The Sailor Song

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"The Sailor Song" is a song by The Residents & Renaldo & The Loaf. It was recorded partially in 1981 and in the 1983 overdub sessions for Title In Limbo.

History

The Sailor Song is quite a unique song in the context of "Title In Limbo" and "Our Finest Flowers." It's by far the longest, clocking in at 6:05 a full minute longer than the second longest song "Monkey and Bunny." With its length and overall "suite" nature, multiple demos appear on the "4 Daze" tape. It can be most obviously heard on "Mel 1" and "Mel 2." For those who are curious, many languages use the word "Mel" for honey. "Mel 2" also fades into the last song on the album, "Extra: Version", suggesting that the album's climax and ending were planned back in March 1981.

Even though the song has never been performed live, it has a large presence on the Our Finest Flowers tracks "I'm Dreaming of a White Sailor" and its sister song "...Or Maybe A Marine." The first song features Sailors lyrics while the latter uses Sailor as a instrumental making it one of the most represented track on "Our Finest Flowers". It is also worth noting that the original version was featured as a extension on the Not Available "Classic Series" CD Reissue despite not being connected to Not Available anyway.

Wonder of Weird

In 2012, while preparing for their "Wonder of Weird" 40th anniversary tour, The Residents considered this song for their show but cut it at the last minute. It originally was blended with "Struggle" and can be heard this way on both WOW Demos. Despite how close it came, this song has not been performed live to date and has not been referenced by the band since the 2021 release of "WOW Demos 2."

Lyrics

I went to see the silent sailor
And the sailor said
"Do not forget my face, my friend,
For if you do I'm dead"

"Well I don't see how that could be"
I said to him as well
As peeling off a piece of paper
Stuck to my lapel

The sailor fell upon his knees
And then he fell beside
The cedar chest that he had carved
And then I think he died

Well this was curious, I thought
And so I wandered in
And saw that there was something written
On his wrinkled skin

"I thought the thoughts of little children
And the thoughts of men
I thought the thoughts of stupid people
Who have never been
So much in love as they should be
And got confused too easily
To fall in love again
To fall in love again

And so I say goodbye to you
And hope that maybe someday soon
We will meet again up there
For death is fair
And friends are few 

Appearances

• Title In Limbo (1983)
• Not Available Expanded (1988)
• Our Finest Flowers (1992)
• Title In Limbo + 4 Daze (2017)
• WOW Demos 1 (2021)
• WOW Demos 2 (2021)

External links and references

• Title in Limbo at The Residents Historical