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.
The Butcher
The Residents Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man
Run, run, fast as you can you can
You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man
Buddy didn't say I'm sorry
Buddy didn't ask to be excused
Buddy didn't beg your pardon
He leaves too much fat on these t-bones
Jerk
I know he's gonna leave without cleaning up again
He knows I'll do it
Damn this knife is dull
I know I just sharpened it yesterday
I know he used it
He knows it's my favorite knife
It's not supposed to be this way
Everyone says that if you come back
It's better than it was before
But, but it's no different
And what about the light? - what about the blue light?
There's supposed to be a beautiful blue light
But all I saw was eels
Eels squirming everywhere
And life doesn't have any more meaning
Only Buddy
It should have been him
And he should, should have stayed there with the eels
And, and, and all I can think about are his hands
His hands and how they look graceful and strong and, and, and sensitive
As they slice a section of rump roast
Or, or split the hindquarters of a lamb
And all I can think about are those same hands
How they must caress the face of his wife
And tie the shoe laces of his children
And, and
I can't stop
I can't stop
I can't stop
"The Butcher" by The Residents is a haunting and eerie song that explores the inner monologue of a disturbed butcher. The first part of the song is a familiar children's rhyme about the Gingerbread Man, but it quickly shifts to the butcher's thoughts. The lyrics suggest that the butcher is unhappy with his coworker, Buddy, who continually leaves a mess and fails to clean up after himself. The butcher seems to hold a grudge against Buddy and harbors violent thoughts about him.
The second part of the song takes on a darker tone. The butcher describes how he sharpened his knife the day before, and he is certain that Buddy used it to cut the meat. The butcher is upset that his favorite knife has been used without his permission. As the song progresses, the butcher's thoughts become more jumbled and disturbed. He mentions a supposed "blue light" that is supposed to be beautiful but instead sees eels squirming.
The final part of the song is the most chilling. The butcher cannot stop thinking about Buddy's hands and how they must caress his wife's face and tie his children's shoelaces. He seems to be envious of Buddy's life outside of work and is unable to control his violent thoughts towards him. The song ends with the butcher repeating "I can't stop" as the music slowly fades out. Through the lyrics of "The Butcher," The Residents paint a picture of a troubled individual grappling with their own dark thoughts and desires.
Line by Line Meaning
Run, run, fast as you can you can
You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man
Someone is running away and taunting their pursuer, feeling confident that they cannot be caught.
Buddy didn't say I'm sorry
Buddy did something wrong but did not apologize for it.
Buddy didn't ask to be excused
Buddy did not request forgiveness for his actions.
Buddy didn't beg your pardon
When he steps on you
Buddy shows no remorse for causing harm to someone.
He leaves too much fat on these t-bones
Buddy is sloppy in his work and does not complete tasks properly.
Jerk
The singer is expressing annoyance or disapproval towards Buddy.
I know he's gonna leave without cleaning up again
He knows I'll do it
Buddy is lazy and neglectful, and the singer always ends up cleaning up after him.
Damn this knife is dull
I know I just sharpened it yesterday
I know he used it
He knows it's my favorite knife
Buddy has used the artist's favorite knife and dulled it, which enrages the artist.
It's not supposed to be this way
Everyone says that if you come back
It's better than it was before
But, but it's no different
The artist expected something to change upon someone's return, but in reality, nothing has changed at all.
And what about the light? - what about the blue light?
There's supposed to be a beautiful blue light
But all I saw was eels
Eels squirming everywhere
The artist is disappointed that their expectations were not met and instead they were met with something undesirable.
And life doesn't have any more meaning
Only Buddy
It should have been him
And he should, should have stayed there with the eels
The singer's life feels meaningless except for their strong hatred towards Buddy.
And, and, and all I can think about are his hands
His hands and how they look graceful and strong and, and, and sensitive
As they slice a section of rump roast
Or, or split the hindquarters of a lamb
The artist is disturbed by the paradoxical image of Buddy's seemingly gentle hands committing violent actions.
And all I can think about are those same hands
How they must caress the face of his wife
And tie the shoe laces of his children
And, and
The singer is further disturbed by the image of Buddy's hands performing tender acts towards his loved ones.
I can't stop
I can't stop
I can't stop
The singer is overwhelmed by their disturbing thoughts about Buddy and cannot stop thinking about him.
Lyrics © OBO 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