Demons Dance Alone (song)

“Demons Dance Alone” is a song by The Residents, first released as the final song of the 2002 album of the same name. 
The song's lyrics tackle the subject of addiction. It is said to borrow a riff from the 1963 pop single “Needles and Pins” by the American singer Jackie DeShannon.
==History==
”Demons Dance Alone”, the closing track of The Residents' concept album of the same name, deals with the theme of sadness, this time by using demons as a metaphor for addiction. The song features a hypnotic guitar riff performed by Nolan Cook; the song has been said to "playfully" borrow the main riff from the 1963 pop single “Needles and Pins” by American singer-songwriter Jackie DeShannon.
"Demons Dance Alone" was performed live on the album's live tour between October 2002 and September 2003, where it was featured as the closing number (as on the original album), and in a short instrumental arrangement at the beginning of the show. Versions of the song from this tour were released on the Demons Dance Alone live DVD in 2003, and the CD and DVD set Demonic! The Residents Live In Oslo! in 2012.
In 2010, the song was performed as the opening number of the Talking Light tour, where it was paired with "Sleepwalker" (the first track on the Demons Dance Alone special edition bonus disc); "Demons Dance Alone" was replaced with "Smelly Tongues" for the tour's second leg.
A version of the song by A Vast Fusion of Nice People was featured as one of the three songs on the "I Am A Resident! Theme" "vinyl art" single, released in a limited edition of 25 copies to PledgeMusic campaign contributors in 2018. This cover, submitted for use in The Residents' official cover album I Am A Resident!, is not featured on either the vinyl or CD editions of the album.
==Lyrics==
 You can know a needle's eye
 Or a hungry baby's cry
 But no one knows that demons dance alone
 Silver linings came and went
 When I was an innocent
 Never knowing demons dance alone
 But somehow I was seduced
 And my innocence reduced
 By a demon that became my own
 Knowingly I followed it
 Took the hook and swallowed it
 But then I found it dancing in my home
 Terrified I tried to quit
 But now I need the taste of shit
 Like a dancing demon needs a home
 I had hoped to fill my years with
 More than melancholy tears
 But the demon makes me dance alone
==List of releases ==
*Demons Dance Alone (2002)
*Demons Dance Alone special edition (2002)
*Demons Dance Alone DVD (2003)
*Talking Light Live In Rehearsal, Santa Cruz, California (2010)
*Demonic! The Residents Live In Oslo! (2012)
*"I Am A Resident! Theme" (2018)
==See also==
* Demons Dance Alone (album)
*Demons Dance Alone (tour)
*Talking Light
==External links and references==
*Demons Dance Alone at The Residents Historical
*Demons Dance Alone at Discogs
Category:Songs
Category:Demons Dance Alone
Category:Talking Light