Demons Dance Alone (song)

This article is about the song. You may be looking for the 2002 album, tour, or 2003 live DVD of the same name.

“Demons Dance Alone” is a song by The Residents, first released as the final song of the 2002 album of the same name.

The song's lyrics tackle the subject of addiction. It is said to borrow a riff from the 1963 pop single “Needles and Pins” by the American singer Jackie DeShannon.

History

”Demons Dance Alone”, the closing track of The Residents' concept album of the same name, deals with the theme of sadness, this time by using demons as a metaphor for addiction and persisting spiritual illness. The song features a hypnotic guitar riff performed by Nolan Cook; the song has been said to "playfully" borrow the main riff from the 1963 pop single “Needles and Pins” by American singer-songwriter Jackie DeShannon.

"Demons Dance Alone" was performed live on the album's live tour between October 2002 and September 2003, where it was featured as the encore number, and in a short instrumental arrangement at the beginning of the show. The encore version is extended to almost triple its original length by way of an extended intro and a lengthy dance ritual towards the end of the song, and the final two verses are sung by the Singing Resident standing completely alone on the stage. This live version also interpolates lyrics from the song "The Car Thief" heard earlier in the show. Versions of the song from this tour were released on the Demons Dance Alone live DVD in 2003, and the CD/DVD set Demonic! The Residents Live In Oslo! in 2012.

In 2010, the song was performed as the opening number of the Talking Light tour, where it was paired with "Sleepwalker" (originally on the Demons Dance Alone special edition); "Demons Dance Alone" was replaced with "Smelly Tongues" for the tour's second leg.

A version of the song by A Vast Fusion of Nice People was featured as one of the three songs on the "I Am A Resident! Theme" "vinyl art" single, released in a limited edition of 25 copies to PledgeMusic campaign contributors in 2018. This cover, submitted for use in The Residents' official cover album I Am A Resident!, is not featured on either the vinyl or CD editions of the album.

Lyrics

You can know a needle's eye
or a hungry baby's cry,
but no one knows that demons dance alone

Silver linings came and went
when I was an innocent,
never knowing demons dance alone

But somehow I was seduced
and my innocence reduced
by a demon that became my own

Knowingly I followed it;
I took the hook and swallowed it
until I found it dancing in my home (*)

Terrified, I tried to quit
but now I need the taste of shit
like a dancing demon needs a home

I had hoped to fill my years
with more than melancholy tears
but the demon makes me dance alone.

(*) "Until the night the demon danced alone" in the demo version.

List of releases

• Demons Dance Alone (2002)
• Demons Dance Alone Deluxe bonus disc (2002)
• Demons Dance Alone DVD (2003)
• Talking Light Live in Rehearsal, Santa Cruz, California (2010)
• Talking Light live downloads (2010)
• Demonic! The Residents Live in Oslo! (2012)
• "I AM A RESIDENT!" single (2018)
• Eyeful (2020)
• Demons Dance Alone pREServed (2024)
• Demons Dance for Free!

See also

• Demons Dance Alone (album)
• Demons Dance Alone (tour)
• Talking Light

External links and references

• Demons Dance Alone at The Residents Historical
• Demons Dance Alone at Discogs