The Talk of Creatures

Freak Show was one of the albums I listened to early on in me being a Rz fan. Probably because the concept was pretty easy to grasp or something. Let's dive into this, shall we?

First off, I think the album sounds pretty great. The MIDI instruments do sound a bit dated, but they're processed enough by studio magic or whatever to not sound like they're just raw MIDI sequences. Plus they create some pretty interesting sounds, which I think go well with the tone of the album. I do think the songs sometimes drag on a bit too long in certain places, but that's not really too big of a deal.

As for the album itself... well, I don't really "get" it. I mean, I do get it. It's about a bunch of "freaks" and the things they go through and feel... but when I listen to this album I always feel like there's another layer to the whole thing that I'm missing out on. Maybe it's because I haven't played the game, or read the comic book (I did manage to find the stage show on Youtube though!). Maybe I'm just searching for meaning where there isn't any at all. Probably. But there are some weird things in this album which feel out of place for a project that's just simply describing the freaks with a small message at the end about how we're all freaks or whatever. I feel like this album might in some way have a deeper meaning connected to how The Residents perceive themselves and their art, but I'm not sure about that. Anyway...

First off... I have to admit that this album has some pretty weird rhymes. I'm not saying they're neccessarily bad rhymes (but I kind of am), but rather that The Residents have set a pretty high standard for great rhymes in lyrics. Or in the case of GI3P, occasionally just dropping a rhyme for the sake of saying something important to the story. Wanda the Worm Woman in particular has the painfully awkward rhyme "I love the soul I see inside her but I just can't love her / Folding fat that rolls around like bowling balls in butter...". The line from the same song "I like to watch their faces fall as we disgust and shame them / Seeking suckers is my game-- no longer lion taming." also sounds so weird to me. Maybe it's just the way it's sung?

But there's one line in particular which really just confuses me. I don't even know how to react to it. It's the line from Mickey the Mumbling Midget:

“Lassie looked at something shapeless lying on the lawn
Scratching at some scabby sores and stretching as it yawned
It seemed to be uneasy as it looked up at the moon
She sensed the tension in the air and smelled a sweet baboon.”

Which definitely seems to be a reference to Loss of Innocence from The Commercial Album:

“The eyes of horse faced women
Watch the few who wander through
They sense the tension in the air
And smell the sweet taboo”

I don't get it. Is it a joke? Is it part of some weird meta-meaning I don't get about this album? I truly just don't understand the point of that line. Some people may tell me it doesn't matter, it's The Residents, but that line is just so odd I have to wonder if there's some point to it being there. Coming back to what I said earlier, these weird little lines like this just pop out to me and make me wonder if they're somehow part of some greater design to this album... or if they're just weird little isolated oddities... kind of like the freaks themselves.

Anyway, Jello Jelly Jack is a truly amazing song, and the WoW version of it is one of my favorite Rz songs. Harry the Head is a catchy little tune which is a really great way to open up the album, and similarly Lillie is a good "twist" as well as a good climatic way to close the album. I do truly love this album and it's probably high up in my list of favorite Rz albums, if I could ever attempt to make that list.

Someone said that nothing hurts you
Like a vice without a virtue;
That may be but is it worse than
Life when it becomes so certain
That your eyes cannot be open
To the twisted and the broken?

Freak Show is a project I feel very, very strongly about. (capitalization is inevitable in this “review”.) It is a project that reaches out across media, manifesting as an album, a comic, a CD-Rom, three live performances (one containing other material, another containing parts of it exclusively… and the Prague show).. What this indicates, from my perspective at least, is they care very deeply about the concepts and ideas within this album. Opportunity arose and allowed them to communicate the ideas within the project in a variety of ways. Truly a concept executed almost as fully as possible (although they didn’t manage to get the cartoon, cereal and toy line aspect). So let’s dig in.

The key concept in the album is “freaks as people” (eventually followed by “people as freaks”). Expanding upon their ideas, behaviors and stories in a way that goes beyond what is used to attract the public. Bringing out the humanity in the freaks occurs again and again in the album. Harry’s desire to be preserved eternally along with his difficulties in terms of loving and being loved, Herman’s fear and rejection of people after being used and betrayed by two of the only people he trusted (one being the only woman he ever loved), Jack being in a position where love and lust exist in his mind and become his God, Mickey’s love for Lassie, Wanda becoming a freak after a loss of love, Benny’s dream girl. Love has a reputation as being the most natural, beautiful thing of all. A standard experience. None of those words fit freaks (within a certain mindset) at all. From a cultural perspective, the freaks are unnatural, ugly and unusual. But they are people. And what better way to get this point across than through the freaks living through, trying to come back from, longing for... love?

The characters that strike me as particularly worth discussing as Wanda, Herman, and Jack.. Wanda, in her heart, where the audience cannot see, is deeply normal (if not perhaps a little inclined to finding mentions of worms in the Good Book - but we all have Our Thing, no?). Only within the context of Christ was what she experienced unusual. Sinful. Freakish. Within the context of a society, deviance, inherent freakishness is the conventional equivalent of sin. Freakishness exists on a similar plane. Perhaps the standards are changed, but the intent remains. And from this, we are lead to Herman. He was born a freak. He found his chance to escape the fate of a freak - isolation. But he learned, unfortunately, that a life of normalcy would never be within his reach. The illusion of it would hover before him, but it would only be that. An illusion. So through the fear of ever trying again, he embraced isolation. It became his ideal state of being. And who could blame him? His first and only experience with love and with “normal” people (who through the act of having an affair, became different kinds of freak) was strange and hurtful. He hides not only from people, but from a world that he knows all too well is out to do him harm. The one that cannot hide is Jack. His physical body serves no purpose to him. He resides within his mind - but he is never alone. He has his God. That God would just happen to be the concepts of lust and love manifesting with a practically tangible presence within him. His wishes of what-if’s and if-only’s become nothing in the radiance of his God who tells him of all that he cannot know. He is a freak inside and out. But he is seen as an object - so what relevance do his thoughts have to his observers who simply look at him and grow bored?

The two “normal” people we have are Tex and Lillie. Tex is a man who has lost what he believed characterized him and descended into longing and bitterness. He longs for a freak. Though he denies himself of the desire he has for Wanda as a person due to the parts of her that make her a freak, he himself inevitably becomes freakish for loving any aspect of her. But he holds the potential to be a freak. He stands in a position where he has lost what he took pride in. He stands on the border. Who stands within, is Lillie. She is the true freak - terrifying, definitely not amusing, traumatized, somewhat incoherent. She stands in the audience. She watches. And the freaks watch her. Her strangeness is violent and vengeful. The ones she pays to come and see are not freaks at all. They intend no harm. She holds onto a rage that almost goes over the barriers of her closely guarded interior to shift into action. But from her song, it sounds as if she implodes. Every aspect of her is odd. And she exists as a reminder to the freaks - they may pretend to be anything but normal, but she needs not pretend. It is natural to her. Her position as an audience member makes her stick out like a sore thumb within the tents. The freaks notice her because she lives what they act out. Her deformity, her strangeness is within her and leaks out, manifests on the surface. She is simply too white.

What can be said about the freak show? It displays deformity. Exception. Deviance. Very little of which is willing or genuine. But it connects those who exist on the outskirts (of town?). Within the Freak Show of the album, they all acknowledge (perhaps silently) that the space they share is theirs, and unlike many things, it cannot be stripped away from them, because what has placed them there cannot be taken away. It will not be taken away. It is theirs to clutch to and build upon, because it is what (from an outside perspective) characterizes them. But the stories told show that what characterizes all of them… is exactly what characterizes those who are not displaying their deformities. Their personhood. Their experiences. The playing field is forcefully leveled when the confines of “freak” become less tight. They become visibly loose and vague.

As those confines become loose, the spaces in which those deformities can be displayed become innumerable. The singular summary for those spaces is life.

Everyone comes the to Freak Show
To laugh at the Freaks and the Geeks
Everyone comes the to Freak Show
But nobody laughs when they leave.

But even when the playing field is leveled, we cannot say that the mentalities enforcing the feeling of “us v.s. the other” are not present. But the freaks exist unavoidably. Most just don’t get paid for it. The ones that live the experience of being freaks are the ones who see through the idea that equivalence can and does exist in spaces where it does not. In the experience of living on “the outside” of normalcy, they see the similarities. They see the freaks within those who believe themselves to be anything but, and they see conventional people within themselves.

In modern scenarios, the presence of the freak show has not dissipated, but shifted. We gather online en masse to view deformity. But the deformity is no longer simply physical. We request and desire social deformity. We observe and make fun of those engaging in behaviors that simply do not align with what we believe to be normal. Things that we may well enough may do... that nobody sees. And thus, the line between a "normal" person and a "freak" become dangerously blurred. Dangerous for the observer.

We are only equal in the grave and in the dark
Said a man whose head was halfway eaten by a shark
Now if you ask me why I would continue on like this
I doubt that I would know so I could only make a guess
Half a mouth may not be much but it's still half a kiss.

The freaks must live with and work with what they are presented with. No one chooses where and how they start off. But everyone chooses where to go from the starting point. Even if what they have is not the most or even the standard, it is what they have. And because it is what they have, it is enough. Due simply to the fact that it has to be. They realize from early on what some may only realize when it is too late.

Life is a lot like a Freak Show
Nobody laughs when they leave.

Once you realize what you have seen, you must carry the weight of having laughed at those who you reduced to deformities. You must carry the weight of your own deformities.

And they grow to be unspeakably heavy.

Freak Show is a project I feel very, very strongly about. (capitalization is inevitable in this “review”.) It is a project that reaches out across media, manifesting as an album, a comic, a CD-Rom, three live performances (one containing other material, another containing parts of it exclusively… and the Prague show).. What this indicates, from my perspective at least, is they care very deeply about the concepts and ideas within this album. Opportunity arose and allowed them to communicate the ideas within the project in a variety of ways. Truly a concept executed almost as fully as possible (although they didn’t manage to get the cartoon, cereal and toy line aspect).

Freak Show for me is almost entirely about the concept, particularly because 90s MIDI can get on my nerves a bit. If I'm in the mood to listen to a record conceptually, then the album does it for me. If not, the music can get monotonous and grating (with some exceptions!). It's why I enjoy so much the Icky Flix rendition of Benny - you get the mix of concept and improved musical execution. In the midst of some clunky rhymes, you also get some beautiful moments like "Nobody Laughs When They Leave".
I also think it's worth talking about how successful the project was at exploring different forms of media. For me, with the other CD-ROM projects their subsequent albums have something missing. While I think this can be forgiven pretty easily - they were made as soundtracks to a game! Plus, I've played the Bad Day game many a time and thoroughly enjoyed it. I've more to say about that project, but I'll leave it alone for the moment! My point is, Freak Show alone seems to be successful in making an album convey its theme and keep attention (even if I'm critical of the sounds used), as well as having successfully reproduced its story in comics, in CD-ROM form (which I've also played and enjoyed, although BDOTM is even better). Ideally in my head, the Lynch/Rez project would've been based around this record.
Despite my sonic criticisms, I'm a massive fan of the CD-ROM era, and I'd love to see them dip a toe into those waters again, particularly with the increasing prevalence of 'walking simulator' games.


...That's my 2 cents anyhow. I wrote a bit on the record (among others) a few years back too: http://in-disciplined.com/?p=106


P.S. Hi!

Once upon a time, a group of friends ran away to become the circus. To begin with there had been four of them. They were outsiders. Slightly  different but not social exiles.They needed to care and provide for themselves and wanted to keep a life of relative freedom. So they created a Freak Show. Their idealism led to them welcoming others into the Freak Show and accepting those who chose to leave.

They could all perform the stories of Freaks. They had the talent to take on the persona, even the appearances. They would never be profoundly cruel or vindictive. They were friends, after all. They were becoming the circus.

The comings and goings went on for some years. The constant Ringmaster knew all of the stories of all the society of friends. Never passing judgement upon exactly what each person portrayed. The Freak Show portrayed strangeness and eccentricity. The Crowd, would always pass over some money to enjoy the oddity. There was never any horror. There was never anything so extreme that dreams were lost to the night hag.

As the years trundled on, the Ringmaster became increasingly empathic. Not merely introducing the performances but telling the stories from the personas the friends had etched inside their skulls. The Ringmaster was gradually becoming perfectly attuned with all of the friends. So empathic as to be incapable of bearing the loss of any of them. Harry the Head would live forever in formaldehyde, ensuring the empathic balance of the Ringmaster. Such became the need of the Ringmaster for the presence of the Friends.

On the one side there was always the Audience. Fripperies and inconstancies that never really intruded into the consciousness of the Ringmaster. Until Lillie. On the other side there were the Friends. Compassionate and willing to project Freakishness for the greater good. In the Freak Show, the Ringmaster is increasingly overcome by apparent telepathy. Increasingly capable of narrating the tales of mute freaks. Giving voice to the internal monologues of even mumbling midgets.

And the Audience: so insipid. Not horrors that visit upon the calm of introspection. Not monsters whose presence tears humanity away from the world. The Audience play their part. Laughing at midgets or sighing sentimentally at the stories. Everything channelled through the Ringmaster. But not Lillie. Lillie was a freakish human hurricane.

In the past. In the past the Freakshow had welcomed new members. Friends. People who were outsiders like the Friends. People who knew the need for mutual support and aid. Freaks who were not freaks. Which all made sense before Lillie. Lillie arrived and immediately the Ringmaster sensed that she was one of them. Lillie was of the tribe or caste or community of freaks. Lillie had a natural home under the big top. Lillie could be a companion for Wanda; a confidante of Benny; or even an audience for herman. Lillie was the eye of a huge and destructive hurricane.

Since the friends ran away to become the circus, Lillie had always been in the Audience. Calm and waiting. The Ringmaster had never understood that she was, along with them, at the eye of a terrifying, destructive hurricane of horror, misery and terror. The Friends had been lulled into a false sense of awareness. As the psychic connection between the Ringmaster and Lillie became more complete, he anticipated that he could channel her story to a new Audience. That Lillie would be a new Freak. Part of the group of friends.

Yet the moment it happened - the psychic connection - the eye of the hurricane passed and suddenly the entire, complex collapse, destruction and reconstruction of Lillie tumbled into The Ringmaster and then into the other Freaks. No longer insulated from the entire story of Lillie, the Freaks all become utterly aware of the tragic and obscene pains of Lillie's life. Not merely knowing what happened but all of them experiencing every moment empathically. Their bond of friendship linking them into a single pool of experience. Experiencing every moment of the degradation and destruction and humiliation and finally absence of Lillie. Her being gone. Evaporated. Leaving only traces of who she really was. The Hurricane grinding Lillie out of existence left behind the story for all the Friendly Freaks to know for themselves.

It then that they know what the Ringmaster has done.

Hello Rz fans. I'm not sure I can muster a cohesive piece on Freak Show, but I'll try to compose a loose assortment of thoughts and observations, despite the weight of winter depression on my shoulders. Thanks for being such cool, lovely people. Y'all have so many interesting things to say about The Rz. I look forward to participating in future projects with you angel-headed creepsters.

I think it is worth noting that the first proposition of this album is false. If life is a freak show, then some people do laugh when they leave. Just take the Greek philosopher, Chrysippus, who laughed himself to death. According to Wikipedia, the philosopher saw a donkey eating figs and remarked, "Now give the donkey a drink of pure wine to wash down the figs," before dying in a fit of laughter. I guess you had to be there. Now, the philosophers of Ancient Greece are subject to great speculation and hearsay, one might say to a point where their life stories are closer to allegory than fact. It's doubtful that Pythagoras had a golden thigh, and there are conflicting accounts of the death of Chrysippus. What does it really say about Stoic philosophy that one of its most prolific proponents died of good humor?

What do The Residents mean when they say that everybody comes to the freak show, but nobody laughs when they leave? Perhaps they're warning us against laughing at the expense of others when, after all, we're all freaks in some way. Few people are natural-born Stoics. When faced with our flaws, or the inevitability of the death, laughter doesn't come so easily.

Listening to this album in the shower, I couldn't help but think about the freaks of today. Donald Trump, Kanye West, Caitlin Jenner; the laughingstocks of pop culture. The Freak Show really hasn't gone anywhere. We're still laughing at the expense of others, and learning so very little about ourselves -- failing to see, once again, the freakishness of humanity. Everyone comes to the freak show, everyone is subject to abasement and ridicule.

It's clear from the outset of this album that the freaks represent more than physical deformity. What makes Lillie a "freak"? It's not a bump or a mole or anything about her appearance. In my opinion, she is a "freak" in the sexual sense; a groupie who takes pleasure in the degradation that comes with submitting to the needs of the "real freaks". Indeed, many of the freaks in this album have sexual quirks. I can't think of an example more endearing than Benny the Bouncing Bump's infatuation with women in the ring.

Sometimes the freaks seem like stand-ins for aspects of the human condition. In some cases, this goes so far as to make a freak nothing more than a personification of a human body part. What does Benny's large, flaccid, vascular bump remind you of? Of course, the eloquent, mouthy, abusive character who longs for immortality is a head. Then you have Jello Jack, the eyeball in a pool of flesh surrounded by some hair, who seems to be an embodiment of every human orifice, longing to feel fingers up inside of something sticky, sweet, and wet.

Herman the Human Mole could be a personification of agoraphobia, reclusion, hermeticism, etc. Wanda the Worm Woman is a clear exhibitionist -- the classic geek. And, Mickey the Mumbling Midget? Well. . . I don't know. . . the point is that the external, superficial qualities of freakdom aren't the only things denied by society. Sure, we place the handicapped, and the derformed, into homes where nobody sees them. I've worked with the developmentally disabled for years. Few people know better than I how your tax dollars goes into pushing unsightly human refuse to the far outskirts of society, into care homes in suburbs, out of your sight, and out of your mind. But we don't end the denial at the superficial. We deny the freak within. We hide, rather than celebrate, that which makes us different. We alienate ourselves and others, continually failing to console the freak within, and I think that's what the Residents are ultimately lamenting when they say "nobody laughs when they leave".

EDIT: I wanted to cite the comic book w/ visual examples to support my argument but I'm lazy. Anyway, I did want to mention one thing. Freak Show is technically not the first comic book the Residents have adapted into a live performance IMHO. Some of the stage props for the Mole Show featured comic book-style DPI a la Roy Lichtenstein, so I have always considered Mark of the Mole something of a musical motion comic modernization of The Book of Exodus (or Grapes of Wrath) adapted to the stage; thereby, using modern pop formats to express the timelessness and eternal relevance of the Exodus story. Derp. That is all.