The Service

The Service (AKA, He Also Serves) is a two-part suite from The Residents' 1988 album 'God In Three Persons'

Background

With the God in Three Persons storyline.

The song details the show that Mr X puts on for the public, showcasing The Twins, beginning with how he gains the attention of the public after a parade of the twins, announcing that they can heal anyone wounded. He collects the payment from all those wanting to be healed and ties a copper wire, which ended in a clamp, to each of their chins. When the Twins arrive, Mr X placed the clamp onto the conjoined part of the twins, and a doughnut of light appeared from it and began to enlarge, spitting fire across the room. The fire spreads to the audience, who are all, healed.

Other versions

The song started out as a suite, which appears in its original 2 part form on the Soundtrack Album

For The Residents' 1992 album Our Finest Flowers, The Residents recorded a new song, "He Also Serves," an abridged reworking of The Service, which was itself re-recorded for the Icky Flix project, and performed on the subsequent tour. The Reisdents next performed live as part of the Talking Light tour from 2010 to 2011, it was added to the setlist in February of 2010 but was removed from the setlist by March of 2011, and as such appears on neither the 2010 Talking Light rehearsal CD, or the Bimbo's CD & DVD. The full original arrangement of "The Service" was performed during the 2020-2022 God in Three Persons live shows.

In 2015 the song was sampled by Hardy Fox sideproject Black Tar & The Cry Babies for their EP, The Season Of The Witch.

Lyrics

He really loved them
He really cared...

So I pushed and pushed and pushed them, 
through the towns and through the bushes 
And the word was spreading like a lie.
"Come and see the holy two-some. 
They can heal and they can do some things that no one ever did before."
And so they came for holy healing, both the belching and the squealing, 
and the ones who maybe just were bored.
Down the aisle they slowly paraded, 
when I smiled and masqueraded as the kindly keeper of the touch.
Kneeling them along a line, 
I taped a tiny piece of pine upon the chin of each and every one.
And then from this a copper wire stretched across a tubeless tire 
and ended in a round and reddish clamp.
Then at once the fees were taken, 
and the apprehension shaken for the twins would silently appear.
Full of life and love and smiling 
knowing not that all the while I too was smiling to myself inside.

Silently I stood between them 
holding up the crimson gleaming circle with the ends now pried apart.
Then I lifted up the cover softly like it was my lover 
and I felt them shudder as they sighed.
As I clamped the metal on it, 
something like a liquid donut shimmered as the holy union flexed.
Then the people screamed and shouted, 
as the donut grew and sprouted little bitty dust balls made of fire.
And these soon enough descended down the lines that finally ended 
at the screams of joy and pain and fear.
For soon the cripples would be walking and the dummies would be talking 
but no one knew exactly how or why.

He Also Serves Lyrics (Abridged)

Come and see the holy two-some.

They can heal and they can do some
Things that no one ever did before.

He really loved them, he really cared.

Silently I stood between them
Holding up the crimson gleaming
Circle with its ends not quite in line.

A-then I lifted up the cover
Softly like it was my lover
And I felt them shudder as they sighed.

As I clamped the metal on it,
Something like a liquid doughnut
Shimmered by the holy union side.

Then the people screamed and shouted,
As the doughnut grew and sprouted
Little bitty dust balls made of fire.

And then these soon enough descended
Down the lines that finally ended
At the screams and unbelieving cries.

For soon the cripples would be walking
And the dummies would be talking
But no one knew exactly how or why.

Releases

• God In Three Persons (1988)
• God In Three Persons Soundtrack (1988)
• Our Finest Flowers (1992)
• In Memoriam Torso (1994)
• Our Tired, Our Poor, Our Huddled Masses (1997)
• Icky Flix (2001)
• Icky Flix Live (2001)
• RMX (2009)
• Talking Light Live (2010 - 2011)
  • Series One [Select Releases]
    • Talking Light Live Boston
    • Talking Light Live Montreal
    • Talking Light Live Toronto
    • Talking Light Live Chicago
    • Talking Light Live Milwaukee
  • Series Two
  • Series Three
  • Serie Four
• Season Of The Witch (2015)
• Black Tar and the Cry Babies (2019)
• G3P Ephemera (2019)
• God In 3 Persons (2020)