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"The New Hymn (Recessional)" is a song by The Residents (derived from their earlier track "Hole-Workers' New Hymn" from the 1981 album Mark of the Mole), composed as pre-recorded closing music for the group's Mole Show live tour from October 1982 to April 1983.

It was released as the closing track of the EP Intermission: Extraneous Music From The Residents' Mole Show on Ralph Records on October 10th 1982.

History[]

Acting as a "recessional"[1] (ie. a hymn sung while the clergy and choir process out of a church at the end of a service), "The New Hymn" is a re-arrangement and expansion of "Hole-Workers' New Hymn", the third part of the suite "Migration" from The Residents' 1981 album Mark of the Mole. It features backing vocals from guests Annie Stocking, Jeanette Sartain and Joan Cashel.

From October 1982 to April 1983, it was featured as the pre-recorded music heard at the end of The Residents' live tour The Mole Show, and on October 10th 1982 it was released as the closing track of the 12" EP Intermission: Extraneous Music From The Residents' Mole Show.

It was later included on the compilation albums Heaven? (in 1986) and Morning Music (in 2010), as well as being reissued alongside Mark of the Mole as part of Intermission on CD reissues, including the 2019 pREServed box set Mole Box.

Cover versions of the song were submitted by artists Diablo, Coeur Atomique, and Kreatur Null for The Residents' 2018 collaborative project I Am A Resident!, however none of these were included on the album.

Lyrics[]

Chorus:
Let our children live in a holey land
Let our children live in a holey land
Let our children live in a holey land
Let our children live in a holey land...
The Moles:
We have left our lives, we have left our land,
We have left behind all we understand,
Now we must cry out, yes we must demand --
Let our children live in a land that's low,
Where the holes are deeper than light can go;
Let them not have pride but instead a soul,
That can see the shame of the hands that glow.

List of releases[]

List of versions[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Grove Street studio recording, 1982 (4:18)

See also[]

Buy Or Die![]

Listen online[]

External links and references[]

  1. "You know that The Residents have a difficult time staying off the tape recorders. Even in the midst of putting together their most ambitious project ever, The Mole Show, they decided to record new music for the 15 minute intermission, as well as a prelude to start the show and a recessional to end it." Ralph Records advertisement for Intermission, 1982
The Mole Trilogy
(1981-1985)

Cast of Characters
Mohelmot · Chubs (Innisfree · The Scientist) · The Observer
Darkness · The Evil Disposer
Cross (Zinkenites · Kula Bocca · The Big Bubble · Frankie DuVall)

Part One: Mark of the Mole (1981)
(video game · novel)
Side A: Hole-Workers at the Mercy of Nature
"Voices of the Air" · "The Ultimate Disaster" · "Migration"
Side B: Hole-Workers vs. Man and Machine
"Another Land" · "The New Machine" · "Final Confrontation"

Part Two: The Tunes of Two Cities (1982)
(The Comix of Two Cities)
Side A: "Serenade For Missy" · "A Maze Of Jigsaws" · "Mousetrap" · "God Of Darkness" · "Smack Your Lips (Clap Your Teeth)" · "Praise For The Curse"
Side B: "The Secret Seed" · "Smokebeams" · "Mourning The Undead" · "Song Of The Wild" · "The Evil Disposer" · "Happy Home (Excerpt From Act II of "Innisfree")"

Intermission: Extraneous Music From The Residents' Mole Show (1982)
Side A: "Lights Out (Prelude)" · "Shorty's Lament (Intermission)"
Side B: "The Moles Are Coming (Intermission)" · "Would We Be Alive? (Intermission)" · "The New Hymn (Recessional)"

The Mole Show (1982-1983)
(Mole Dance 82 · Live At The Roxy · La Edad de Oro · Uncle Sam Mole Show · VHS · Live In Holland · DVD bag set)

Part Three: ???
"Now It Is Too Late" · "Going Nowhere" · "Tired Old Man" · "Marching To The We" · Mole Suite

Part Four: The Big Bubble (1985)
(fictional band · Black Shroud Records)
Side A: "Sorry" · "Hop A Little" · "Go Where Ya Wanna Go" · "Gotta Gotta Get" · "Cry For The Fire"
Side B: "Die-Stay-Go" · "Vinegar" · "Firefly" · "The Big Bubble" · "Fear for the Future" · "Kula Bocca Says So"

Part Five: ???
Part Six: ???

Related works
"Open Up" · "Anvil Forest" · The 10th Anniversary Show (Assorted Secrets) · PAL TV LP · The 13th Anniversary Show · Mole Box: The Complete Mole Trilogy pREServed ("From MOM1" · "Untitled" · "Jingle Bell" · "Another Another Land")

Related articles
Ralph Records · The Cryptic Corporation · Grove St. studio · Minna St. studio · Porno Graphics · Penn Jillette · Nessie Lessons · Snakefinger · Matt Howarth · Greg Easter · T.D. Wade

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