"Bach Is Dead" is a song by The Residents, first issued as the penultimate track on the 7" EP Duck Stab!, released February 1978 on Ralph Records. It was also featured on the album edition, Duck Stab!/Buster & Glen, which followed on November 30th.
The song's ominous lyrics detail a mourning ritual for German baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750). The Residents have occasionally performed the song live, first in 1997 for Adobe Disfigured Night, and in 2021 for the Dog Stab! performances.
History[]
Background[]
"Bach Is Dead" was recorded in 1977 by The Residents with their frequent collaborator, English guitarist Philip "Snakefinger" Lithman, during a break from the long-running sessions for their "documentary" album Eskimo (which would ultimately be completed and released in 1979).
The song was first released as the penultimate track on the group's EP Duck Stab! on February 1st 1978 by Ralph Records; it later remained the penultimate track of the configuration of Duck Stab! released on side A of the Duck Stab!Buster & Glen LP, which followed on November 30th.
Later versions[]
The Residents performing "Bach Is Dead" in Duck Stab! Alive!, 2021
"Bach Is Dead" was considered and rehearsed for The Residents' abandoned 10th Anniversary live tour in 1982, but, like most of the back catalog songs planned for this show, it was dropped when the group began developing what became their first international tour, The Mole Show.
The song was first performed live by The Residents at the Adobe Disfigured Night show in 1997.
In 2010 it was remixed for potential inclusion on the studio album Lonely Teenager; this version instead appeared on the digital release Summer Songs. This version was later featured on the digital compilation album D*ck S*ab - 35th Anniversary in 2012, and on the 2018 pREServed expanded edition of Duck Stab!/Buster & Glen.
In May 2021 The Residents recorded a new arrangement of the song live in the studio for the Duck Stab Alive streaming TV special, which aired in June. For the special, "Bach Is Dead" was performed in a truncated arrangement in a medley with "Laughing Song".
The song was subsequently featured on the set list of the group's troubled Dog Stab! tour.[1]
Lyrics[]
Bach is dead! Bach is dead! Bach is dead! Bach is dead! Bach is dead! Bach is dead!
Walking women want to see The Southern Cross at night. And so they set aside a sock And tie their laces tight.
Yes, mournful is the melody That echoes in their heads. Without a beat they march along Believing Bach is dead.
Bach is dead.[2]
List of releases[]
- Duck Stab! EP (1978) [Version 1]
- Duck Stab!/Buster & Glen (1978) [Version 1]
- Assorted Secrets (1984) [Version 2]
- In Memoriam Torso (1994) [Version 1]
- 1997: The Missing Year - Adobe Disfigured Night (2009) [Version 3]
- Summer Songs EP (2010) [Version 4]
- D*ck S*ab - 35th Anniversary (2012) [Version 4]
- "The Grove Street Studio (1978-80 Embracing Visibility)" (2014) [Version 5]
- Disfigured Night (2016) [Version 3]
- 80 Aching Orphans (2017) [Version 1]
- Duck Stab!/Buster & Glen pREServed CD edition (2018) [Version 1] [Version 2] [Version 5]
- Duck Stab! Alive! (2021) [Version 6]
List of versions[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Grove Street studio recording, 1977 (1:12)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Grove Street live studio rehearsal recording, 1982 (1:20)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Adobe Disfigured Night live recording, 1997 (2:05)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Grove Street studio recording, 1977 (2010 remix, 2:26)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Grove Street studio recording, 1977 (excerpt, 0:19)
- ↑ 25th Street Recording live studio recording, May 2021 (medley with "Laughing Song" 0:35)
External links and references[]
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Duck Stab! EP (1978) Side A: |
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Duck Stab!/Buster & Glen (1978) Side A: Duck Stab! |