The Residents are an experimental music and visual arts group from Louisian… Read Full Bio ↴The Residents are an experimental music and visual arts group from Louisiana, United States, largely shrouded in mystery and myth. The Residents began recording in 1967, although many of these recordings from their early years have still gone unreleased to this day. The earliest material from the group, traded among bootlegs, was recorded around 1969. In 1972, the group adopted the name The Residents and issued their first official release, Santa Dog.

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.

KILL HIM!
The Residents Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

First he told me get a goat and
cut in down the center then
He said to find a turtle dove
A ram and maybe two more hens
After they were cut in half
He made me put them on the ground
A torch appeared without a sound
And then He told me, "Kill him! Kill him!"

Then he sent some angels to me
Saying i would have a son
I thought this was a strange arrangement
So he told me, "Kill him! Kill him!"

God said kill him!
God said kill him!
Blood is thick but
God is thicker
I am sick but
He is sicker
God says, "Die!"
So I must kill him, but
Why does God want
To kill children?
Then he made me cut my penis
And the manhood of my sons

When I said I can't believe it
Again He told me, "Kill him! Kill him!"

Overall Meaning

The Residents's song KILL HIM! is a powerful and disturbing piece that delves deep into the concept of faith and obedience. The song seems to be a retelling of the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac, but with a twist. The lyrics describe a figure who is commanded by God to perform a series of unthinkable acts, such as sacrificing a goat, turtle dove, ram, and multiple hens. The repetition of the phrase "kill him" insinuates the sacrifice of a person, which seems to be his son.

The next verse hints at it as angels tell the singer that he will have a son. However, the singer finds the request quite strange and ends up questioning why God wants to kill children. In the final verse, the lyrics become even more graphic, as the singer describes how he's commanded to circumcise himself and his sons, and when he questions it, God responds by demanding that he kill him. The repetition of the phrase "kill him" throughout the song creates a hypnotic, unsettling effect that drives home the horror of the situation.

Line by Line Meaning

First he told me get a goat and cut in down the center then
God instructed me to take a goat and slice it in two halves.

He said to find a turtle dove, a ram and maybe two more hens
God told me to also cut other animals into halves.

After they were cut in half, he made me put them on the ground
I placed the cut animals on the ground as instructed.

A torch appeared without a sound, and then He told me, "Kill him! Kill him!"
Suddenly, a torch appeared and God commanded me to kill someone.

Then he sent some angels to me, saying I would have a son
God then said that I would have a child through miraculous means.

I thought this was a strange arrangement, so he told me, "Kill him! Kill him!"
I was puzzled by this and asked God why, to which He repeated His command to kill someone.

God said kill him!, God said kill him!
God keeps urging me to commit a murder.

Blood is thick but God is thicker, I am sick but He is sicker
My loyalty to my kin is strong, but I am compelled by God to commit heinous acts.

God says, "Die!", so I must kill him, but why does God want to kill children?
God commands me to kill someone, but I don't understand why He would want anyone to harm innocent children.

Then he made me cut my penis and the manhood of my sons
God instructed me to mutilate my own genitals and those of my sons.

When I said I can't believe it, again He told me, "Kill him! Kill him!"
I expressed disbelief and resistance, but God persistently commands me to commit murder.

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: HARDY WINFRED FOX, HOMER FLYNN, HOMER III FLYNN

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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