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.
Untitled
The Residents Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
whenever all is said and done. I've lived my life and taken chances and if
some were strange by standards that were less important than my needs,
then I guess I could be crooked, evil, bent and twisted, looking down upon
the strings I tried to pull. But I see the strings extending up and down
and never ending as we dance around our selves and jerk to all the tunes
that only we hear and the voices only we fear each inside an island all
alone. But the contact that we do make, as we give and take abuse, stays
comes and sees me often, sitting on a seat beside my bed, and we laugh and
reminisce about a life that once was bliss before an act of passion made
us part. Of course they'll always be together, but their bond is made of
leather not the flesh and blood it used to be. They're still full of life
and healing, but it has a different feeling and only for the few that seek
their sort of pain and pleasure when they merge and give into insistent
urgency that lives for seconds at a time. For pain and pleasure are the
twins that slightly out of focus spin around us till we finally understand
that everything that gives us pleasure also gives us pain to measure it
by, and I also realize...that all our lives we love illusion, neatly
caught between confusion and the need to know we are alive.
The Residents's song "Untitled" addresses the themes of mortality, individuality, and the nature of pain and pleasure. The singer reflects on their life, acknowledging that it is coming to an end, but also recognizing the importance of taking chances and living according to their own needs. The lyrics suggest a sense of isolation and being misunderstood by others, yet also embracing the connections that can be made through the shared experience of pain.
The line "we dance around our selves and jerk to all the tunes that only we hear" highlights the idea that each individual is fundamentally alone, yet we are all interconnected through a shared experience of life. The imagery of "strings extending up and down and never ending" suggests that we are all pulled in different directions by internal and external forces, and that we are constantly navigating competing interests and desires.
The final lines of the song capture the sense of ambiguity and uncertainty that underlies our human experience: "all our lives we love illusion, neatly caught between confusion and the need to know we are alive." Despite the inevitability of death, we continue to seek out pleasure and meaning in life, even as these pursuits often lead us to confront pain and confusion.
Line by Line Meaning
And so my story winds on down toward an ending that's been found to come
I am nearing the end of my life, and like everyone else, I am destined to die.
whenever all is said and done.
Once it's all over, there's nothing more to say or do.
I've lived my life and taken chances
I have lived my life doing things that were risky or unconventional.
and if some were strange by standards that were less important than my needs,
Some of the chances I took might have seemed odd or abnormal by others, but they were important to me.
then I guess I could be crooked, evil, bent and twisted,
Others might perceive me as immoral or corrupt.
looking down upon the strings I tried to pull.
I am aware of the manipulations I have attempted, even if they were not successful.
But I see the strings extending up and down
I realize that everything is connected and that our actions affect others.
and never ending as we dance around ourselves
The cycle of life never ends, and we carry out our routines endlessly.
and jerk to all the tunes that only we hear
Our lives are guided by our personal desires and goals.
and the voices only we fear each inside an island all alone.
We are all alone on our own personal island, and we are the only ones who can hear our innermost fears.
But the contact that we do make, as we give and take abuse, stays and its value only multiplies.
The negative interactions we have with others have lasting effects, and their impact grows over time.
Yes, I'm alone, but not forgotten, for each comes and sees me often, sitting on a seat beside my bed, and we laugh and reminisce about a life that once was bliss before an act of passion made us part.
Although I am alone, I have memories of past relationships that still bring me joy when I think about them.
Of course they'll always be together, but their bond is made of leather not the flesh and blood it used to be.
Even though the people in my memories were close, they were not bound by blood or family ties.
They're still full of life and healing, but it has a different feeling and only for the few that seek their sort of pain and pleasure when they merge and give into insistent urgency that lives for seconds at a time.
The pleasure and pain that come from intimate relationships are powerful and brief, and only a few seek them out specifically.
For pain and pleasure are the twins that slightly out of focus spin around us till we finally understand that everything that gives us pleasure also gives us pain to measure it by,
The things that give us pleasure in life often come with pain or consequences that help us understand how much pleasure we truly receive.
and I also realize...that all our lives we love illusion, neatly caught between confusion and the need to know we are alive.
We all enjoy illusions, and our lives are often filled with confusion and uncertainty, even as we strive to feel alive.
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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