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Hard & Tenderly is a song from The Residents' 1988 epic, God In Three Persons.
Background[]
This is the first song on the album to introduce the two (or three) main characters. Mr. X and The Twins.
The song gets right into the story with Mr. X telling the listener that he is in the presence of "the special ones that saw so deep inside the souls of those who were so lonely." Mr. X then describes the scene of struggling people who are "stinking masses, freeing fumes and giving gasses to the brown and nearly worn out air." Finally, the song ends with the twins agreeing to take Mr. X under their wing and gave him a hug that was "Somehow hard and tenderly."
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. It is unknown if any other demos of this song exist so it can be assumed that the song was finished shortly after.
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 final installment in the Randy, Chuck, and Bob trilogy known as "Shadowland". This songs theme of new beginnings was a perfect for The Residents Shadowland land concept which was songs all about birth.
The fan Utrom was lucky enough to be featured on the I Am A Resident! project. They made a much more computer like version of this song featuring vocals from a text-to-speech bot.
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 album versions structure, whilst adding electric guitar.
The song was officially revisited on April 12th, 2025 when The Residents released the last album in their "Leftovers" trilogy. The song "Cryptic Beds" contains a more relaxed version of the song. The albums liner notes reveal that this song was made for the sole purpose of background music during radio interviews. This song can be heard in a 1990 Homer Flynn interview.
Lyrics[]
Album Version
(Chorus) Hard and tenderly...
(Mr. X) They called me "Mr. X, Indeed", the special ones that saw so deep inside the souls of those who were so lonely. I was down beneath the bottom, when my vacant staring caught them gaily parading up and down the street, followed by some stinking masses, freeing fumes and giving gasses to the brown and nearly worn out air. But they had that certain presence like the ether or the essence of the cleansing upper atmosphere. Laughing, loving, and without a doubt, they simply strode about the streets that other creatures left alone. I ran across, myself compulsive, with the feeling of a pulsing drum that pounded underneath my skin. A tingling in my tangled brain was screaming that this was insane, but it also told me, "touch it", too. "Stand aside", I told the masses, and with that I made my passage from the lonely to the only side. Openly they smiled to greet me, like they always knew they'd meet me somewhere walking up and down the road. I knew I must appear as someone far beyond the common come-on, so I could not say my name was Ed. So I said, "I'm Mr. X who wants to come and who expects to help and guide your efforts to succeed". They laughed a little bit at me, and then said, "Mr. X -- Indeed", and hugged me somehow hard and tenderly.
(Chorus) Hard and tenderly...
Appearances[]
- The Residents' 1987 demo cassette (1987) [Version 1]
- God In Three Persons (1988) [Version 2]
- God In Three Persons Soundtrack (1988) [Version 3]
- In Memoriam Torso (1994) [Version 3]
- Shadowland (2015) [Version 4]
- 80 Aching Orphans (2017) [Version 2]
- I Am A Resident! (2018) [Version 5]
- G3P Ephemera (2019) [Version 6]
- God In 3 Persons (2020) [Version 7]
- God In 3 Persons (Video) (2023) [Version 8]
- Shadowland: Live in Fribourg, Switzerland (2024) [Version 9]
- Leftovers Again?! Again!?! (Again) (2025) [Version 10]
Versions[]
- ↑ Hard & Tenderly Demo (4:39)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 1988 Studio Version (4:36)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 1988 'Soundtrack' Version (3:46)
- ↑ Shadowland live 2014 (4:23)
- ↑ Utrom Cover (3:39)
- ↑ Shadowland Live (5:14)
- ↑ 2020 Live Version (4:43)
- ↑ 2022 Live Version
- ↑ Shadowland: Live in Fribourg, Switzerland 1/30/16 (5:05)
- ↑ Cryptic Beds Version