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"Ups and Downs" (alternatively stylized "Ups & Downs") is a song by The Residents, first released as the first track on Side B of their seventh studio album Commercial Album on October 29th 1980 by Ralph Records. It features vocals by The Residents' frequent collaborator Snakefinger.

Like the other songs on Commercial Album, "Ups and Downs" is exactly one minute long; an earlier three minute version of the song (with two additional verses and vocals by The Singing Resident) was later released on the outtakes compilation Residue of The Residents in 1983.

Despite longstanding rumors of a number of other "full-length" versions of Commercial Album songs, "Ups and Downs" remains the only song from that album to have an earlier extended version surface in the decades since its release. The three minute version of the song was featured on the compilation CD Heaven? in 1986, and later appeared as a bonus track on the pREServed expanded CD reissue of Commercial Album in 2019.

A music video for the Commercial Album version of the song by artist Cedric Mercier was featured on The Residents' Commercial DVD in 2004. A newly created "RDX" mix of the song derived from the original multi-track master tapes was featured in "COMS 1-3 RDX Suite Pt 2" on the pREServed vinyl edition of Commercial Album in 2023.

Lyrics[]

Commercial Album version[]

She was opening up an elevator
On a rainy day
Sitting on a little stool
And looking far away
I asked if she would take me
To another floor
She laughed and said she probably would
And then she closed the door[1]

Residue version[]

She was opening up an elevator
On a rainy day
Sitting on a little stool
And looking far away
She said she often went to sleep
And dreamed about a prince
The prince was sad and lonely
And he seldom made much sense
Once he turned and stared at her
And then removed his coat
She said that he was much too thin
And then I cleared my throat
I asked if she would like to take me
To another floor
She laughed and said she probably would
And then she closed the door[1]

List of releases[]

List of versions[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Grove Street studio recording, September 1979 - July 1980 (Commercial Album version, 1:00)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Grove Street studio recording, September 1979 - July 1980 (Residue version, 3:06)
  3. Grove Street studio recording, September 1979 - July 1980 (RDX mix, part of "COMS 1-3 RDX Suite Pt 2", 16:40)

See also[]

Buy Or Die![]

Listen online[]

External links and references[]

Commercial Album
(1980)

Side A:
"Easter Woman" · "Perfect Love" · "Picnic Boy" · "End of Home" · "Amber" · "Japanese Watercolor" · "Secrets"
"Die in Terror" · "Red Rider" · "My Second Wife" · "Floyd " · "Suburban Bathers" · "Dimples and Toes" · "The Nameless Souls"
"Love Leaks Out" · "Act of Being Polite" · "Medicine Man" · "Tragic Bells" · "Loss of Innocence" · "The Simple Song"

Side B:
"Ups and Downs" · "Possessions" · "Give It to Someone Else" · "Phantom" · "Less Not More" · "My Work Is So Behind" · "Birds in the Trees"
"Handful of Desire" · "Moisture" · "Love Is..." · "Troubled Man" · "La La" · "Loneliness" · "Nice Old Man"
"The Talk of Creatures" · "Fingertips" · "In Between Dreams" · "Margaret Freeman" · "The Coming of the Crow" · "When We Were Young"

Personnel
The Residents · Fred Frith · Snakefinger · Don Jackovich · Chris Cutler
Sandy Sandwich · Mud's Sis · Nessie Lessons · Lene Lovich · David Byrne · Brian Eno

Related works
"Electronic Elaborate Waste" · "Kraftwerk" · "Cosmetics For Reality" · "Rosco's Righteous Rodent" · "Pretty Baby" · "Tuxedos"
"No Longer Unused" · "Instant Hostility" · "Elevator Lady" · "One Minute Movies" · Commercial Single ("Shut Up Shut Up" / "And I Was Alone") · "Boy In Love" · Minatures ("We're A Happy Family") · "Talkin' in the Town" · "Womb To Worm" · Greener Postures · "Theme For An American TV Show" · Ralph Radio Special · "Commercial Suite" · Commercial DVD · Commercial Album by The 180 Gs · The Commercial Single Commercials (In Mono) · Commercial Book (Commercial Album Radio Ads)

Related articles
Ralph Records · The Cryptic Corporation · Grove St. studio · Poor No Graphics · Buy Or Die 1980½ · Diskomo/Goosebump‏‏‎

Residue of The Residents
(1983)

Side A
"The Sleeper" · "Whoopy Snorp" · "Kamakazi Lady" · "Boy in Love" · "Shut Up! Shut Up!" · "Anvil Forest" · "Diskomo"

Side B
"Jailhouse Rock" · "Ups & Downs" · "Walter Westinghouse" · "Saint Nix" · "Open Up"

Residue Deux (1998)
"Scent of Mint" · "From The Plains To Mexico" · "In San Francisco" · "Dumbo The Clown" · "Is He Really Bringing Roses?" · "Time's Up" · "Daydream Believer" · "Safety Is A Cootie Wootie" · "Daydream in Space"

Superior Viaduct edition (2014)
"Loser ≅ Weed" · "Death In Barstow" · "Melon Collie Lassie"

Related articles
MOP tapes · The Tunes of Two Cities · Residents Classic Series · pREServed · Leftovers Again?! · Pour No Graphics · Elvis Presley · Richard Nixon

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