Smelly Tongues

Promotional Meet The Residents Sampler flexidisc included in File Magazine. February 1974

Artist

The Residents

Album

Meet The Residents

Recorded

February - October 1973

Released

April 1st 1974

Studio

Sycamore Street studio, San Francisco, California

Length

1:35

Track chronology
Previous	Next
"Consuelo's Departure"	"Rest Aria"

"Smelly Tongues" is a song by The Residents, first released on their debut album Meet The Residents, released on Ralph Records on April 1st 1974. The final song in a continuous medley on Side 1 of the album, it features vocals by the group's friend Barry "Wool" Eiland. Its lyrics directly refer to four of the five human senses; the fifth sense, hearing, is implied as one listens to the song.

One of The Residents' signature songs, it was covered by Snakefinger (with assistance from The Residents) on the B-side of his debut solo single "The Spot" in 1978, and it has featured in many of their live performances throughout their career, being most recently performed live in 2023.

The song's title would be borrowed for an unofficial fan club led by noted collector Ima Buddy, which was active between 1998 and 2005.

History

"Smelly Tongues" was written and recorded in 1973 during the "Tuesday" improvisation sessions which became the basis of material for the group's debut album Meet The Residents. An early version of the song with different vocals is found on the 2018 pREServed edition of that album.

The final version features vocals by Barry "Wool" Eiland, a high school friend of some members of The Residents, and brother of Palmer Eiland, then starring as tag-team wrestler Arf Berry in the group's ultimately abandoned feature film Vileness Fats.

Later versions

"Smelly Tongues" was covered in May 1978 by Snakefinger, as the B-side to his debut solo single, "The Spot" (with both selections being produced and assisted by The Residents).

The Residents and Snakefinger first performed the song live as part of the 13th Anniversary Show from 1985 to 1987 in a suite of material from the early '70s (although Snakefinger had been performing the song on live appearances with his own band as early as 1981).

During the group's 1998 residency at the Fillmore, promoting the Wormwood album, "Smelly Tongues" was part of the encore as an homage to the Smelly Tongues fan forum.

The song wouldn't be performed again on a major tour until 2010, when it was introduced as the opening number during shows on the second leg of the Talking Light tour. Later that year, Residents singer Randy Rose performed a more faithful arrangement of the song live, as part of his one-off performance with Už Jsme Doma in the Czech Republic.

As part of an abandoned 40th Anniversary remake of Meet The Residents, lead composer and keyboardist Charles Bobuck produced a sketch of the song that heavily samples the original. The song is also sampled on the track "Poisoned Popcorn" found on Meet The Residents pREServed. While the track is implied to be taken from the 1973 sessions, it is not present in any other collections of material from those sessions, and fans speculate that it was recorded much later for an uncertain purpose.

Three fan covers of "Smelly Tongues" were included in the I Am A Resident! collaborative cover album in 2018; versions by The Zverstwo, Tom-Erik Løe and Emerald Suspension were included in the album proper; the Emerald Suspension version was included on the vinyl edition of the album, and the Zverstwo and Løe renditions were included as stand-alone tracks on the bonus disc of the CD version.

It was later played on the 2023 Faceless Forever Tour, as the first part of a suite that later flowed directly into "Moisture" and "Constantinople".

Lyrics

Meet The Residents (1974)

Smelly Tongues Looked Just as They Felt.
Smelly Tongues Looked Just as They Felt.
Smelly Tongues Looked Just as They Felt.
Smelly Tongues Looked Just as They Felt.
Smelly Tongues Looked Just as They Felt.
Smelly Tongues. Smelly Tongues.

Smelly Tongues Looked Just as They Felt.
Smelly Tongues Looked Just as They Felt.
Smelly Tongues. Smelly Tongues.
Smelly Tongues. Smelly Tongues.
Smelly Tongues. Smelly Tongues.
Smelly Tongues.^{^[1]}

Snakefinger version (1978)

Smelly Tongues Looked Just as They Felt.
Smelly Tongues Looked Just as They Felt.
Smelly Tongues Looked Just as They Felt.
Smelly Tongues Looked Just how They Felt.
Smelly Tongues. Smelly Tongues.
Smelly Tongues. Mao Tse Tung.

Smelly...

Credits

Meet The Residents

Wool: Vocals
Residents, Uninc.: All Instruments & Production
The Residents: Composition & Arrangement

List of releases

Meet The Residents Sampler (1974 ^{[Version 1]}
Meet The Residents (1974) ^{[Version 2]}
Meet The Residents stereo remix (1977) ^{[Version 3]}
"The Spot" by Snakefinger (1978) ^{[Version 4]}
Hell! (1986) ^{[Version 2]}
The Eyeball Show (The 13th Anniversary Show - Live In Japan) (1986) ^{[Version 5]}
Live In The USA! 13th Anniversary Tour (1986) ^{[Version 6]}
A Collection Of Songs Written And Produced With The Residents by Snakefinger (1988) ^{[Version 4]}
Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated Guide To The Residents (1993) ^{[Version 7]}
UWEB Box Set (1995) ^{[Version 6]}
Petting Zoo (2002) ^{[Version 3]}
13th Anniversary Show - Ritz NY - Jan 16, 1986 (2010) ^{[Version 8]}
Talking Light (Live) series (2010 - 2011)
Talking Light Bimbo's (2011) ^{[Version 9]}
"The Sycamore Street Studio (1974-77 Embracing Obscurity)" (2014) ^{[Version 10]}
13th Anniversary Show - Cleveland (2014) ^{[Version 11]}
Chewing Hides The Sound by Snakefinger; Klanggalerie CD reissue (2016) ^{[Version 4]}
80 Aching Orphans (2017) ^{[Version 3]}
Clank Clank Clank by Charles Bobuck (2017) ^{[Version 12]}
Meet The Residents pREServed CD edition (2018) ^{[Version 2]} ^{[Version 3]} ^{[Version 13]}
I Am A Resident! CD edition (2018) ^{[Version 14]} ^{[Version 15]}
I Am A Resident! vinyl edition (2018) ^{[Version 16]}
Who Do You Love? (B-Sides & Rarities) by Snakefinger (2020) ^{[Version 4]}
Moravian Meeting by Randy Rose and Už Jsme Doma (2020) ^{[Version 17]}
Wormwood Box: Curious Stories From The Bible pREServed (2022) ^{[Version 18]}
Meet The Residents pREServed vinyl edition (2023) ^{[Version 2]} ^{[Version 3]} ^{[Version 19]}

List of versions

↑ El Ralpho studio recording, February - October 1973 (sampler edit, 1:05)
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 El Ralpho studio recording, February - October 1973 (original mono version, 1:35)
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 ^3.4 El Ralpho studio recording, February - October 1973 (1977 stereo remix, 1:44)
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 ^4.3 Grove Street studio recording, June-July 1978 (Snakefinger version, 2:24)
↑ The Eyeball Show live recording, Parco Space, Tokyo, Japan, October 30th 1985 (2:30)
↑ ^6.0 ^6.1 The 13th Anniversary Show live recording, First Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota, February 10th 1986 (2:09)
↑ El Ralpho studio recording, February - October 1973 (excerpt, 0:16)
↑ The 13th Anniversary Show live recording, The Ritz, New York, January 16th 1986 (1:55)
↑ Talking Light live recording, Bimbo's, San Francisco, California April 16th 2011 (3:47)
↑ El Ralpho studio recording, February - October 1973 (excerpt)
↑ The 13th Anniversary Show live recording, Peabody's Down Under, Cleveland, Ohio, January 27th 1986 (2:06)
↑ Charles Bobuck studio recording, 2014 (2:11)
↑ El Ralpho "Tuesday" studio recording, February-October 1973 (2:07)
↑ The Zverstwo recording, 2017 (1:32)
↑ Tom-Erik Løe recording, 2017 (2:13)
↑ Emerald Suspension recording, 2017 (2:30)
↑ Randy Rose and Už Jsme Doma live recording, Olomouc, Czech Republic, October 20th 2010 (2:42)
↑ Fillmore '98 live recording, The Fillmore, San Francisco, California, October 31st 1998 (2:01)
↑ El Ralpho "Tuesday" studio recording, February-October 1973 ("Alternate Concentrate" edit, 1:40)

External links and references

↑ Ima Buddy, Ima Buddy's Totally Impartial Companion to Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated BIG MAMAS, 1992

Meet The Residents
(1974)

Side A
"Boots" · "Numb Erone" · "Guylum Bardot" · "Breath and Length" · "Consuelo's Departure" · "Smelly Tongues" · "Rest Aria" · "Skratz" · "Spotted Pinto Bean"

Side B
"Infant Tango" · "Seasoned Greetings" · "N-ER-GEE (Crisis Blues)"

Personnel
The Residents · Ruth Essex · Barry "Wool" Eiland · Pamela Zeibak · Philip Friehofner · Jim Whitaker · Bob Tangney · James Aaron

Related works
"Russian Love Song" · 1-10 (With A Touch of 11) · "7733 Variations" · Tuesday tapes ("Sokurha") · "Overday" · "Inka Don't Dry" · "Horny Song" · "George's Horn" · "The Ralph Records Guided Tour" · Meet The Residents Sampler · "Saint Nix" · Clank Clank Clank · "Poisoned Popcorn"

Related articles
N. Senada (Theory of Phonetic Organization) · Residents, Uninc. · Sycamore St. studio · Santa Dog · Ralph Records · Porno/Graphics · Vileness Fats · "Nobody But Me" · The Beatles

Resources
Image gallery

[:0-2] El Ralpho studio recording, February - October 1973 (sampler edit, 1:05)

[:1-3] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 El Ralpho studio recording, February - October 1973 (original mono version, 1:35)

[:2-4] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 ^3.4 El Ralpho studio recording, February - October 1973 (1977 stereo remix, 1:44)

[:3-5] 4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 ^4.3 Grove Street studio recording, June-July 1978 (Snakefinger version, 2:24)

[:4-6] The Eyeball Show live recording, Parco Space, Tokyo, Japan, October 30th 1985 (2:30)

[:5-7] 6.0 ^6.1 The 13th Anniversary Show live recording, First Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota, February 10th 1986 (2:09)

[:6-8] El Ralpho studio recording, February - October 1973 (excerpt, 0:16)

[:7-9] The 13th Anniversary Show live recording, The Ritz, New York, January 16th 1986 (1:55)

[:8-10] Talking Light live recording, Bimbo's, San Francisco, California April 16th 2011 (3:47)

[:9-11] El Ralpho studio recording, February - October 1973 (excerpt)

[:10-12] The 13th Anniversary Show live recording, Peabody's Down Under, Cleveland, Ohio, January 27th 1986 (2:06)

[:11-13] Charles Bobuck studio recording, 2014 (2:11)

[:12-14] El Ralpho "Tuesday" studio recording, February-October 1973 (2:07)

[:13-15] The Zverstwo recording, 2017 (1:32)

[:14-16] Tom-Erik Løe recording, 2017 (2:13)

[:15-17] Emerald Suspension recording, 2017 (2:30)

[:16-18] Randy Rose and Už Jsme Doma live recording, Olomouc, Czech Republic, October 20th 2010 (2:42)

[:17-19] Fillmore '98 live recording, The Fillmore, San Francisco, California, October 31st 1998 (2:01)

[:18-20] El Ralpho "Tuesday" studio recording, February-October 1973 ("Alternate Concentrate" edit, 1:40)

[1] Ima Buddy, Ima Buddy's Totally Impartial Companion to Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated BIG MAMAS, 1992

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