In The Beginning

"In the Beginning" (previously under the working titles "Genesis" and "The Song of the Snake") is the opening track of The Residents' 1998 studio album Wormwood. It is an instrumental representing God's creation of heaven and earth as described in the Book of Genesis. It is also the opening song in the Wormwood live show.

Album notes

The Israelite God, YHWH, does not create the Earth. It already exists, though without form. He creates man and woman, then makes another woman from the male's rib. The man is Adam, Hebrew for man, and the new woman is Eve, whose name may mean life. Against YHWH's wishes, Adam and Eve eat some fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. There is a second tree, the tree of life, and He is afraid they will also eat its fruit and become immortal. To protect his realm He asks them to leave the Garden.
Look it up. Genesis 1-3.

Composition

The very first sound heard on the studio version of the track (and on the album) is that of a lion's roar, which Grandpa Gio suggests is a reference to the famous lion in the MGM title card, which is notably silenced in MGM's Biblical epic Ben-Hur.

The track makes use of various sound effects to represent the six days of Creation: ocean waves, chirping birds, thunderstorms. Curiously, among them is the sound of a telephone operator, harkening back to the lyric from Fingerprince's "God Song": "God never really did like Man anyway, at least not after they started walking around on their hind legs and talking on the telephone..." After the operator finishes speaking, the sound of a disappointed crowd is heard, although way buried in the mix.

Two leitmotifs are introduced in this track. The first leitmotif possesses a sort of "holy" aspect and could be assumed to represent the division between Heaven and Earth. It is later heard in the live show during Mr. Skull's "raves" in which he describes the events referenced in the upcoming songs.

The second leitmotif is most noticeably reprised at the end of the live version of "Cain and Abel", and it also is the basis for "Revelation", the final track on the album (which serves as a coda for the live version of "Judas Saves").

The sound of chirping crickets in the nighttime is used as a segue into the next track on the album, "Fire Fall".

A symmetrical sequence in a somewhat Middle Eastern scale.

Credits

• Composed, arranged, performed by The Residents
• Assistant to The Residents: Carla Fabrizio
• Producer: The Cryptic Corporation
• Executive Producer: David R. Fulmer

Releases

• Wormwood (1998)
• Wormwood Live 1999 (1999)
• Wormwood Box (2022)