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.
Honey Bear
The Residents Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tell me, tell me, tell me that you love me
Tell me, tell me, I'm your honey bear
Tell me, tell me, I can be your cubby
Tell me I am your chocolate eclair
Tell me that you are somewhere above me
Tell me, tell me, and I won't be scared
Once I was a linebacker in college
Once they put my picture on the wall
Once I ate much more than I could swallow
Once I had so very far to fall
Once I had a father I could follow
Once he hardly hated me at all
Now I am an unemployed policeman
Now my pickup needs to be repaired
Now I wait for you to gag and grease me
Now I hope you'll hold me by the hair
Now I live in shadows of my dreams and
Hope to be your humble honey bear
The Residents’s song “Honey Bear” has a creepy and unsettling vibe from the beginning with lyrics that ask to be loved and called a honey bear, whilst admitting to a deep fear. The opening line, “Tell me, tell me, tell me that you love me” repeated three times, is a plea to feel loved and assured but also comes across like a desperate begging. The song then goes on to describe the singer’s past life as a successful college linebacker with his picture on the wall but now paints a picture of a down-on-his-luck and unemployed policeman who is hoping to be seen as a “humble honey bear” by someone. The line “Now I hope you'll hold me by the hair” is especially creepy and disturbing.
The song presents a deeply troubled individual who possibly has deep-seated issues of fear and self-esteem. The line “tell me that you are somewhere above me, and I won't be scared” indicates he is unable to deal with this fear alone and is searching for someone to believe in him. It's an extremely powerful and disturbing song that delves into the psyche of unstable individuals who are desperate for love and approval.
Line by Line Meaning
Tell me, tell me, tell me that you love me
I need constant reassurance that you still love me
Tell me, tell me, I'm your honey bear
Tell me I hold a special place in your heart
Tell me, tell me, I can be your cubby
I want to be your safe place to hide and feel protected
Tell me I am your chocolate eclair
I want to feel desired and indulged
Tell me that you are somewhere above me
I need to know that you are in control of everything
Tell me, tell me, and I won't be scared
I am scared of losing you or not being enough for you
Once I was a linebacker in college
I used to be strong and confident
Once they put my picture on the wall
I used to be admired and respected
Once I ate much more than I could swallow
I used to have big dreams and ambitions
Once I had so very far to fall
I used to have high expectations for myself
Once I had a father I could follow
I used to have someone to look up to and guide me
Once he hardly hated me at all
My father used to love and approve of me
Now I am an unemployed policeman
I feel like a failure because I lost my job
Now my pickup needs to be repaired
Things are falling apart and I can't fix them all
Now I wait for you to gag and grease me
I want to be submissive to you and feel your control
Now I hope you'll hold me by the hair
I want you to be dominant and physical with me
Now I live in shadows of my dreams
I am disappointed in where I am in life compared to where I thought I would be
Hope to be your humble honey bear
I want to be loyal and obedient to you
Contributed by Hailey H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Mary Roam
I can't be the only one who thinks this song is amazing
TheHeavyMetalBrony
@Geemonster 17 now, but they´re morons to be honest.
Geemonster
16 people would disagree with you, but fuck them, i think it's a gem
TheHeavyMetalBrony
You´re not, I love it too.
Shifter Gynoid
This is one of my favourite Residents songs.
Gin Kanges
Damn Randy that lyric smithing
Oecobius33
I love this whole album, but this song especially transports me every single time.
Masterful.
gerd reuss
i love it
super
Amazing song...... just totally nails that feeling of romantic need and how important it is to soften life. It even addresses some people's wilder sexual impulses as part of the whole package.. just wild how the Residents can tap into this sort of stuff, this album is so good
gerd reuss
i love it