Die-Stay-Go is the sixth track from The Residents' 13th studio album, The Big Bubble. Bombastic and dramatic, Die-Stay-Go opens Side Two.
According to the in-universe album credits for The Big Bubble, Die-Stay-Go was written by Frank Leone and Ramsey Whiten. Leone is the fictional guitarist of The Big Bubble, and Ramsey is the lead vocalist and percussionist.
Background[]
Writing & Recording[]
A two-minute acapella demo version of the song was recorded around 1984/1985 and was later expanded into a three-minute-long piece with guitar and keyboards.
The song is written from the perspective of The Big Bubble, a fictional band existing within the fiction of The Mole Trilogy. The group is made up of hybrids of the rivaling societies from Mark of the Mole, The Moles, and The Chubs. The song is about the Moles' predicament. Their homeland had been ruined by flooding, and bigotry had made their new land dangerous also.
Spokespeople for The Residents have often stated that this dilemma represented The Residents' position within the music industry. The group felt that the changing record industry would surely make their niche unprofitable but also that venturing out into more commercially viable land would leave them scarred from harsher criticism and exploitation.
Die-Stay-Go reflects The Residents' attempt to reach the masses through touring and the turmoil they felt from its commercial failure.
In 1992 The Residents released the song 'Dead Wood,' a version of Die-Stay-Go, featuring lyrics from Mahogany Wood. Mahogany Wood, similarly, was a song written amid the Mole Show disaster, between the ending of the Euro Mole Show and the final performance in Washington, DC. Again, Mahogany Wood's lyrics contain uncertainty themes, with The Residents wishing they were good and something other than what they are.
Dead Wood has been performed live several times, and from 2010 to 2011, The Residents played an extended version of Die-Stay-Go as the final song in their Talking Light show. Talking Light was themed around ghosts, the afterlife, and regret.
Lyrics[]
What do they do? What do they do? What do they do today? What do they do? What do they do? What do they do today? They don't know what to say Don't know what to do Don't know what today-oh No place to go but there's no place to go No place to go today. Cause There's no going back There's No going back There's No go-ing back today Stay stay stay Stay stay stay They still cannot stay today. What can they do? What can they do? What can they do today? Yeah what can they do? What can they do? What can they do today?
Die if they go Die if they stay Die if they go today They die if they go They die if they stay They die if they go today They die if they go They die if they stay They die if they go today They die if they go Die if they stay Die if they go today
They die if they go Die if they stay Die if they go today-today They die if they go Die if they stay I mean die if they go today Oh, die if they go They die if they stay Die if they leave today-today
Die-Stay-Today! Die if they go they die Die if they stay they die Die if they go today, yes Die if they go they die Die if they stay Die-stay-Day They die if they go They die if they stay They die-go-stay today. Die-Go Die-Go-Stay They die if they leave today.
Appearances[]
- The Big Bubble (1985) [Version 1]
- The Tunes Of Two Cities & The Big Bubble 2xCD (2005) [Version 1]
- El Año Del Muerto (2009) [Version 1]
- Talking Light Download Series (2010-2011) [Version 2]
- Talking Light Live In Rehearsal, Santa Cruz, California (2010) [Version 3]
- Talking Light Bimbo's (2011) [Version 4]
- Mole Box (2019) [Version 1] [Version 5] [Version 4]
- Eyeful (2020) [Version 6]
Credits[]
- The Residents: Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar
- Backing Vocals: Ray Hanna, Brain Seff & Raoul N. Di Seimbote
Fake Credits[]
- Ramsey Whiten: Vocals, percussion
- Frank Leone: Electric guitar, backing vocals
- Paul Sage: Grand piano, String syntheziser, backing vocals
- Alex Beason: Electric guitar, backing vocals
