"The Baby King Part 1" is the first of five original monologues featured on The Residents Elvis cover album "The King & Eye".
Background[]
When The Residents were developing their Cube-E show, they decided that to complete their set of American music that Elvis would be a perfect ending. Shortly before the debut of the completed Cube-E show, they were able to record in studio an Elvis cover album in a single day. While the album is mostly covers, the residents wrote five monologues to tell the story of Elvis throughout the album. Notably, in the studio versions of these songs, it features Jana Flynn and Simon Timony (then under 10 years old) reacting and commenting on the singing residents' story, giving the whole thing an "innocent" tone. Later, when Cube-E was finalized, instead of bringing the kids on tour, The Residents made two ventriloquist dummies thoughtfully named "Shorty & Shirley." This led to Granddad having full control over their commentary, leading to a more comedic tone then in the studio.
The song unsurprisingly describes the beginning of Elvis' life but in a more fairytale fashion. In the context of Cube-E, a former Elvis impersonator has a dream about Elvis's career which interests Shorty and Shirley into hearing his tale. Granddad introduces the "Baby" as Elvis and describes his interest in being "King", a name he was and is still commonly referred due to being "The King of rock" to many. Suddenly, Elvis meets a "Stranger", a placeholder for Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis' manager for his entire career. The stranger then tells "the baby" that he will make him "King", leading to the fame of Elvis or, as Granddad describes, "one bright shiny moment where he was really happy." In Cube-E he offers to show Shorty and Shirley what he remembers from his days as an Elvis impersonator. This then segues into "Don't Be Cruel".
Legacy[]
This song was actually lucky enough to be one of three songs record during their iconic "Night Music" appearence right before "Teddy Bear". While the song was performed at every Cube-E Show it has not been performed live since. In 2004 when paralyzer was invited to remix the King & Eye this song was the only of the five monologues to be featured on the album as a short intro features the first portion of the studio recording being sampled. In 2011 Three of the five monologues were chosen for The Residents rediscovered Cube-E remaster called "Cube-E Dynasone 3EZ" The most recent time the track was acknowledge was on The Residents Cube-E pREServed box where it was revealed that in preparation for their time in the "Different Fur" studio the whole album was recorded at home.
Lyrics[]
Studio[]
Singing Resident: Once there was a baby, and the baby wanted to be king because kings were good, and kings were strong, and kings were the best of everything. Would you like to be a king?
Simon: I would
Singing Resident: You would huh?
Jana: I don't know
Well he worked and he worked and he worked so hard to be a king. And never let go of it in his mind all the time. He kept thinking “i'm gonna be king, i'm gonna be king, i'm gonna be king”. But he was still a baby, because really only babies wanted to be kings. Because
Simon: But wasn't he king?
Singing Resident: No he wasn't a king yet, but he wanted to be king, because kings are good, and kings are strong, and kings are the best of everything. So a stranger came up to the baby, and the stranger said “Follow me and I'll make you a king.” And he did, and the baby became a king, and for one real bright shiny moment, he was happy.
Live In Amsterdam[]
Shirley: Wake up, wake up, wake granddad wake up, Wake up! Granddad: Ugh! Oh gosh, gosh I guess, I guess I musta fell asleep Shorty: You sure did Granddad: ugh I had a, I had a dream, I had a real funny kind of a dream Shirley: Tell us, tell us granddad, tell us, tell us Granddad: Ok, ok uhhhh this here dream was about a little baby! A little baby that wanted to be a king uh. Cause thought that kings were good, kings were strong, kings were the best of everything. Say shorty! I bet you'd like to be a king. Shorty: Yeah! Yeah yeah Granddad!” Granddad: Yeah that figures, well this little baby worked and worked and then a stranger comes along, and the stranger says uhhh “Hey! You know you're right. Kings are good, kings are strong, stuff like that so ummm follow me, I can make you a king” so he did. And he had one bright shiny moment where he was really happy. I used to kinda pretend like I was part of this so uh if you guys I could uh show you a little bit what do you think huh? Shorty: Yeah, yeah yeah Granddad! Shirley: Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah! Grandad: Ok, ok, Well i'll show you guys a little bit, Let see if I can remember how it goes. Been kinda a long time.
RMX[]
Singing Resident: Once there was a baby, and the baby wanted to be king because kings were good, and kings were strong, and kings were the best of everything. Would you like to be a king?
Simon: I would
Singing Resident: You would huh?
Jana: I don't know
Demo[]
Singing Resident: were gonna talk about uh, the baby King.
Jana: The baby King?
Singing Resident: The Baby King, ok so its the baby King you guys ready?
Simon: Yeah
Jana: Yeah
Simon: Ready
Singing Resident: So, once there was a baby, and the baby wanted to be King.
Simon: King?
Singing Resident: Wanted to be king, because kings are good, and kings are strong, and kings are the best of everything. and so he worked and he worked, and he never let go of the idea in his head, he always said kept this idea in his head that he wanted to be king, and he was gonna be king. And so, he kept that in his mind, but he was still a baby.
Jana: Um-hm
Singing Resident: He was still baby because really only babies want to be kings.
Jana: Are they babies?
Singing Resident: Yeah, yeah
Simon: I think I, I think I could be king
Singing Resident: but he still was a baby, but he wanted to be king because kings are good, and kings are strong, and kings are the best of everything.
Simon: Everything?
Singing Resident: Yeah
Jana: Yeah
Singing Resident: So a stranger came up to the baby
Simon: A stranger
Jana: Stranger?
Singing Resident: Stranger came up to the baby and said "Ill make you a king" and he did. And the baby became a king, and for one really small bright shiny moment, he was happy. Because kings were good, kings were strong
Simon: Was he a king?
Singing Resident: And he was a king
Releases[]
- The King & Eye (1989) [Version 1]
- Cube-E Live In Holland (1990) [Version 2]
- In Memoriam Torso (1994) [Version 2]
- The King & Eye: RMX (2004) [Version 3]
- Cube-E (2006) [Version 4] [Version 5]
- CUBE E Dynasone 3EZ (2011) [Version 2]
- Cube-E Box (2020) [Version 1] [Version 5] [Version 6] [Version 7]