Die! Die! Die! (song)

This article is about the Alvin Snow song. You may be looking for the 2020 single of the same name.

"Die! Die! Die!" (sometimes stylized in all caps as "DIE! DIE! DIE!") is a song composed by Louisiana blues musician Alvin "Dyin' Dog" Snow, best known for its cover version by The Residents, which they premiered on their In Between Dreams tour in 2017; a recording of the song was released on their live album In Between Dreams Live in June 2019.

A long-lost demo of the song recorded by Snow and his band in 1975 was first released as part of the limited edition 7" vinyl box set, The Residents Present Alvin Snow, aka Dyin' Dog, in September 2019.

In May 2020, The Residents' version of the song, featuring guest vocals from Black Francis of the Pixies, was released as a single in support of their album Metal, Meat & Bone - The Songs of Dyin' Dog, which was released in July. The single was promoted with a music video which parodied then-President Donald Trump. The album and single include both the original Dyin' Dog demo and The Residents' cover.

History

"Die! Die! Die!" was composed by the mysterious albino African-American blues singer Alvin "Dyin' Dog" Snow, and was first recorded in a demo session by his band Dyin' Dog and the Mongrels in Shreveport in 1975. The sessions would remain unreleased for decades following Snow's disappearance in January 1976.

The Residents, who discovered the Dyin' Dog demos through a mutual acquaintance, the Mongrels' guitarist Roland Sheehan, premiered their version of the song on their In Between Dreams live tour in 2017. A recording of the song from an April 2018 performance was released on the live album In Between Dreams Live in June 2019; this was the first release of the song.

The original Dyin' Dog demo (including "Die! Die! Die!") was first released by Psychofon Records in September 2019 as part of the limited edition 7" vinyl box set The Residents Present Alvin Snow, aka Dyin' Dog. The Residents' studio version, featuring guest vocals from Pixies frontman Black Francis, was released as a single by Psychofon Records in May 2020, before being included (alongside the 1975 demo) on the album Metal, Meat & Bone in July 2020.

In 2021, it was one of three songs included in The Residents' virtual reality experience Inside a Circle of Dreams, filmed with a 360º stereoscopic camera at the group's appearance at the Litquake festival in San Francisco in October 2018.

In September 2021, The Residents performed the song live as part of the Metal, Meat & Bone set in their Dog Stab! shows in California; it was later featured in the set list of their 50th Anniversary tour Faceless Forever, which toured America and Europe from January to April 2020.

Music videos

Singing coronavirus, from the animated music video for "Die! Die! Die!"

On May 16th 2020, The Residents released an animated music video for their version of "Die! Die! Die!" on YouTube, in support of the release of their single and upcoming album.

The video directly references the COVID-19 pandemic which had been causing worldwide disruption for several weeks at the time of the video's release, and prominently features the face of Donald Trump, then the President of the United States, noted at the time for his inaction in the face of the quickly spreading global pandemic.

In June 2020, The Residents announced a collaborative project, encouraging fans to submit videos of themselves dancing to the song. The fan videos were edited by video artist John Sanborn, and the resulting clip, "Dance! Dance! Dance!", was released on YouTube on July 18th.

Lyrics

Original version (1975)

Die, die, die
Rotting in the rain
Crawlin' in the mud
And lookin' up at me in vain

Die, die, die
I want to hear you moan
Shakin' in the shadows
Lyin' all alone

I want you to die, die like a stranger
I want you to die, die like a rat
I wanna spit on your tombstone
And then I'm gonna laugh

I want you underneath me
I want you in the ground
I want you to die, die, die
Fucking die!

Die, die, die
Drownin' in regret
Beggin' on me, forgiveness
That you will never get
I want you to die

I want you to die, die like a stranger
I want you to die, die like a rat
I want to see you suffer and die in agony
But before you slip away
Please remember me
I want you to die

The Residents' version (2020)

Die, die, die
Rotting in the rain
Crawlin' in the mud
And lookin' up at me in vain

Die, die, die
I want to hear you moan
Shakin' in the shadows
Lyin' all alone

I want you to die, die like a stranger
I want you to die, die like a rat
I wanna spit on your tombstone
And then, I'll laugh

I want you underneath me
I want you in the ground
I want you to die, die, die
Fuckin' die!

Die, die, die
Drowning in regret
Begging on me for forgiveness
That you will never get
I want you to die

I want you to die, die like a stranger
I want you to die, die like a rat
I want to see you suffer and die in agony
But before you slip away
May you remember me
I want you to die

Personnel

Dyin' Dog and the Mongrels version (1975)

• Alvin "Dyin' Dog" Snow - vocals, arrangement
• Roland Sheehan - guitar, arrangement

The Residents version (2020)

• The Residents - performance, arrangement, production
• Black Francis - vocals
• Nolan Cook - guitar
• Eric Drew Feldman - production

List of releases

• In Between Dreams Live (2019)
• The Residents Present Alvin Snow, aka Dyin' Dog (2019)
• "Die! Die! Die!" (2020)
• Metal, Meat & Bone - The Songs of Dyin' Dog (2020)
• In Between Dreams Live in San Francisco (2020)
• Inside a Circle of Dreams (2021)

See also

• Alvin "Dyin' Dog" Snow
• Roland Sheehan
• In Between Dreams
• The Brick-Eaters performances
• Dog Stab!
• Faceless Forever

External links and references

• Metal, Meat & Bone at The Residents Historical
• The Residents Present Alvin Snow, aka Dyin' Dog at Discogs
• Metal, Meat & Bone at Discogs
• "Die! Die! Die!" at Genius