James Brown while simultaneously expanding the boundaries of theatrical performance and multimedia interaction.
It was commonly accepted that the four-member group emigrated to San Francisco, California from Shreveport, Louisiana at some point in the early '70s. According to longtime group spokesman Jay Clem -- one member of the so-called Cryptic Corporation, the band's representative body -- they received their name when Warner Bros. mailed back their anonymous demo tape, addressed simply "for the attention of residents". Finding no takers for their oddball sounds, the Residents founded their own label, Ralph Records, for the purposes of issuing their 1972 debut "Santa Dog", released in a pressing of 300 copies which were mailed out to luminaries from Frank Zappa to President Richard Nixon. Their debut full-length, 1974's "Meet the Residents", reportedly sold fewer than 50 copies before the group was threatened with a lawsuit from Capitol Records over its cover, a twisted, dada-esque parody of the art to "Meet the Beatles".
The follow-up, 1974's neoclassical excursion "Not Available", was recorded with the intention of its music remaining unissued; locked in cold storage upon its completion, only a 1978 contractual obligation resulted in its eventual release. 1976's "The Third Reich 'N Roll" was the next official offering, a collection of pop oldies covers presented in a controversial jacket portraying Adolf Hitler clutching an enormous carrot. After a 1976 concert in Berkeley, California which cloaked the Residents behind an opaque screen, wrapped up like mummies -- the most famous of only three live performances mounted during their first decade of existence -- they issued an abrasive 1977 cover of The Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction", which became an underground hit on both sides of the Atlantic at the peak of the punk movement. As the decade drew to a close, the group released a flurry of recordings, further building upon their growing cult following; among them were 1978's "Duck Stab", 1979's "Eskimo" (purportedly a collection of native Arctic chants) and 1980's "Commercial Album", a compilation of 40 one-minute "pop songs" that aired on San Francisco radio only because the Residents played them during the advertising time they bought.
In 1981 the Residents embarked upon their "Mole Trilogy", a prog rock collection of albums -- 1981's "Mark of the Mole", 1982's "The Tunes of Two Cities" and 1985's "The Big Bubble" -- recounting an epic battle between a pair of tribes named the Moles and the Chubs; a lavish, multimedia tour, "The Mole Show", followed. In the interim, the group also mounted another ambitious project, the "American Composer" series, although only two of the projected titles -- 1984's "George & James" (a reinterpretation of songs by George Gershwin and James Brown) and 1986's "Stars & Hank Forever" (celebrating John Philip Sousa and Hank Williams) -- ever appeared. Instead, in the wake of financial and corporate difficulties which resulted in the creation of a New Ralph label, the Residents issued the one-off "God in Three Persons" (a talking blues outing), and 1989's "The King and Eye" (a reinterpretation of Elvis Presley standards).
After losing control of the Ralph label as well as their back catalog, the Residents regained the rights to their music in 1990 and began reissuing long-out-of-print material as well as the new "Freak Show", a meditation on circus sideshows and carnival dementia. Four years later, Freak Show was reissued as a CD-ROM, marking the group's first leap into the new digital interactive technology; "Have a Bad Day" followed in 1996, and included the soundtrack to the CD-ROM game "Bad Day on the Midway." In 1997, the band celebrated their silver anniversary with the release of the career-spanning overview "Our Tired, Our Poor, Our Huddled Masses". "Wormwood: Curious Stories From the Bible" followed the next year, with "Roadworms" (songs from Wormwood as performed in the stage show) being issued in mid-2000. They followed that up with the awesome "Icky Flix" DVD, an incredibly detailed collection of their videos that featured both old and new soundtracks, 5.1 Digital Stereo Surround sound, countless hidden videos and in-depth histories of each individual track. That was followed by another one of their rare tours, which saw them incorporate the DVD into their live act and bring out guest singer Molly Harvey for some truly creative duets. The "Petting Zoo" retrospective followed in the spring of 2002, acting as a budget sampler for new fans and giving old fans something to tide them over while several high concept projects neared completion. The first was "Demons Dance Alone", a complicated pop album that hearkened back to the catchier material from "Duck Stab" and the "Commercial Album". That was followed in 2002 by a live retrospective called "Kettles Of Fish On The Outskirts Of Town" that contained 3 cd's and a DVD, and a further look at their past via remasters and remixes put out by EuroRalph (including a remix of their previously unreleased and notorious "Warner Brothers Demo"). A DVD of the Demons Dance Alone tour came out in 2004 and another new project, "Animal Lover" was released in 2005."
Summer of 2006 brought the internet download project, The River of Crime: Episodes 1-5. River of Crime was their first project with Warner Music Group's Cordless label. Following the success of "River of Crime", The Residents launched their weekly Timmy video project on YouTube. In 2007 they did the music for the documentary "Strange Culture" and also released a double instrumental album, "Night of the Hunters". On the Fourth of July, 2007, the planned October release of their latest project with Mute Records, The Voice of Midnight (a music theater adaptation of E.T.A. Hoffmann's short story Der Sandmann), was announced on their website.
On the 21st of May 2008 they announced on their website that their first North America tour since "Demons Dance Alone" for a project entitled "The Bunny Boy" is set to begin on October 9th in New York — later an earlier date was added for Santa Cruz. Soon, it was announced that the tour will also include Europe, starting November 13th. On June 3rd, the Residents.com website boasted the planned release of "The Bunny Boy" which was released on September 1st. The website had posted information in which Foxboro claimed this would be a Farewell Tour; it was later revealed that this was nothing more than a mistake by Foxboro.
In October 2017, Hardy Fox identified himself as both the anonymous primary composer and producer for The Residents as well as the pseudonymous Charles Bobuck.
Hardy Fox died on October 30, 2018.
Angakok
The Residents Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The whales whistled as the Eskimo tribe danced on and on to the lively beatof the ceremonial band. For twenty days they danced. And sang. And prayed. And still the ice floe hugged the shore line preventing the Eskimos from being able to kill their most valuable prey, the large migrating whale. Anger had been building in the people towards the Angakok who allegedly had the power to remove the ice that was blocking their passage. Finally a hunter challenged the magic of the Angakok with hostile words, and others soon joined him in the traditional taunt of "necki, necki, necki", until the Angakok rose up before them and silenced them with a single cry. A spell escaped from his lips and the sky darkened. A curse slipped from his finger and the seas swelled. The ice was cracking at last. But that dull roar?? The Eskimos looked at one another with fear in their weathered faces. Then it appeared. A "giant snake which stands on the water" wiggled before them with its head in the clouds. They briefly watched it eat a path through the ice floe, then hysterically ran for safety. But the water spout had one more job to do. The hunter who challenged the Angakok's magic was never seen again.
IF AN ANGAKOK IS MURDERED, IN ORDER TO PROTECT HIMSELF FROM ITSSPIRIT, THE MURDERER CUTS OFF THE ANGAKOK'S TOES AND FINGERS AND PUTS THEM IN THE DEAD MAN'S MOUTH.
DEAD CHILDREN ARE BURIED WITH A DOG'S HEAD TO PROTECT THE CHILDIN THE AFTERLIFE.
IF CATASTROPHE IS IMMINENT, ALL IN THE SETTLEMENT EXCHANGE WIVESIN ORDER TO CONFUSE THE EVIL SPIRITS.
ESKIMOS HAVE WORDS FOR 40 VARIETIES OF SNOW.
The Residents’ song “Angakok” tells the story of an Eskimo tribe gathered together for a traditional ceremony. The tribe is waiting for the ice floe to move so they can go out and kill migrating whales, their most valuable prey. The tribe becomes increasingly angry with the Angakok, the Eskimo man of magic, who is believed to have the power to remove the ice that is blocking their passage. The situation escalates as a hunter challenges the magic of the Angakok, and others join in with the taunting until the Angakok rises up and silences them with a single cry. A spell escapes his lips, and the sky darkens, a curse slips from his finger, and the seas swell, and finally, the ice begins to crack. But what happens next terrifies the Eskimos; a giant snake that stands on the water appears before them, and they watch as it eats a path through the ice floe. The Eskimos, hysterical with fear, run for safety. Eventually, the giant snake sinks into the ocean, but the hunter who challenged the Angakok's magic is never seen again.
Line by Line Meaning
Angakoks, the Eskimo men of magic.
Angakoks are Eskimo men who possess magical powers.
are widely held as symbols of mortal power among the tribe,
The tribe considers Angakoks to be symbols of power and strength.
Stories of their feats are very popular at tribal gatherings.
Tribal gatherings often involve popular stories about the incredible feats of Angakoks.
The whales whistled as the Eskimo tribe danced on and on to the lively beat of the ceremonial band.
While the Eskimo tribe danced to the ceremonial band, the whales made noises.
For twenty days they danced. And sang. And prayed.
The Eskimo tribe danced, sang, and prayed for twenty days straight.
And still the ice floe hugged the shore line preventing the Eskimos from being able to kill their most valuable prey, the large migrating whale.
The Eskimos were unable to hunt migrating whales due to the ice blocking their way to the shore.
Anger had been building in the people towards the Angakok who allegedly had the power to remove the ice that was blocking their passage.
The Eskimos felt anger towards the Angakok who was thought to have the power to remove the ice blocking their passage.
Finally a hunter challenged the magic of the Angakok with hostile words, and others soon joined him in the traditional taunt of "necki, necki, necki",
A hunter challenged the magic of the Angakok with hostile words, and soon others joined in by taunting him with the traditional phrase "necki, necki, necki".
until the Angakok rose up before them and silenced them with a single cry.
The Angakok stood up before the taunters and silenced them with a single cry.
A spell escaped from his lips and the sky darkened.
The Angakok spoke a spell that caused the sky to darken.
A curse slipped from his finger and the seas swelled.
The Angakok cursed and caused the sea to swell.
The ice was cracking at last.
Finally, the ice began to crack.
But that dull roar??
There was a dull noise that caught their attention.
The Eskimos looked at one another with fear in their weathered faces.
The Eskimos looked at each other in fear with weathered faces.
Then it appeared.
Then, something appeared.
A "giant snake which stands on the water" wiggled before them with its head in the clouds.
A giant snake that stood on the water appeared and wiggled around with its head in the clouds.
They briefly watched it eat a path through the ice floe, then hysterically ran for safety.
They watched the snake eat a path through the ice and then ran for safety in hysterics.
But the water spout had one more job to do.
The water spout still had one more thing to do.
The hunter who challenged the Angakok's magic was never seen again.
The hunter who challenged the Angakok's magic disappeared and was never seen again.
IF AN ANGAKOK IS MURDERED, IN ORDER TO PROTECT HIMSELF FROM ITS SPIRIT, THE MURDERER CUTS OFF THE ANGAKOK'S TOES AND FINGERS AND PUTS THEM IN THE DEAD MAN'S MOUTH.
In order to protect themselves from the spirit of a murdered Angakok, the murderer cuts off the Angakok's toes and fingers and puts them in the dead man's mouth.
DEAD CHILDREN ARE BURIED WITH A DOG'S HEAD TO PROTECT THE CHILD IN THE AFTERLIFE.
Dead Eskimo children are buried with a dog's head to protect them in the afterlife.
IF CATASTROPHE IS IMMINENT, ALL IN THE SETTLEMENT EXCHANGE WIVES IN ORDER TO CONFUSE THE EVIL SPIRITS.
If there is an imminent catastrophe, the people in the settlement exchange wives in order to confuse evil spirits.
ESKIMOS HAVE WORDS FOR 40 VARIETIES OF SNOW.
The Eskimos have 40 different words to describe varieties of snow.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: HARDY WINFRED FOX, HOMER FLYNN, HOMER III FLYNN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@toyaquiyvoyaya
This album is reaaaally hard. Getting into Meet The Residents and Not Available was much easier for me, I fell in love with them since the first time I listened to one of their albums. This is one of the few pieces in this album that I can actually understand and enjoy, it is absolutely brilliant.
@DerDrache707071
A timeless masterpiece!
@VamboRoolz
A soothing cacophony for the wee sma' hours.
@LeVezz
That chorus tho !
@bananartista
the best song ever
@Soft_Machine
I was playing this once and it generally scared the crap out of my brother
@BrianWisti
I played the Eskimo album for the future Mrs. Geek on one of our early dates. Yeah, it surprises me that there were any dates after that as well.
@DaveBennett
She didn't like the music, she liked you! 😃
@BrianWisti
Apparently, Dave Bennett. That bit still occasionally confuses me ^_^
@DaveBennett
Same over here. 😃