Ship's A'Going Down

"Ship's A'Going Down" is the third part of The Residents' second album Not Available, released by Ralph Records on October 12th 1978. 
Said to be the only song in The Residents' catalog which features the voices of all four members of the group, "Ship's A'Going Down" reflects the real-life tensions within the group which culminated in the development of Not Available.Jim Knipfel, "Some Answers That Are Guaranteed To Shake You Up", Not Available pREServed CD edition liner notes, 2019
In 1982, a shortened arrangement of the song was planned for inclusion in the abandoned 10th Anniversary live tour; a similar arrangement was later featured in the set list of the 13th Anniversary tour between 1985 and 1987. 
In 1992, the song was used as part of the basis for the track "Ship of Fools", on the group's "mash-up" album Our Finest Flowers; "Ship of Fools" itself would later be performed live for The Way We Were mini-tour in 2005, and on the Shadowland tour between 2014 and 2016. 
In 2011, an extended edition of Not Available was released, which incorporated the previously unreleased instrumental "Soundtrack Music Piece 17" into "Ship's A'Going Down".
==Lyrics==
 Catbird:
 Why not live?
 Chorus:
 The catbird shrilled!
 Catbird:
 And give a guy a chance!
 For soon the moon will sing a tune and I'll be left to dance.
 Uncle Remus:
 Well, strangers have left on longer trains before.
 Catbird:
 Yes, shake and shout and cause a spout to be a mockery!
 Exist inside a lemon drop and cause no word to be.
 If after all this oleo a speck of dust exists,
 We'll set aside a common tide 'twixt friend and who he's kissed.
 Enigmatic Foe:
 He thought the end was overdue, but day broke him instead,
 And consequently what he read was never what he said.
 And don't you never,
 Chorus:
 Said the ever Enigmatic Foe,
 Enigmatic Foe:
 Lose your cool, or after school,
 They'll find me home in bed.
 Catbird:
 What hoe you rake, you fake a taking and a mating moo;
 Confuse to lose and quake to break are simple rules to you.
 Why send a curly head to bed and know her secrets too?
 Enigmatic Foe:
 Glue it down you dripping clown, and be not busy, too;
 If a needy, if a seedy lets him come on through.
 Keys are not thrust open spores, and neither is a broken store!
 There are clothes that haven't been worn,
 Feet that haven't been shorn,
 There's causes that haven't been given a principle.
 Need I say more?
 Uncle Remus:
 The soft spoken edge was a close fit
 With the warped open cracks so many.
 All:
 The quick brain drained the main
 And the ships a goin' down me mates,
 The ship she's a goin' down.
 The ship she's a goin' down.Ima Buddy, Ima Buddy's Totally Impartial Companion to Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated BIG MAMAS, 1992
==List of releases==
*Not Available (1978) Sycamore Street studio recording, February - May 1974 ("reprocessed" album mix, 6:34)
*Assorted Secrets (1984) Grove Street studio rehearsal recording, ca. 1981-1982 (2:36)
*Live In The USA! 13th Anniversary Tour (1986) The 13th Anniversary Show live recording, First Avenue Club, Minneapolis, Minnesota, February 10th 1986 (4:18)
*The 13th Anniversary Show - Live In Japan vinyl edition (1986) The Eyeball Show live recording, Parco Space, Tokyo, Japan, October 30th 1985 (excerpt only)
*The 13th Anniversary Show - Live In Japan cassette edition (1986) The Eyeball Show live recording, Parco Space, Tokyo, Japan, October 30th 1985 (2:42)
*The 13th Anniversary Show - Live In Japan CD reissue (1999) 
*RMX (2006) El Ralpho studio recording, February - May 1974 (2006 RMX version, 4:04)
*Not Available expanded edition (2010) <ref group="Version" name=":6">El Ralpho studio recording, February - May 1974 (extended mix including "Soundtrack Music Piece 17", 10:10)
*80 Aching Orphans (2017) El Ralpho studio recording, February - May 1974 (extract, 2:22)
*Not Available pREServed edition (2019) 
===List of versions===
==See also==
*Vileness Fats
**Scene 17
*"Soundtrack Music Piece 17"
*"Ship of Fools"
==Buy Or Die!==
===Listen online===
*"Ship's A'Going Down" (pREServed version) on Spotify
*"Ship's A'Going Down" (2011 extended mix) on Spotify
==External links and references==
*Not Available at The Residents Historical
*Not Available at RZWeb (archived via archive.org)
Category:Songs
Category:Not Available
Category:80 Aching Orphans
Category:The 13th Anniversary Show
Category:Assorted Secrets
Category:The 10th Anniversary Show
Category:RMX
Category:Vileness Fats