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.
Harry the Head
The Residents Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The head is finally dead
"I can live forever
In formaldehyde", he said.
Once he made me so mad
I knocked him on the floor;
He rolled around and found a
Little paint brush
As he held it in his teeth
He painted angels
On the skirt I wore.
Harry
Harry
Harry
Harry - The Head is dead.
Harry - The Head is dead.
Harry - The Head is dead.
Herman - The Human Mole
Herman
Herman
Herman isn't happy
Herman isn't well
Herman is an albino
Not that you could tell.
Herman
Herman
Herman is dirty
Herman is cold
Herman is thirty and
Wishes he was old
But he isn't.
Herman has a trailer
On top of it is grass
He filled the inside up with dirt
And made the sides of glass
He lets you climb the steps
Up to the top for free
And look down through a little hole
Above his old TV.
But if you want some more
You pay to go inside
The tent that goes around the trailer
In which Herman hides.
Herman plays piano
When no one is around
He has an upright baby Steinway
Underneath the ground.
The Residents' song "Harry the Head" features two distinct verses that tell the stories of two different characters, each with their own peculiarities. The first verse is about a character called Harry the Head, who is described as "hardly human". Harry is eventually declared dead, but not before he talks about his desire to live forever in formaldehyde. We can infer that Harry was some sort of anatomical specimen or a head in a jar. In the second verse, the focus shifts to another character named Herman, who is an albino and has a trailer filled with dirt and grass. He charges visitors to see inside the tent that surrounds his trailer, where he plays piano on an upright baby Steinway that is hidden underground.
Line by Line Meaning
The Head was hardly human
The head had an abnormal appearance and was barely recognizable as a human head
The head is finally dead
The head is no longer alive and has ceased all biological functions
"I can live forever
In formaldehyde", he said.
He claimed that he can preserve himself in a solution of formaldehyde to live forever
Once he made me so mad
I knocked him on the floor;
He rolled around and found a
Little paint brush
By the door;
As he held it in his teeth
He painted angels
On the skirt I wore.
When he angered me, I punched him and he fell to the ground. He found a paint brush nearby and used it to paint angels on the skirt I was wearing, holding the brush in his mouth.
Harry
Harry
Harry
Harry - The Head is dead.
Harry - The Head is dead.
Harry - The Head is dead.
Repeating Harry's name in celebration of the death of the head he embodied
Herman - The Human Mole
Introducing a new character named Herman, who is referred to as the human mole
Herman
Herman
Herman isn't happy
Herman isn't well
Herman is an albino
Not that you could tell.
Describing Herman's disposition and appearance, noting that despite being an albino, it's not immediately obvious
Herman
Herman
Herman is dirty
Herman is cold
Herman is thirty and
Wishes he was old
But he isn't.
Further describing Herman as unkempt and longing for old age, but being unable to achieve it
Herman has a trailer
On top of it is grass
He filled the inside up with dirt
And made the sides of glass
He lets you climb the steps
Up to the top for free
And look down through a little hole
Above his old TV.
Detailing Herman's trailer home, which has a grass roof and dirt interior with glass walls. He allows visitors to climb up for free and peer down through a small hole above his TV
But if you want some more
You pay to go inside
The tent that goes around the trailer
In which Herman hides.
Upon wanting to see more, visitors must pay to enter a tent surrounding the trailer where Herman hides
Herman plays piano
When no one is around
He has an upright baby Steinway
Underneath the ground.
Stating that Herman plays piano alone and keeps a small Steinway piano underground
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: HARDY WINFRED FOX, HOMER FLYNN, HOMER III FLYNN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Harry Partridge
Being called Harry myself this scare the living hell out of me as a kid... I'm loving the old school computer animation, reminds me of the Beetlejuice animated series.
mikeforte
These comments have got me curious too. Is Harry Partridge’s father Harry the Head? Hahaha
Nicholas Dante
Hey didn't your dad collaborate with The Residents? I know he helped with Commercial Album
Psykodactyle
Harry fucking Partridge?! On a residents video??
this just made my day
Scott Snyder
As he held it in his teeth, he painted angels on the skirt I wore ... BRILLIANT!
Manfred Rösler
This song was on the first interactive CD I had, called "FREAKSHOW". A masterpiece of computer art! I love the story when Grizelda fell in love with Harry, drawn by hand, but nevertheless a great cartoon!
Paula De Lisio
los mejores temas sin duda, semolina y happy birthday to me
Ramón Alanis
In fact, The Residents put out a "freakshow" comic in 1992, published by Dark Horse. Some great people worked in it, big names like Kyle Baker and Dave McKean, each fleshing out a song from the CD and turning it into a 10-ish pages story. Bolland's take on Harry the Head is also included, and curiously enough it had different dialogue/captions than those it had in Heavy Metal.
Teeveepicksures
Ramón Alanis My father was in the video game business and always had stacks of new games, programs, etc so as kids we we're not easily impressed with some new "cd-rom with interactive multimedia" bs.
We we're COMPLETELY enthralled with this .
The music, the cutting edge graphics for a home computer (at the time), and the whole universe that was behind this crazy ass song.
KallistiUK
Thank god I've found this again :) I first was this video way back in 1991 on an Apple Mac Quicktime demo (when QT was first introduced) but it was a matchbox-sized video and hard to see anything. The music has haunted me ever since, but I didn't know it was by the residents. Finally I can find out more...