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.
Part Two: The Making of a Soul
The Residents Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She took along a porcupine whose name was known as knowledge;
Now their relationship was fraught with pangs of loving hunger.
The Porcupine could question all, but all she new was slumber.
A huge easy cozy wants our kiss to triumph,
But unbelievable admits --
Some questions receive a guarantee to shake you up.
How much marriage urges a windmill to pinch infinity?
Is firm corn merrier under gifts of less important love?
We wonder.
But fantasy moves ahead;
For the iceman just took a turn for the better
And a small object flies from his mouth;
A daring, jewel scales down the belted ear system
And you have the modular optimistic silver original.
Welcome to the offshoots of Jupiter.
Edweena never knowing why her friend would ramble so
She shut him out and left a pout to bleed upon the snow.
Mourning Glories open only after noon begins;
The open and the broken have begun to blend again.
They freeze a shape about the nape
Of nectar and of knee;
They leave a sleeve, they weave a grieve fox
Mourning's never free.
The aching and the breaking are the making of a soul.
(The empties that have been returned relieve us of a goal).
Now who is gone and who is right
And who is left to see
For who is left is just a few
Can two be more than three?
The Residents' Part Two: The Making of a Soul is a surreal, stream-of-consciousness song that defies easy interpretation. The lyrics seem to be about a woman named Edweena who leaves her hometown of Calumet to attend college with a porcupine named Knowledge. Despite his ability to ask deep philosophical questions, Knowledge is unable to keep up with Edweena's intellectual curiosity and finds solace in sleeping. The song meanders through various abstract musings, such as the connection between marriage and infinity, the nature of love, and the possibility of a magic bed being the final resting place of Spanish fire. The chorus repeats the phrase "The aching and the breaking are the making of a soul," suggesting that pain and suffering lead to growth and self-discovery.
The song's lyrics are incredibly dense with imagery and allusions, making it difficult to pin down a definitive interpretation. Some have argued that the song is a commentary on the limitations of knowledge and how it can be stifling to relationships and personal growth. Others see it as a meditation on the value of suffering and how it molds us into better individuals. The surreal imagery and nonsensical phrases give the song an otherworldly feel, suggesting that the answers to the questions posed in the lyrics may not exist in our physical reality.
Line by Line Meaning
Edweena went to calumet and left from there to college;
Edweena left Calumet and went to college.
She took along a porcupine whose name was known as knowledge;
Edweena brought a porcupine named Knowledge with her to college.
Now their relationship was fraught with pangs of loving hunger.
Edweena and Knowledge had a complicated relationship.
The Porcupine could question all, but all she new was slumber.
Knowledge was knowledgeable but also sleepy.
A huge easy cozy wants our kiss to triumph,
Love is on the horizon, easy and comfortable.
But unbelievable admits --
But it's hard to believe.
Some questions receive a guarantee to shake you up.
Some questions can be unsettling.
How much marriage urges a windmill to pinch infinity?
The question of how infinite love can be is explored.
Is a magic hid-a-bed the final home of Spanish fire?
Is the ultimate passion found in a magical bed?
Is firm corn merrier under gifts of less important love?
Does love make even mundane things like corn more enjoyable?
We wonder.
These are questions we don't know the answers to.
But fantasy moves ahead;
But our imaginations keep going.
For the iceman just took a turn for the better
Something good just happened.
And a small object flies from his mouth;
He spit something out.
A daring, jewel scales down the belted ear system
Something small and valuable is found.
And you have the modular optimistic silver original.
And it's something to be happy about.
Welcome to the offshoots of Jupiter.
We are entering new territory.
Edweena never knowing why her friend would ramble so
Edweena didn't understand why Knowledge talked so much.
She shut him out and left a pout to bleed upon the snow.
She ignored him and left feeling upset.
Mourning Glories open only after noon begins;
The flowers only bloom in the afternoon.
The open and the broken have begun to blend again.
The separated parts are coming back together.
They freeze a shape about the nape
Of nectar and of knee;
They create a form around the sweet and the bent.
They leave a sleeve, they weave a grieve fox
Mourning's never free.
They leave behind a memory, but mourning is never truly over.
The aching and the breaking are the making of a soul.
Pain and heartache are what shape us.
(The empties that have been returned relieve us of a goal).
(Returning what's empty lets us move on to new things.)
Now who is gone and who is right
And who is left to see
For who is left is just a few
Can two be more than three?
It's unclear who's gone and who's right, and there are only a few left. Can two people be more than three?
Contributed by Oliver C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@XooFUooX
[Intro: "Chorus"]
Edweena went to calumet and left from there to college;
She took along a porcupine whose name was known as knowledge;
Now their relationship was fraught with pangs of loving hunger
The Porcupine could question all, but all she knew was slumber
[Verse 1: "Porcupine"]
A huge easy cozy wants our kiss to triumph
But unbelievable admits --
Some questions, some questions
Receive a guarantee to shake you up
To shake you up, to shake you up
Yes, I've got some questions that are guaranteed
To shake you up
How much marriage urges a windmill to pinch infinity?
Is a magic hid-a-bed the final home of Spanish fire?
Is firm corn merrier under gifts of less important love?
We wonder
But fantasy moves ahead;
For the iceman just took a turn for the better
And a small object flies from his mouth;
A daring, jewel scales down the belted ear system
And you have the modular optimistic silver original
Welcome to the offshoots of Jupiter
[Bridge: "Chorus"]
Edweena never knowing why her friend would ramble so
She shut him out and left a pout to bleed upon the snow!
[Verse 2: "Porcupine"]
Mourning Glories open only after noon begins;
The open and the broken have begun to blend again
They freeze a shape about the nape of nectar and of knee;
They leave a sleeve, they weave a grieve for mourning's never free
Mourning Glories open only after noon begins;
The open and the broken have begun to blend again
They freeze a shape about the nape of nectar and of knee;
They leave a sleeve, they weave a grieve for mourning's never free
Mourning's never free, mourning's never free, uuugh
Mourning's never free, mourning's never free
[Refrain: "Uncle Remus"]
The aching and the breaking are the making of a soul
The aching and the breaking are the making of a soul
The aching and the breaking are the making of a soul
The empties that have been returned relieve us of a goal
[Outro: "Chorus"]
Now who is gone and who is right, and who is left to see
For who is left is just a few, can two be more than three?
@Mr.Eldritch
This album is one of my all time favorite "guilty pleasures." I once played it for a musician friend of mine, he listened attentively to the whole thing, and after it was over he said, and I quote, "thank you for playing that for me. Don't ever play that again."
@charlesflint9048
This track is profound. It is entertaining, and sort of beguiling, but overall it is enchanting.
@absentiambient
My girlfriend asked to put on some relaxing music when we went to bed. This is the closest thing to relaxing to me so i put this on and she fucking freaked out and left the room.
I'm not very good at relationships
@primostracciatella7618
You're good at music, though. :)
@charlesflint9048
I would say ‘Lizard Lady’ is another good one to try from that category.
@SteveAydt
You hacked your girlfriend up? WTF?!
@SteveAydt
@Edison Ira guerilla marketing is insulting. tell me more.
@Cl4rendon
Their best album to me - An entire movie of a certain mood that never got approached again. It`s a mixture of silent film music, Fellini masks, 40s B&W cartoons & south sea Pacific dreams..
@niclawson1520
it's gorgeous and transcendent.
@Marco_Venieri
and a lot of eerie