Their Early Years

Their Early Years is a song from The Residents' 1988 epic, God In Three Persons.

Background

At this point in the album, Mr. X and the twins are now a touring religious spectacle. In this song Mr. X re-tells a story unsurprisingly, about the twins' early years. We learn that the twins do not know who their parents were but instead once lived with a paraplegic uncle. The twins lived happily with their uncle, who protected them from the frequently judgmental and curious outside world. Sadly, their uncle "passed away, and they were sent off to a home." With the strange nature of the twins, they struggled to fit into the new orphanage until one very important moment.

Once "they heard some children shouting that a car had killed one of their pets out in the road ahead." To be good Samaritans, the twins went over to the now mangled dog. The twins then surrounded the dog and, in a quick flash, the dog was magically revived.

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Recordings and Performances

The first demo recording of this songs backing track was recorded in 1987 and compiled on a Residents demo tape that was aired over the radio, this version demo tape is noticeably absent from the pREServed edition of this album. Another absence from the pREServed edition appears on the bootleg "First words by Hardy". This bootleg contains the first half of god in 3 persons sung entirely by Hardy Fox. This version is identical to the demo cassette with it being entirely instrumental.

Unlike most of the other songs on this album it was first performed before the "God In Three Persons Mini-Tour". It's first appearance was in the 2005 show "The Way We Were" and was featured in the "Rocking the 90s" portion of the show despite releasing in 1988.

The song was then performed live on April 27th, 2019 during the God In Three Persons Mini-Tour. A recording from the tour would feature on the live album and live DVD. This version largely stays faithful to the albums structure while adding new visuals and accompanying choreography.

Lyrics

Album Version

(Mr. X)

Once when we were on a bus between some cities we discussed the things that happened in their early years.
Their youngest time was spent alone while living with an uncle only half remaining from a foreign war.
His upper half was well enough, but in the pants between his cuffs and where his zipper stopped, his legs were gone.

And so he rolled around on wheels, self sufficient in a peeling little house he could not paint again.
But it was spotless to a point two feet above the floor and warmth was in his laugh and in his smiling face.
The people that they met were few and might have been disturbed by two who looked so strange, but they were not aware.

For living with their stumpy uncle, who was unconcerned and rumpled, made them see things differently.
They thought that we were put together randomly, just like the weather, with no uniformity in mind.
But that vision only lasted for a while until he passed away and they were sent off to a home.

The children there did not have parents, were all alike and always staring, as they sat on chairs above the ground.
So they cried and then withdrew from those that shouted, laughed, and who were mean because of suffering inside.
Once alone they heard some children shouting that a car had killed one of their pets out in the road ahead.

As they approached the fallen body, blood appeared and then they saw a leg that had been torn away somehow.
So they kneeled upon the ground and lifted up the leg they found and wedged it gently just below the spot
where both their shoulders joined together. Then the sun, which had been setting, winked and for a moment all was dark.

And when the sun returned above them, no one laughed and made fun of them, for the dog was licking at the joint,
barking loud and resurrected and causing them to be respected by those who had avoided them before.

The Way we Were (Difference in bold and italics) Note that the differences were likely unintentional.

(Mr. X)

Once when we were on a bus between some cities we discussed the things that happened in their early years.
Their youngest time was spent alone while living with an uncle only half remaining from a foreign war.
His upper half was well enough, but in the pants between his cuffs and where his zipper stopped, his legs were gone.

And so he rolled around on wheels, self sufficient in a peeling little house he could not paint again.
But it was spotless to a point two feet above the floor and warmth was in his smile and in his laughing face.
The people that they met were few and might have been disturbed by two who looked so strange, but they were not aware.

For living with their stumpy uncle, who was unconcerned and rumpled, made them see things differently.
They thought that we were put together randomly, just like the weather, with no thought of uniformity.
But that vision only lasted for a while until he passed away and they were sent off to a home.

The children there did not have parents, were all alike and always staring, as they sat on chairs above the ground.
So they cried and then withdrew from those that shouted, laughed, and who were mean because of suffering inside.
Once alone they heard some children shouting that a car had killed one of their pets out in the road ahead.

As they approached the fallen dog, inside a pool of blood they saw a leg that had been torn away somehow.
So they kneeled upon the ground and lifted up the leg they found and wedged it gently, tightly, just below the spot
where both their shoulders joined together. Then the sun, which had been shining, winked and for a moment all was dark.

And when the sun returned above them, no one laughed and made fun of them, for the dog was licking at the joint,
barking loud and resurrected and causing them to be respected by those who had avoided them before.

G3P Live (Difference in bold and italics) This version has the biggest lyrical difference out of any version. As the Faceless Forever Encyclopedia describes "The Residents, feeling the original text has been dashed off in a mad rush, went back and gave it an editorial polish, reconfiguring a few lines while both adding and dropping material".

(Mr. X)

Once when we were on a bus between some cities we discussed the things that happened in their early years.

(Band vocals)
Ooga-Chaka...

(Mr. X)

Their youngest time was spent alone while living with an uncle only half remaining from a foreign war.
His upper half was well enough, but in the pants between the cuffs and where his zipper stopped, flesh had departed.
And so he rolled around on wheels, self sufficient in a peeling little house he'd never paint again.
But it was spotless to a point two feet above the floor and warmth was in the grin upon his chin.

The people that they met were few and might have been disturbed by two who looked so strange, and oddly intertwined.
For living with their stumpy uncle, who was unconcerned and rumpled, simply made them clueless to their kind.
They thought that we were put together randomly, just like the weather, with no uniformity in mind.

But that vision only lasted for a while until he passed away and they were sent off to a home.
The children there did not have parents, were all alike and always staring, at the two who never were alone.
So they cried and then withdrew from those that shouted, laughed, and who made misery a value to condone.

Once outside they heard some children shouting that a car had killed one of their pets out in the road ahead.
As they approached the fallen dog, some blood appeared and then they saw its quivering and disconnected leg.
So they kneeled upon the ground and lifted up the leg they found and wedged it down below their necks where their bodies were united,
Then the sun, which had been blinding, winked and for a moment all was dark.

Suddenly the air was still as apprehension filled the moment like the shadows of a shark
But when the sun returned above them, no one laughed and made fun of them, for the barking dog had been reborn,
barking loud and resurrected and causing them to be respected by those who had avoided them before.

Appearances

• The Residents' 1987 demo cassette (1987)
• God In Three Persons (1988)
• God In Three Persons Soundtrack (1988)
• In Memoriam Torso (1994)
• The Way We Were (2005)
• G3P Ephemera (2019)
• God In 3 Persons (2020)
• God In 3 Persons (Video) (2023)

External links and references

• God in 3 Persons at The Residents Historical