Calm Before
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"Calm Before" is the second track from Act 3 of The Residents' 2025 "modern opera" Doctor Dark. In the track, the disfigured teenager Mark ponders on his life before the suicide attempt that hospitalized him.
A demo of this track was released on the Doctor Dark's Demos album, exclusive to streaming services, later in 2025.
Libretto
Mark's stepmother leaves him daydreaming about the handsome young man he once was, the friends he no longer has and the ordinary, but now nostalgic, life he scornfully took for granted. When the older woman returns with his dinner, the boy rises, revealing his scarred and mutilated face, an indescribable morass resembling nothing less than an unlikely encounter between a blowtorch and a Cabbage Patch doll. The pain implicit in such deformity radiates from his face like a billion-watt bulb.
I was once just like you, happy, sad and confused. In the shade, underneath an oak tree, I was free, where I dreamed of the man I would be when I can. I would run in the sun, not afraid of anyone; open and easily I would breed, like a weed. Looking back, I see my life was simple, free, loose and light.
A television spraying meaningless mush into the room suddenly becomes a news program, reporting on a doctor who has mysteriously disappeared. It's Doctor Dark, and as the teenager watches an earlier interview, the older man explains his beliefs concerning death and the right to choose the time and manner of one's demise.
[ANNOUNCER] "In other news, Dr. Anastasia Dark, the notorious suicide facilitator, has mysteriously disappeared. Scheduled for an appearance in the Court of Appeals, likely leading to an arraignment and new trial, the so-called Suicide Czar was a no-show. A warrant for his arrest has been issued. Here is an excerpt from an interview we did with the controversial Doctor Dark several months ago." [DOCTOR DARK] "The life of every human is defined by two major events: their birth and their death. While we obviously have no choice over the conditions of our origin, after a life constructed from decisions, both positive and negative, colliding with an indifferent and often haphazard fate, should our deaths be equally serendipitous? I say no! Our lives should end by choice, especially if the circumstances are dire or painful. Should the whims of a capricious culture be allowed to dictate the terms of such a monumental moment? Again, I say NO! Let us examine what might happen if these circumstances come to pass..."
- Doctor Dark CD edition at Cherry Red Records (UK/EU)
- Doctor Dark vinyl edition at Cherry Red Records (UK/EU)
- Doctor Dark CD edition at MVD Shop (US)
- Doctor Dark vinyl edition at MVD Shop (US)