Shut Up Shut Up

Other titles

Shut Up, Shut Up, Shut Up! Shut Up!, Shut Up RDX

Artist

The Residents

Single

Commercial Single

Recorded

September 1979 - October 1980

Released

October 1980

Studio

Grove Street studio, San Francisco, California

Length

1:02

Track chronology
Previous	Next
"Picnic Boy"	"When We Were Young"

"Shut Up Shut Up" (alternatively "Shut Up! Shut Up!" or "Shut Up, Shut Up!") is a song by The Residents, recorded during sessions for their Commercial Album between September 1979 and October 1980, and first released in October 1980 as the uncredited closing track of the first side of the Commercial Single EP.

The song was then included on a bonus 7" single included with the French release of the album, with another outtake, "And I Was Alone".

The song has frequently been included in expanded reissues of Commercial Album. An alternate version with a lead vocal from The Singing Resident was included on the 1983 outtakes compilation Residue of The Residents.

History

"Shut Up Shut Up" was recorded by The Residents in 1979 and 1980 for inclusion in their upcoming release Commercial Album, a concept album containing 40 one-minute songs; it was among a handful of songs that were left out of the album's final running order after the group decided they sounded "too trendy".^{^[1]}

"Shut Up Shut Up" features contributions from guitarist (and soon to be Ralph Records stablemate) Fred Frith. Its first release was on the Commercial Single 7" EP distributed in England in October 1980, where it was unlisted (alongside another outtake, "And I Was Alone").

It was then featured as the A-side of a 7" single included with the first French pressing of Commercial Album, with some being sold individually. After this, The Residents' fan club W.E.I.R.D. began selling the single in a picture sleeve in a limited edition of 111 copies, titled The Commercial Single Two.

An alternate version with a slightly longer introduction and a lead vocal by The Singing Resident was debuted on the outtakes compilation Residue of The Residents in 1983.

Two short additional verses were recorded by The Singing Resident which were not included on either the original 1980 single version or the 1983 Residue version; the verses were first heard in a "RDX" mix derived from the original master tapes, which was featured on the limited edition pREServed compilation Leftovers Again?! in 2021.

Music video

A video for the song was created by artist Luk Willekens (with animation by Ann Desart) for The Residents' Commercial DVD in 2004.

Lyrics

Single version (1980)

(Shut! Up!)
(Shut! Up!)
(Shut up! Shut up!)
(Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up!)

(Shut up, shut up!)

(Shut! Up!)
(Shut! Up!)
(Shut up! Shut up!)
(Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up!)

(Shut up, shut up!)

(Shut! Up!)
(Shut! Up!)
(Shut up! Shut up!)
(Shut up, shut up!)

RDX version (2021)

Shut up!
(Shut! Up!)
Shut up!
(Shut! Up!)
Shut up! Shut up!
(Shut up! Shut up!)
Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up!
(Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up!)

Don't say (Shut up, shut up!)
That you love me
'less you know that (Shut up, shut up!)
Love is true

Shut up!
(Shut! Up!)
Shut up!
(Shut! Up!)
Shut up! Shut up!
(Shut up! Shut up!)
Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up!
(Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up!)

Don't say (Shut up, shut up!)
That you want me
'less you know that (Shut up, shut up!)
I want you

Shut up!
(Shut! Up!)
Shut up!
(Shut! Up!)
Shut up! Shut up!
(Shut up! Shut up!)
Shut up, shut up!
(Shut up, shut up!)

List of releases

Commercial Single (1980) ^{[Version 1]}
Commercial Album — French edition (1981) ^{[Version 1]}
Residue of The Residents (1983) ^{[Version 2]}
Hell! (1986) ^{[Version 1]}
Commercial Album — Classic Series CD reissue (1988) ^{[Version 1]}
Commercial DVD (2004) ^{[Version 3]}
Documentation (2009) ^{[Version 1]}
Commercial Album pREServed edition (2019) ^{[Version 1]} ^{[Version 2]}
Leftovers Again?! (2021) ^{[Version 4]}

List of versions

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 ^1.5 Grove Street studio recording, late 1979 (1:26)
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Grove Street studio recording; alternate mix with lead vocal (1:11)
↑ Animated short by Luk Willekens and Ann Desart, 2004
↑ Grove Street studio recording, late 1979 (RDX mix with alternate lead vocal, 1:12)

Buy Or Die!

Listen online

External links and references

↑ Residue of The Residents liner notes, 1983

Residue of The Residents
(1983)

Side A
"The Sleeper" · "Whoopy Snorp" · "Kamakazi Lady" · "Boy in Love" · "Shut Up! Shut Up!" · "Anvil Forest" · "Diskomo"

Side B
"Jailhouse Rock" · "Ups & Downs" · "Walter Westinghouse" · "Saint Nix" · "Open Up"

Residue Deux (1998)
"Scent of Mint" · "From The Plains To Mexico" · "In San Francisco" · "Dumbo The Clown" · "Is He Really Bringing Roses?" · "Time's Up" · "Daydream Believer" · "Safety Is A Cootie Wootie" · "Daydream in Space"

Superior Viaduct edition (2014)
"Loser ≅ Weed" · "Death In Barstow" · "Melon Collie Lassie"

Related articles
MOP tapes · The Tunes of Two Cities · Residents Classic Series · pREServed · Leftovers Again?! · Pour No Graphics · Elvis Presley · Richard Nixon

Commercial Album
(1980)

Side A:
"Easter Woman" · "Perfect Love" · "Picnic Boy" · "End of Home" · "Amber" · "Japanese Watercolor" · "Secrets"
"Die in Terror" · "Red Rider" · "My Second Wife" · "Floyd " · "Suburban Bathers" · "Dimples and Toes" · "The Nameless Souls"
"Love Leaks Out" · "Act of Being Polite" · "Medicine Man" · "Tragic Bells" · "Loss of Innocence" · "The Simple Song"

Side B:
"Ups and Downs" · "Possessions" · "Give It to Someone Else" · "Phantom" · "Less Not More" · "My Work Is So Behind" · "Birds in the Trees"
"Handful of Desire" · "Moisture" · "Love Is..." · "Troubled Man" · "La La" · "Loneliness" · "Nice Old Man"
"The Talk of Creatures" · "Fingertips" · "In Between Dreams" · "Margaret Freeman" · "The Coming of the Crow" · "When We Were Young"

Personnel
The Residents · Fred Frith · Snakefinger · Don Jackovich · Chris Cutler
Sandy Sandwich · Mud's Sis · Nessie Lessons · Lene Lovich · David Byrne · Brian Eno

Related works
"Electronic Elaborate Waste" · "Kraftwerk" · "Cosmetics For Reality" · "Rosco's Righteous Rodent" · "Pretty Baby" · "Tuxedos"
"No Longer Unused" · "Instant Hostility" · "Elevator Lady" · "One Minute Movies" · Commercial Single ("Shut Up Shut Up" / "And I Was Alone") · "Boy In Love" · Minatures ("We're A Happy Family") · "Talkin' in the Town" · "Womb To Worm" · Greener Postures · "Theme For An American TV Show" · Ralph Radio Special · "Commercial Suite" · Commercial DVD · Commercial Album by The 180 Gs · The Commercial Single Commercials (In Mono) · Commercial Book (Commercial Album Radio Ads)

Related articles
Ralph Records · The Cryptic Corporation · Grove St. studio · Poor No Graphics · Buy Or Die 1980½ · Diskomo/Goosebump‏‏‎

[:0-2] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 ^1.5 Grove Street studio recording, late 1979 (1:26)

[:1-3] 2.0 ^2.1 Grove Street studio recording; alternate mix with lead vocal (1:11)

[4] Animated short by Luk Willekens and Ann Desart, 2004

[:2-5] Grove Street studio recording, late 1979 (RDX mix with alternate lead vocal, 1:12)

[1] Residue of The Residents liner notes, 1983

[1]

[Version 1]

[Version 2]

[Version 3]

[Version 4]