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.
Bossy
The Residents Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Through the cracks of wooden floors
Forming little cone mountains
Fertile soil on which to rest
My dirty little white stone
With dimples to keep it from
Rolling down the dusty trail
Brought such straight rows
And foot caves in cold dirt
And the sore throat that follows
"Everyone always knew it ended this way,
But I still don't understand why...
Milking the cow didn't work."
She was warm and had a rough
Mus-cular tongue for licking
Salt blocks and brown eyes like a cow
And her name was Bossy.
We didn't eat her I don't think
The lyrics to The Residents' song "Bossy" describe a scene where the singer is sitting on an empty box of Cheerios and observing the ground beneath them. Through the cracks in the wooden floors, the singer can see little cone-shaped mountains of fertile soil, where they have placed a dirty little white stone with dimples to keep it from rolling away. The singer reflects on the experience of planting rows of crops - corn and peas - as well as digging foot caves in the cold dirt, which leads to a sore throat. The singer mentions a sense of confusion about the ending of something, with the line "Everyone always knew it ended this way, but I still don't understand why... Milking the cow didn't work." The song then introduces a character named Bossy, a cow with warm and rough features, a muscular tongue for licking salt blocks, and brown eyes. The singer notes that they "didn't eat her, I don't think."
The song's lyrics contain a sense of nostalgia and reflection on past experiences, particularly those related to farming and agriculture. The mention of planting rows of crops and digging foot caves paints a picture of a simpler time in which manual labor and self-sustenance was more commonplace. The line about milking the cow not working creates a sense of confusion and frustration, like something that should have been simple or easy to accomplish but ultimately failed. The introduction of Bossy the cow provides a glimpse into a specific memory or experience, one that the singer seems to hold dear, as they take the time to describe her physical features.
Line by Line Meaning
Sat upon an empty box of Cheerios and settled
The singer is sitting on an empty Cheerios box and settling down.
Through the cracks of wooden floors
The floorboards have cracks that allow things to fall through.
Forming little cone mountains
The things that fall through the floorboards form small piles that look like mountains.
Fertile soil on which to rest
The stuff that falls through the floorboards creates fertile soil where things can grow.
My dirty little white stone
The artist has a small white stone that is dirty.
With dimples to keep it from Rolling down the dusty trail
The stone has little indentations that prevent it from rolling away along a dusty path.
Brought such straight rows
The singer has planted things in straight rows.
Like corn and peas
The things that were planted are corn and peas.
And foot caves in cold dirt
The artist's footsteps create small depressions in the cold dirt.
And the sore throat that follows
The artist seems to be experiencing a sore throat, possibly due to the cold or other factors.
"Everyone always knew it ended this way,
But I still don't understand why...
Milking the cow didn't work."
The singer is reflecting on something that ended badly, and is confused as to why it played out that way. They mention an attempt to 'milk the cow' that didn't succeed.
She was warm and had a rough
Mus-cular tongue for licking
Salt blocks and brown eyes like a cow
And her name was Bossy.
The artist is describing a cow they were familiar with, whose name is Bossy. They mention her warm and rough tongue, and her affinity for licking salt blocks.
We didn't eat her I don't think
The singer is unsure, but they believe that they did not eat Bossy the cow.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Jimbo
on BUCKAROO BLUES: The Stampede
A true mirror of American culture. The Residents are a national treasure