Dinah and the Unclean Skin

"Biblical scholars all agree that the Good Book is not very kind in its treatment of women, and this fact is easily seen in the story of Dinah. She is raped by the son of a neighboring chief who then tries to make amends by proposing marriage. While her father sees this as a suitable solution to a tricky situation, her brothers want BLOOD — and they get it."
— Mr. Skull at the Fillmore

"Dinah and the Unclean Skin" (previously under working title "Sleepy Time" and, uncertainly, "Dinah and the Circumcised Suckers") is a song by The Residents from their 1998 album Wormwood: Curious Stories from the Bible. It is sung by Laurie Amat from the perspective of Dinah as an old woman reminiscing on her trauma as the victim of a rape which triggered a revenge massacre by her brothers.

It is sung by Molly Harvey in the Wormwood Live show, and was recorded in a Berlin studio for the Roadworms album.

Album notes

Jacob's daughter, Dinah, gets raped by the prince of the city of Shechem. Maybe it wasn't really rape because the couple sticks together and decides to be married. But Jacob's sons insist that the prince can't marry their sister unless he and every man in the town is circumcised, not something the sane men would ever agree to do. The prince forces everyone to be circumcised anyway, and while he and his citizens are recovering from the unpleasant experience, Jacob's sons sneak into town and kill them all, including the prince. Then they steal all the town's goods and enslave all the women. Dinah ends up with no husband and a bad reputation. Death would be preferred.
Look it up. Genesis 34

Lyrics

He murdered me
He murdered me
He took his tongue and touched it
and murdered me.

I'm an old and lonely woman
hating every other human;
Nothing but my bitterness surrounds me.

(He murdered me) He made me lay
(He murdered me) down and display
(He murdered me) my milky way,
(He murdered me) and kissed it.

I'm an old and lonely woman
hating every other human;
Nothing but my bitterness surrounds me.

He came asking for my hand
and was given this demand:
"You and all the other men
must remove the unclean skin
from his penis," so they did,
then went to their beds and bled,
where my brothers cut their throats
many empty nights ago.
I am still that little girl
in the dark and dirty world
that was built so solidly around me.

Appearances

• Wormwood: Curious Stories from the Bible (1998)
• Wormwood Live 1999 (1999)
• Roadworms (The Berlin Sessions) (2000)
• Live! ...on the Outskirts DVD (2002)
• Kettles of Fish on the Outskirts of Town DVD (2003)
• The Residents Play Wormwood DVD (2005)
• Loss of the Lizard Lady (2018)
• Wormwood Box (2022)