The Sleeper
"The Sleeper" is a track recorded by The Residents in 1979, which was first released on their 1983 outtakes compilation Residue of The Residents.
Originating from the group's legendary MOP tapes, "The Sleeper" was inspired by "Magic and Ecstacy" by Ennio Morricone, which was also recorded by the group with Snakefinger in the same year, for his debut solo album Chewing Hides The Sound.
History
"The Sleeper" was recorded by The Residents around the same time as "The Replacement" suite for the compilation album Subterranean Modern in 1979. Titled "Morricone" on the original master tapes,[1] the melody was inspired by the Ennio Morricone composition "Magic and Ecstacy", from the score to the 1977 horror film Exorcist II: The Heretic, which Snakefinger covered on his Chewing Hides The Sound album, co-produced by The Residents.
"The Sleeper" is the second Residents track which is known to have been derived from the score of an Exorcist film - the first being "Edweena" from their 1978 album Not Available, the main theme of which is loosely derived from Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells".
It is possible that the track originated as a demo for Snakefinger's first album, Chewing Hides The Sound, which was produced by The Residents in the same year and which features a cover of "Magic and Ecstacy".
"The Sleeper" was placed on one of the group's MOP tapes (archival reels compiling tracks which did not fit onto any current conceptual albums), until its debut release in 1983 on the compilation album Residue of The Residents.
Alternate versions
An extended mix of the track, with a previously unreleased intro, was released for the first time in 2019 on the pREServed edition of Eskimo.
For the 2005 retrospective performance The Way We Were, The Residents performed a mash-up of "The Sleeper" with the Snakefinger song "Golden Goat", possibly hinting at the song's connections to "Magic and Ecstasy." A rehearsal recording of this was released in 2025.
A remix of the track was released on The Residents' official MySpace page in 2007, and in 2016 Charles Bobuck recorded a new version of "The Sleeper" for the his Bobuck Plays The Residents album.
Lyrics
She said she was Keeping a friend Who was sleeping Why, I said why Is he asleep Is it sickness, or just something to do?
He is asleep Why, I said why? He is asleep Why, I said, why?
Meow She said Meow She said Meow She said Meow She said
Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow, Meow
Oh, I said, oh Oh, I said, oh Oh, I said, oh I said, oh I said, oh I said, oh I...
List of releases
- Residue Of The Residents (1983) [Version 1]
- Hell! (1986) [Version 2]
- Commercial Album + (1988) [Version 1]
- In Memoriam Torso (1994) [Version 1]
- The Way We Were (2005) [Version 3]
- Summer Tunes (2008) [Version 4]
- RMX (2009) [Version 4]
- Later Tonight EP by Charles Bobuck (2016) [Version 5]
- Bobuck Plays The Residents by Charles Bobuck (2016) [Version 5]
- Eskimo pREServed edition (2019) [Version 6]
- The Way We Were 2xCD (2025) [Version 3] [Version 7]
List of versions
See also
- Subterranean Modern
- The Replacement
- Ennio Morricone
- "Magic and Ecstacy"
- Chewing Hides The Sound
- Snakefinger
- The Exorcist
- MOP tapes
External links and references
- ↑ "...the main instrumental track is called 'Morricone' in the archive." - Richard Anderson, comment in The Residents' unofficial Facebook group, January 23rd 2022
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Residue of The Residents (1983) Side A |