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 Weatherman
The Residents Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When they said the tornado
Blew your big old house apart
Robert Taylor was the star
You never knew why I was blue
So I went to a movie after you
Spread out on your feather bed
You said the east was freezing but
The clouds were insignificant
I never knew what made you speak
Of sleet between your satin sheets
You're always calling me
But I'm never needed
I'm needy
I'm needy
I'm needing a new home
A fall in Philadelphia
When you were much healthier
Obstructed your recovery
As yellow leaves fell from the trees
"The Weatherman" by The Residents is a song that tells the story of a failed relationship through the lens of weather reports. The song is filled with vivid imagery and metaphors that seem to suggest that the weather is a metaphor for the emotions of the two people involved. The opening lines of the song introduce the listener to the singer of the song who is watching Ivanhoe when they hear that the "tornado blew [their] big old house apart". This sudden and violent event seems to represent the end of a relationship that has been falling apart for some time.
The song then goes on to describe the singer's attempt to cope with the end of the relationship. They mention that they went to a movie after their partner left and "spread out on [their] feather bed with weather maps [their partner] never read". This image of the singer lying in bed surrounded by weather maps is a powerful one. It suggests that the singer is trying to find some kind of explanation or meaning in the patterns of the weather.
As the song progresses, it becomes increasingly clear that the weather is a metaphor for the emotional state of the singer. The lyrics describe how their partner spoke of "sleet between [their] satin sheets" and how they are "always calling me but [the singer is] never needed". These lines suggest that the singer is feeling isolated and ignored, much like a weatherman who is constantly trying to warn people about the weather but is never taken seriously.
Line by Line Meaning
I was watching Ivanhoe
I was preoccupied with a different world while you faced a storm in your life
When they said the tornado
News came of a destructive wind that shattered your secure home
Blew your big old house apart
The tempest ravaged the sturdy abode you took pride in
Robert Taylor was the star
A great actor shone in the film that I was watching but that was little comfort to you
You never knew why I was blue
You never grasped the depth of my sadness
So I went to a movie after you
I tried to cheer myself up by leaving you and finding escapism in a cinema
Spread out on your feather bed
I lounged on a luxury mattress of yours to ease my feelings
With weather maps you never read
Maps that could have warned us of the tornado but you didn't bother with them
You said the east was freezing but
You spoke about the cold weather in the eastern regions yet
The clouds were insignificant
you dismissed the signs of a storm brewing, for whatever reason
I never knew what made you speak
I couldn't decipher the meaning behind your troubling talk
Of sleet between your satin sheets
You described sheets that to me were smooth and innocent with sleet - a wintry mix of rain and snow - metaphors perhaps for the desolation you felt inside
You're always calling me
You constantly get in touch with me
But I'm never needed
But I feel like I can't be there for you properly
I'm needy
I am in a state of yearning because of your pain
I'm needy
I am in a state of yearning because of your pain
I'm needing a new home
I am craving a fresh start, devoid of tumult and catastrophe
A fall in Philadelphia
You had an accident in the city of Philadelphia
When you were much healthier
You were well but now you're not
Obstructed your recovery
The fall hindered your efforts to regain your health
As yellow leaves fell from the trees
As the pleasant colors of autumn gave way to bare branches and decay
Contributed by Logan H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Hombremaniac
I was watching Ivanhoe
When they said the tornado
Blew your big old house apart
Robert Taylor was the star
You never knew why I was blue
So I went to a movie after you
Spread out on your feather bed
With weather maps you never read
You said the east was freezing but
The clouds were insignificant
I never knew what made you speak
Of sleet between your satin sheets
You're always calling me
But I'm never needed
I'm needy, I'm needy
I'm needing a new home
A fall in Philadelphia
When you were much healthier
Obstructed your recovery
As yellow leaves fell from the trees
FUTURA grabados
Un hermoso tema y un gran disco !
Dillbob1
my favorite performances of the residents are the ones with molly harvey, she is amazing
alberto clemente
This is art.
goutpony
It's obscene that your Residents videos aren't more watched! Just stunning, frankly. They make me want to start a film production company just so I can give you money to make stuff!
meoma1966
beautiful voice
Hombremaniac
I was watching Ivanhoe
When they said the tornado
Blew your big old house apart
Robert Taylor was the star
You never knew why I was blue
So I went to a movie after you
Spread out on your feather bed
With weather maps you never read
You said the east was freezing but
The clouds were insignificant
I never knew what made you speak
Of sleet between your satin sheets
You're always calling me
But I'm never needed
I'm needy, I'm needy
I'm needing a new home
A fall in Philadelphia
When you were much healthier
Obstructed your recovery
As yellow leaves fell from the trees
rougenavarre
An amazing song.. Of course. Love.
Van Cleave
HOLY SHITT, IVE BEEN LOOKING FOR THIS SONG FOR LIKE 2 YEARS, i heard it one day drunk and it was soo amazing and now i found itt!! I knew it was the residents but i forgot it was this song
maaskeimorgen
congratulations man (: how's you find it? lyrics? it must've been hard af
Isaiah Harrell
Very well done.