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Stubmole-sml-trans Won't you keep us working? Working down below?
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"The New Machine" is a six-part suite by The Residents, from their 1981 album Mark of the Mole (the first part of the Mole Trilogy).

The suite focuses on a Chub scientist, who attempts to build a machine to relieve the Chub society of their need for the Moles' labor, as more Chubs grow fearful and angry towards the Moles.

History[]

Chub Scientist

The Chub Scientist, as depicted in Mole Show/Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats?, 1984

The suite first appeared as the penultimate track from The Residents' Mark of the Mole album. They shortly afterwards re-recorded the song for their Res Dance '82 live in the studio sessions as a medley with Another Land. These sessions also spawned a short false start version which was released on the Mole Dance '82 box set.

They first performed it live on April 10th 1982 at The House, and then played it regularly on The Mole Show tours including the Uncle Sam Mole Show. A live recording from this was featured on the Mole Show live album. In September of 1984, they released the full April 10th show audio on the Assorted Secrets cassette, concurrently with a video of the song found on the Mole Show/Whatever Happened to Vileness Fats VHS, set to audio from a show in Holland.

Between 1985-1987, The Residents performed an excerpt from the final part of the suite, "Success," during the 13th Anniversary Show. It was featured on the Live in the USA live album, but has only been mentioned in the track listing on the 1999 Live in Tokyo album, in other versions it's typically an uncredited part of "Ship's A'Going Down."

Parts[]

  • Idea
  • Ugly Rumors
  • Construction
  • Failure
  • Reconstruction
  • Success

Synopsis[]

Residents-MoleScientistcrop

Photo from a live performance of the track, with dancer Kathleen French portraying the Scientist, 1982. Photo by Randy Bachman

The room was blue. A man in a white coat lay asleep, his dreams disturbed him for he felt the weight of responsibility for the betterment of the world. He knew he was smart enough to contribute to society in some way. He awoke from his sleep knowing what to do, the moles, the poor moles working so hard in the dirty chub mines need to be rescued, he thought. They should be artists and poets, he continued. This man was quite certain that the reason the moles had told no Innisfree stories was that they were just too busy working the chub mines, this intelligent man went right to work which was all very well, but across town things were going less smoothly.

A meeting of some of the manlier chub leaders was getting out of hand, the issue of inter-marriage between moles and chubs had just been addressed for the first time and it was pretty obvious to these leaders that it was time to stop all of this before it gets any further. However, how to deal with so many moles was yet to be figured out, but back to the inventor with his funny machine.

Oh, he had it running, but it ran in a erratic sort of way. Suddenly! Something slipped, something broke, something fell into its throat and gagged the machine to silence. Had the inventor been a lesser man he would have given up, but he was not a lesser man. With one single stroke of brilliance, he repaired the sick device. The machine ran smoothly now. With a great deal of patriotic emotionalism the inventor presented the machine to the chub mine owners knowing that mole life would now be improved, but not knowing that the chub mine owners could clearly see in this machine a possible way to use it as a weapon against the moles.[1]

Lyrics[]

Idea[]

Chub Scientist:
Today I have declared myself to be a subject of the 
will of the people.
Too long have my studies and research been for my own
pleasures and distractions.
Civilization needs the minds of its people.
My first project will be the freeing of our underground workers.
There is no reason why technology cannot be called on
to meet this challenge.
A machine. A great machine. I see it now. Creatures!
Seek your dignity! Scrap metal and I shall fight, 
and you shall be the winner![1]

Ugly Rumors[]

Chub:
They lie about all through the day
Thinking that they should be paid
For all of 'em knowing how to breed.
Producing more for us to have to pay for their food, too.
They'll steal our daughters for their brides
Expecting more than life provides
A huge ungrateful straw stampede...[1]

Failure[]

Chub Scientist:
Failure... Oh, my beautiful machine. My poor, poor beautiful
machine. What have I done wrong? Where have I
failed you?[1]

Reconstruction[]

Chub Scientist:
But give up? Never! Not as long as 
there are souls imprisoned in the dark life.
Not as long as a whisper of life clings to
my body. There will be freedom in the holes!
All will hail the new machine! Yes! Yes!
I think I've got it now. There, the spark leaps
to life. The Golden Age quivers on the brink of 
creation. Live, my machine! Live, my savior!
You have my breath... You have my dream,
my dream.[1]

List of releases[]

See also[]

External links and references[]

Motm-transparent-sml Mark of the Mole
Part One of The Mole Trilogy
(1981)

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"

Personnel
The Residents · Nessie Lessons · Penn Jillette

Related works
The Mole Trilogy (The Tunes of Two Cities · Part Three · The Big Bubble) · The Mole Show (Live At The Roxy · Mole Show VHS · Live In Holland · Mole Bag) · Intermission · Mark of the Mole video game (Greg Easter) · Assorted Secrets (Res Dance '82) · Mark of the Mole novel (T.D. Wade) · "Mole Suite" · Mole Box

Related articles
Ralph Records · The Cryptic Corporation · Grove St. studio · Porno Graphics · Moles · Chubs

Mole-prop-sml-transparent The Mole Show
(1982-1983)

Set list
"Voices of the Air" · "The Secret Seed" · "The Ultimate Disaster" · "God of Darkness" · "Migration"
"Smack Your Lips (Clap Your Teeth)" · "Another Land" · "The New Machine" · "Song of the Wild" · "Final Confrontation" · "Satisfaction" · "Happy Home"

Dates
America (October - April 1982)
Santa Monica, April 10th 1982 · San Francisco, October 26th 1982 · San Francisco, October 27th 1982 · Los Angeles, October 29th 1982 · Los Angeles, October 30th 1982 · Pasadena, October 31st 1982
Europe (May - July 1983)
Hannover, May 23rd 1983 · Vienna, May 25th 1983 · Vienna, May 26th 1983 · Munich, May 27th 1983 · Frankfurt, May 28th 1983 · Dusseldorf, May 29th 1983 · Berlin, May 30th 1983 · Copenhagen, June 1st 1983 · Hamburg, June 2nd 1983 · Bochum, June 3rd 1983 · Utrecht, June 4th 1983 · Brussels, June 5th 1983 · Utrecht, June 6th 1983 · Paris, June 7th 1983 · Lyon, June 8th 1983 · Bologna, June 12th 1983 · Milan, June 13th 1983 · Firenze, June 14th 1983 · Barcelona, June 17th 1983 · Valencia, June 18th 1983 · Madrid, June 19th 1983 · Madrid, June 20th 1983 · Madrid, June 21st 1983 · Bordeaux, June 23rd 1983 · Poitiers, June 24th 1983 · Birmingham, June 27th 1983 · London, June 28th 1983 · Liverpool, June 29th 1983 · Edinburgh, June 30th 1983 · Leicester, May 28th 1983
The Uncle Sam Mole Show
Washington, D.C., October 7th 1983

Personnel
The Residents · Penn Jillette · Kathleen French · Carol LeMaitre · Sarah McLennan · Chris Van Ralte · Nessie Lessons · Scott Fraser · Philip Perkins · Dan Gillham · Laurence Campling · Raoul N.D Seimbote · Eric Knorr · Leigh Barbier · Sheenah Spece · Paul Young · Mara Mikialian · Bill Gerber · Evan Medow · Tom Timony · Diane Flynn · Sally Lewis

Related releases
Mark of the Mole · The Tunes of Two Cities · Intermission EP · Mole Show (Live at the Roxy) · Mole Show VHS · Assorted Secrets · PAL TV LP · Set Designs from The Mole Show portfolio · Mole Show: Live In Holland · Mole Show DVD bag set · Mole Box: The Complete Mole Trilogy pREServed · Mole Dance 82

Molegang-sml-transparent 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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