Blue Suede Shoes
"Blue Suede Shoes" is a popular song first recorded by Elvis Presley in 1956 as the opening to his self-titled album. The Residents covered it for their 1989 album "The King & Eye".
Original Version
Blue Suede Shoes was originally recorded by Carl Perkins on December 19th 1955. While this version did find a good amount of mainstream success, to this day the most popular version is the Elvis Presley cover, released only 18 months later. Despite this cover coming out very early into the song's lifespan, Perkins never attained the stardom of Presley, who, according to Perkins, Elvis "had everything. He had the looks, the moves, the manager, and the talent. And he didn't look like Mr. Ed, like a lot of us did, Elvis was hitting them with sideburns, flashy clothes, and no ring on the finger. I had three kids." With the track being the opening to his self-titled album, it was no surprise when The Residents chose this song to open the King & Eye.
The Residents Version
When The Residents were developing their Cube-E show, they decided that to complete their set of American music that Elvis would be a perfect ending. Shortly before the debut of the completed Cube-E show, they were able to record in studio an Elvis cover album shockingly in a single day. As said earlier, there was no better song to open the album other than "Blue Suede Shoes" with it being the first big Elvis hit. Even with all of this history, the song was absent from the Cube-E show and has never been performed live by the group to date. It is referenced during their cover of "Love Me Tender" where they sample the Beatles cover "Roll over Beethoven" which references the original song. Their cover itself features collaborator Laurie Amat on female vocals and Bruce Anderson on guitar.
Legacy
Even though the song was not performed live it has been acknowledged by the group a number of times. Even though there is no music video the song was featured as a additional song on the 1992 laserdisc "Twenty Twisted Questions". In 1993 a snippet from the song was featured on the CD included with "Uncle Willies highly opiniated Guide to The Residents". In 2004 when paralyzer was invited to remix the King & Eye this song was actually absent from the main release being featured only on the deluxe LP edition of the album. The RMX version of the song was also released on a promotional single called "Viva Las Vegas RMX" as the second track. While likely not a direct reference both Elvis and literal Blue Suede Shoes are referenced in the residents 2008 song "Golden Guy" In 2011 The Residents rediscovered files for a abandoned remaster of Cube-E called "Cube-E Dynasone 3EZ". This project was meant to be the definitive version of Cube-E. Even though this song wasn't included in any live performances it was apart of this project. In 2014 Charles Bobuck revisited the song for his concentrate "Performance Art (1982-1990 Taking It On The Road)". The most recent time the track was acknowledge was on The Residents Cube-E pREServed box where it was revealed that in preparation for their time in the "Different Fur" studio the whole album was recorded at home.
Lyrics
Original
Well, it's one for the money Two for the show Three to get ready Now go, cat, go
But don't you Step on my blue suede shoes You can do anything But stay off of my blue suede shoes
Well, you can knock me down Step in my face Slander my name All over the place
Do anything that you want to do But uh-uh, honey Lay off of my shoes Don't you step on my blue suede shoes Well, you can do anything But stay off of my blue suede shoes
Let's go, cat! Ah, walk the dog
You can burn my house Steal my car Drink my liquor From an old fruit jar
Do anything that you want to do But uh-uh, honey Lay off of my shoes And don't you Step on my blue suede shoes Well, you can do anything But stay off of my blue suede shoes
Ah, get...! Yeah
Well, it's one for the money Two for the show Three to get ready Now go, go, go!
But don't you Step on my blue suede shoes Well, you can do anything But stay off of my blue suede shoes
Well, it's Blue, blue Blue suede shoes Blue, blue Blue suede shoes, yeah! Blue, blue Blue, suede shoes, baby Blue, blue Blue suede shoes Well, you can do anything but stay off of my blue suede shoes!
Album Version
(Grandad)
Well, there's one for the money Two for the show Three to get ready Now go, cat, go
But don't you Step on my blue suede shoes You can do anything But stay off of my blue suede shoes
Ah, you can knock me down Step in my face Slander my name All over the place
Do anything that you want to do But ahhhh, honey Lay off of them shoes Don't you step on my blue suede shoes Well, you can do anything But stay off of my blue suede shoes
Burn my house Steal my car Drink my liquor from an old fruit jar Do anything that you wanna do But uhhh honey lay of of them shoes
Dontcha step on my blue suede shoes No, no, no dontcha ya step on my blue suede shoes.
(Chorus)
Knock me down Step on my face Slander my name all over the place Do anything that you wanna do But oh ho honey stay off of them shoes
Yeah burn my house Steal my car Drink my liquor from a old fruit jar Do anything that you wanna do But oh ho honey stay off of them them shoes
(Grandad)
Well theres a one for the money Two for the shoe Three to get ready Now go cat go But dontcha step on my blue suede No, no, dontcha step on m y blue suede shoes
Knock me down Step on my face Slander my name all over the place Do anything that you wanna do But ahhh baby stay off of them shoes
Burn my house Steal my car Drink my liquor from a old fruit jar Do anything, do anything, do anything that you wanna do Do anything, do anything, do anything that you wanna But ahh baby stay off of my shoes
Releases
- The King & Eye (1989) [Version 1]
- Twenty Twisted Questions (1992) [Version 2]
- Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated Guide To The Residents (1993) [Version 3]
- Viva Las Vegas RMX (2004) [Version 4]
- The King & Eye: RMX (2004) [Version 4]
- CUBE E Dynasone 3EZ (2011) [Version 1]
- Cube-E Box (2020) [Version 1][Version 5]