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Won't you keep us working? Working down below? This page needs work to reach an encyclopedic standard. If you see something missing, you can help The Mysterious Spanish Ladies by joining the wiki and expanding the article. |
"The Ultimate Disaster" is a seven part suite from The Residents' concept album Mark of The Mole, the first entry in the group's abandoned Mole Trilogy, released on Ralph Records on September 15th 1981.
A shortened version of the suite (lacking the last three parts) was performed live on The Residents' debut tour The Mole Show in 1982 and 1983; this version instead opens with "God of Darkness" from the 1982 album The Tunes of Two Cities.
History[]
"The Storm" stage banner from The Mole Show, 1982
"First of all we had 'God of Darkness' over here, that was just religious garbage, you can forget about that. Then we had 'Working Down Below', which teaches us that the Moles work down below and seem to enjoy it. That was followed by 'First Warning', boom, get your attention; we lulled you back to sleep with 'Back to Normality?', and then bam, 'The Sky Falls!', that was the thing with the strobe lights and the fancy colors."
The seven part suite tells of The Pit (home of the Moles) being flooded by a heavy storm. The Moles become confused and scared, and ultimately decide to escape to the sea.
The live version of the suite as featured in The Residents' 1982-1983 live tour The Mole Show excludes the last three parts, instead beginning with "God of Darkness" from the 1982 album The Tunes of Two Cities.
The suite[]
- Won't You Keep Us Working? Working Down Below? (0:00 - 1:32)
- First Warning (1:32 - 1:57)
- Back To Normality? (1:57 - 3:18)
- The Sky Falls! (3:18 - 4:38)
- Why Are We Crying? (4:38 - 6:01)
- The Tunnels Are Filling (6:01 - 6:45)
- It Never Stops (6:45 - 8:59)
Synopsis[]
The hole-workers had no radio, they were unaware that the announcer warned of strange cloud formations creeping into the pit area, life went on. In one tunnel hole-worker hands glowed in sexual communication. The passing of the Secret Seed brought shame, but assured continuation of the species. Further below, workers took time from their labor to offer prayers to the god of darkness.
All was as it should be, the calm broke, a small storm struck and then withdrew. A mother rocked her child with cautious eyes turned upward. All was safe? Wasn't it, she asked herself. The sky shattered, sheets became clumps, clumps grew to chunks and chunks evolved into monstrosities just as foretold in ancient stories, the monstrosities fell shattering against the hot sand, flinging slivers of silver teeth into the holes, cutting through cooling air as they bounced their deadly dance toward the lowest depths. The tunnels were filling! The tunnels were filling![1]
Lyrics[]
Won't You Keep Us Working? Working Down Below?[]
God of the nightfall, God of the shade, God of the deep, it's you who's made All of the evening, all of the night, All of the motion without light.
God of the darkness, God of the soul, God of the deep dark friendly hole; God of the unseen, cloudy and dim; God of the hiding hear this hymn: Won't you keep us working -- working, working, working; Won't you keep us working -- working down below. Working down below, working down below Working down below, working down below Working down below, working down below Working down below, working down below Working down below, working down below Working down below, working down below[1]
Back to Normality?[]
Harmony cannot be denied; once again we are satisfied; Calm and quiet have been restored; so it is as it was before. Isn't it? Isn't it? Isn't it? Isn't it? Isn't it? Isn't it? Isn't it? Is this it? Isn't it? Isn't it? Isn't it?[1]
Why Are We Crying?[]
Shrinking from the touch of darkness, moaning in the night;
Sobbing into melancholy, weeping into fright;
Graciousness is not forgotten and into its place,
Whispering insinuation finds a fond embrace.
Crying, why are we crying? Everyone's crying, why are we crying? We must stop crying, why are we crying? Why are we crying? We must stop crying We must stop crying, we must stop crying We, we must stop crying, we must stop We must stop Stop We must...[1]
It Never Stops[]
It never stops, it never stops It never stops, it never stops It never stops, it never stops It never stops, it never stops
Leave, we must leave We must leave, we must leave
There is no home where we reside, if there is nothing down deep inside, Except a serpent sitting beside a promise of nothing except suicide.
Leave, we must leave We must leave, we must leave
I have been told, deep in my dreams, that there is hope, and that it seems All that we seek was seen by the sea; yes, Safety and comfort do dwell by the sea. By the sea, by the sea By the sea[1]
Backdrop Gallery[]
Won't You Keep Us Working?
First Warning
Back to Normality?
The Sky Falls
List of releases[]
- Mark of the Mole (1981)
- Mole Show (1983)
- 1982 Live Version
- Assorted Secrets (1984)
- Mole Show/Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats? VHS (1984)
- Hell! (1986)
- Edited Version
- Mole Show: Live In Holland (1989)
- 1983 Live Version
- Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated Guide To The Residents (1993)
- "Won't You Keep Us Working" Excerpt
- In Memoriam Torso (1994)
- Mole Show DVD (2009)
- Mole Box: The Complete Mole Trilogy pREServed (2019)
- Mole Dance 82 (2021)
See also[]
External links and references[]
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Mark of the Mole Part One of The Mole Trilogy (1981) Side A: Hole-Workers at the Mercy of Nature |
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The Mole Show (1982-1983) Set list |
