Inner Space

"Inner Space" (previously titled "Battle") is the sixth song from The Residents' 2005 album Animal Lover, featuring vocals by Molly Harvey. The lyrics tell of a woman visiting her comatose father at the hospital.

This song briefly resurfaces later in the album as an instrumental mood piece titled "Dreaming of an Anthill (Teeming)".

History

The song was first previewed on December 27th, 2004 when a brief sample was posted in The Residents' official BOG news site, with an excerpt of the accompanying narrative:

The little animal wondered what kind of treat she would get today. Most humans think mice like cheese, but the young woman knew better.

Lyrics

When I think about my father
I see a silver ship
sailing on the oceans of nirvana;
When I think about my father
on his sad and lonely trip,
I wonder if he misses me and Mama.

When I think about my father
I see someone who's sick
of breathing life into a lost persona.

When I went to see my father
I was his only friend;
No one knew he was a lonely soldier.
When I went to see my father
he was bitter at the end
when the wind was blowing so much bolder;
I went to see my father
who was dying to pretend
the emptiness of life would soon be full of him.

I went to see my father growing colder.

The Mouse

The mouse was excited. It was almost time for the young woman to visit her again. The little animal wondered what kind of treat she would get today. Most humans think mice like cheese, but the young woman knew better. Yesterday she brought a tasty tidbit of bacon! Yummy! What a nice human.

But the little mouse was also confused. She really didn't understand why the young woman came to this place every day just to visit her. And why was she so nice when all the other humans screamed and threw things at the tiny animal, quickly darting around the dark corners of the large room. The building was full of beds, with lots of places to hide, but the mouse had to be careful. For some reason, humans didn't seem to like mice, and that was hard to understand, too. Except for the young woman.

Every day she came and sat in same place. Sometimes she held the hand of the man lying on the bed beside her, but they never spoke or smiled or even looked at each other. Soon she would put his hand down, pick up her purse and pull out a treat.

It was so exciting.

Appearances

• Animal Lover (2005)
• Animal Lover Instrumental (2008)
• El Año del Muerto (2009)
• Beautiful Eyes (2010)
• Lost in a Vacant Lot (2010)
• Animal Lover (Evolution Edition) (2026)

External links and references

• Animal Lover at The Residents Historical