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On The Way (To Oklahoma)

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"On the Way (to Oklahoma)" (previously titled "Good Soldier", and later "Tiger Love") is the first song from The Residents' 2005 album, Animal Lover. It depicts the narrator's psychotic belief that he has turned into a feline, and his infatuation with a tiger at his local zoo.

History

The song dates back to 2001, when lead composer Charles Bobuck recorded sketches for an album about the American Civil War that was eventually abandoned in favor of the Demons Dance Alone album. A sketch of the Confederate folk tune "I'm a Good Old Rebel" was eventually revisited and fleshed out into "Oklahoma".

The song was first previewed on December 26th, 2004 when a brief sample was posted in The Residents' official BOG news site, along with an excerpt of the song's accompanying narrative:

The zoo had closed several hours earlier and the tiger was sleeping when she heard an odd noise - a scratching, scrambling sound, accompanied by grunts and groans. Curious, she rose from her bedding and gravitated towards the noise, somewhere near the front of the cage.

A fan version of the song by Avionic was featured on the vinyl edition of I AM A RESIDENT! in 2018.

Lyrics

On the way to Oklahoma, I turned into a cat;
My true love was a Tiger, I'm sure you can see that.
I called the tiger Dolly, it was my mother's name;
On the way to Oklahoma, I finally became sane.

On the way to Oklahoma, a voice inside my mind
demanded that my senses expand in space and time.
The voice revealed a feeling of heated ecstasy;
On the way to Oklahoma, I peed upon a tree.

On the way to Oklahoma, I needed to eat meat
so I attacked a dog who was sleeping in the heat;
While eating in the sunshine, a pleasant thing occurred:
On the way to Oklahoma, I licked myself and purred.

On the way to Oklahoma, his split became complete;
Reality had faded, his fantasy concrete.
The world he had constructed from felines and despair,
On the way to Oklahoma, became as clear as air.

The Tiger

The tiger noticed the man. Usually, she paid little attention to the humans outside her cage, but this man was different.

For the others, the tiger was only one stop in an idle, meandering tour - a minor distraction in the lives of bored humans, staring at bored animals. But the man did more than look. He did more than stare. He burned. It was as if the tiger was the only other being inhabiting his world, and the secret sum of his being was solely reserved for her. How could she not notice.

He was there every day, immediately after the zoo opened. Always in the same spot, leaning against the outer fence, peering intently between the bars. But omnipresence has weird way of becoming wallpaper, and soon his sight faded into the fringes of the cat's consciousness. Maybe the man sensed that he was losing her attention, or maybe the rhythm of his unseen passion reached a new plateau, or maybe he just snapped, but one night everything changed.

The zoo had closed several hours earlier and the tiger was sleeping when she heard an odd noise - a scratching, scrambling sound, accompanied by grunts and groans. Curious, she rose from her bedding and gravitated towards the noise, somewhere near the front of the cage. Immediately she recognized the man, and immediately she knew something was wrong. He had climbed the outer fence, he had blood on his hands and mouth, and he was bringing something to her.

The man's brazen entrance unnerved the big cat and, awkwardly, she backed into a corner, intently watching his approach. Smiling strangely, the human reached out and pushed something towards her. Something that looked like a stringy, dirty and fur covered piece of meat - and smelled like a dog. Suddenly, the lights came on and several more men appeared, screaming and shouting at the shocked dog meat man. Surprised, he dropped his present and tried to run, but he was caught and quickly taken away. He never returned.

No human had ever offered dog meat to the tiger before. In a funny way she missed him.

Appearances

Versions

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Animal Lover album version, recorded ca.2003–2004 (4:06)
  2. ↑ Instrumental section (2:12)
  3. ↑ Fan version by Avionic (3:16)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Alternate instrumental mix, c.2004 ("On the Way to Oklahoma for Christmas")
  5. ↑ Civil War album sketch, c.2001 ("I'm a Good Old Rebel")
  6. ↑ Feast of Epiphany demo, Jan–Fall 2003 ("Good Soldier")
  7. ↑ Tiger Love demo, ca.2003–2004 ("Tiger Love - long version)"
  8. ↑ "untitled instrumental", Apr–Aug 2004
  9. ↑ "untitled Oklahoma fragment", Apr–Aug 2004
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