"A Spirit Steals A Child" is a song by The Residents from their "cultural documentary" album Eskimo, released on Ralph Records in 1979.
Like all tracks on Eskimo, "A Spirit Steals A Child" is a mostly instrumental and ambient piece depicting a fictional "Polar Eskimo" culture. This track presents the story of a child being rescued from a vengeful half-woman half-seal spirit by an Angakok.
Liner notes[]
Still from the Eskimo DVD, 2002
One of the many strange Eskimo phenomena is the disappearance of children. In such inclement conditions, one can easily understand how this can happen. However, Eskimo mythology speaks of children being stolen by the spirit of the weeping seal, which is half sealed and half woman, and who, because she can have no children, must steal any she finds unguarded.
Pop! the bladders went. Hunting season had been good and there were many bladders to burst. The band played gleefully, eager to get to the next peak in the music so all could explore the inflated bladders the creatures which had fed and clothed the Eskimos all year. Finally, the music ended and everyone immediately ran toward the sea, eager to throw the burst bladders through a hole in the ice so the souls of the animals could return to the sea and be caught again next year.
Because of the excitement, an important Eskimo rule has been broken. A child was left unattended. Tears froze on his cheeks as he stood crying behind an igloo. Suddenly, there was another sound in the wind. A whistle, a bark, a growling whine filled the air around the terrified child, whirling him around in a flurry of ice.
The Eskimo soon returned to discover that the child was missing, and realized the folly of their over-excitement at the bladder festival. The Angakok started a chant to halt the fleeing spirit, but he knew the chant would only delay the spirit of the Weeping Seal's complete takeover of the child. They would have to go to "the world beneath the world" and fight.
Several dog sledges sped away across the tundra, whips cracking at the barking dogs. On the lead sledge the child's father and the Angakok crouched, defending themselves against the blast of Arctic wind. The ride was long and tiring.
As they neared their destination, the men sang a chant and the Angakok spoke a spell. A dog which was brought before him was decapitated, and the head, still containing the dog spirit, was quickly taken down to the netherworld, while the other dogs, smelling the blood of their own kind, howled into the cold night. The Angakok raised the dog head into the air and called forth its spirit to battle the Weeping Seal and force it to return the stolen child.
The two spirits met and intertwined in the air. With the Northern Lights, they danced and sang, and then they disappeared slowly as the men returned to their village in hopes that the child would be there.
Lyrics[]
The below derives from a "possible phonetic Anglicization" of the Polar Eskimo chants heard on this track, transcribed by noted Residents collector and fan Ima Buddy and featured in the 1992 document Ima Buddy's Totally Impartial Companion to Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated BIG MAMAS.
Angakok:
Juke a shook
Tribe: And Anna look And Anna look And Anna look
Angakok:
And took a book today;
Kin amok
Tribe: Or just a duck Or just a duck Or just a duck
Angakok:
It's not for me to say.
Tribe: Or nap a cot, or slap a slot.
Angakok:
Or sleep in new mown hay.
Forgive us if we laugh a lot
Tribe: We don't know how to pray We don't know how to pray We don't know how to pray We don't know how to pray
???? ???? Or eat rust
Money, money, money, money Money, money, money, money Get some sauce
Funny, funny, funny, funny Funny, funny, funny, funny It's on us. ????
Angakok:
Ball play dead with walrus head
Aurora tore a crow
'Cause better that a mudlark leave
Than live without a toe.
Oh dog head, dog head, dog head,
Dog head, dog head, dog head go
To baby took to baby took
Away without a whine.
Caribou head eat a mite or move to Ohio; So chomp upon a pillow while The pig of porky pines Away your balls of eye Don't go away without a fine.
Go take a hike to Pike of peak And speak in Pekinese Go take a hike to Pike of peak And speak in Pekinese
Oh, peek on, peek on, pecan pie Yeah, peak on pecan pie Oh, peek on, peek on, pecan pie Yeah, peak on pecan pie[1]
List of releases[]
- Eskimo (1979)
- Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated Guide To The Residents (1993)
- Eskimo DVD (2002)
External links and references[]
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Eskimo (1979) Side A: |