Never Known Questions

"Never Known Questions" (working titles "Anaconda Montana" and "O Solo Meow") is a suite by The Residents, largely recorded in April 1974Please Do Not Steal It! liner notes, 1979 and later "reprocessed" for release as the fourth and penultimate track on their second album Not Available, belatedly issued by Ralph Records on October 9th 1978.
In the context of the Not Available operetta, the suite depicts a monologue delivered by The Porcupine as he emerges from a bush, shattering the tension of the operetta's climactic pistol duel between The Catbird and his rival The Enigmatic Foe.
In October 2010, the full suite was performed live for the first time at a one-off show in Olomouc, Czech Republic by The Residents' lead singer Randy Rose with Czech band Už Jsme Doma. A shortened cover version was recorded in 2014 by the group's long-time composer and keyboardist Charles Bobuck and released as a digital single.
== History ==
"Never Known Questions" is the fourth part of The Residents' operetta Not Available, which was composed, rehearsed and recorded in secrecy by the group at their Sycamore Street studio between February and September 1974. 
After completing the sessions, The Residents shelved the tapes, feeling that the recordings were too personal for release, and deciding that they should not be issued until the participants had forgotten the tapes existed, in accordance with their mentor N. Senada's Theory of Obscurity. The album was eventually released by The Residents' management company The Cryptic Corporation on October 9th 1978, as a stop-gap following a delay in production on the group's "documentary" album Eskimo.
Like most of the tracks on the album, "Never Known Questions" is a lengthy suite comprised of smaller sections. A number of instrumental demos and alternative takes of sections of the suite were compiled on the 1974 demo tape X is For Xtra (A Conclusion), including "Anaconda Montana" (the "spot the rot" section) and "O Solo Meow" (the Porcupine's monologue).
The suite depicts the conclusion of a pistol duel between the operetta's characters The Catbird and The Enigmatic Foe, who realise that the central character Edweena (the object of their mutual affection) has eloped with Uncle Remus, the operetta's hitherto objective narrator. The Porcupine emerges from a bush to interrupt the tension with a monologue that paraphrases Shakespeare.
== Legacy ==
An instrumental outtake, "Available Piece", appeared on the outtakes and rarities compilation Beautiful Eyes in 2010, and consists of instrumental takes of parts of "The Making of a Soul", "Never Known Questions", and "Epilogue". This instrumental track can be heard playing faintly in the background of "New Mexico Dream", released in 2019 on the pREServed edition of Not Available, which features an early vocal take of a monologue from "The Making of a Soul." 
Another instrumental piece from the same sessions, "Asonarose", was included as an uncredited introduction to "Never Known Questions" on the extended reissue of Not Available in 2011. The extended version of the album was not featured on the pREServed reissue in 2019, however "Asonarose" was included separately on the second disc. 
=== Later versions ===
"Never Known Questions" was first performed live by The Residents' lead singer Randy Rose with Czech band Už Jsme Doma at the one-off live show Moravian Meeting in Olomouc on October 20th 2010. This version (with added drum overdubs) was first officially released on the Hardy Fox tribute album The Godfather of Odd in 2019. The original recording was released on the Moravian Meeting live album the following year. 
Two demo versions of "Never Known Questions" were recorded in 2012 in preparation for the group's 40th Anniversary tour, The Wonder of Weird; the demos were first released as "Easter eggs" on The Residents' official website, and were later collected in the 2021 compilations WOW Demos 1 and WOW Demos 2. 
In 2014, the group's long-time composer Charles Bobuck recorded a shortened solo version of the song (with an appearance from guitarist Nolan Cook). It was released on the Codgers on the Moon website, and later included on the Bobuck compilation THIS in 2016. On THIS, the song's composition is credited to Bobuck and Rose.
== Lyrics ==
 Chorus:
 The cloud continues and the spot
 Diminishes without even the 
 Hint of a glow. 
 Is glowing a continuous process 
 Or does the spot find its
 Way out where it needs to be?
 Way out where it needs to be?
 Way out where it needs to be?
 Way out where
 Spot the rot, spot the rot, 
 Spot the rot we say
 Spot the rot they tell the 
 Tot while feeding him some say. 
 Spot the rot, oh spot the 
 Rot and then you'll be okay. 
 Spot the rot, oh spot the
 Rot, but still you'd better pray.
 Spot the rot, oh, spot the rot, 
 Spot the rot we say 
 Spot the rot, they tell the 
 Tot, while feeding him some say.
 Spot the rot, oh spot the 
 Rot and then you'll be okay.
 Spot the rot, oh spot the 
 Rot, but still you'd better pray.
 Porcupine:
 When Edweena made me mushrooms, 
 She ate the grate and ground the groom;
 My mother made me eat boysenberries,
 But my gracious sakes just ate me first.
 Calling cards and polling wards are just too many, see?
 Oh, oh, calling cards and winking bards are just a way to see.
 Calling cards and winking bards are just the way to be?
 Falling guards and winking bards are just a need today.
 Falling guards and winking bards are just my needs. Okay? Okay?
 Okay? Okay? Okay? 
 Okay! Okay! Okay! 
 Okay! Okay! Okay! Okay! 
 Okay okay! Okay okay! Okay okay! 
 To show or to 
 To be shown is 
 A question never
 Even not known by many to exist.
 To show or to 
 Be shown 
 A question never, never known not even by many to exist.
 To show or to 
 Be shown 
 A question never, never known not even by many to exist.
 To show or to 
 Be shown 
 A question never, never known not even by many to exist.
 To show or to
 Be shown
 A question never, never known not even by many to exist.
 To show or to
 Be shown 
 Is a question never, never known not even by many to exist.
 To exist,
 To exist,
 Not even by many to exist.Ima Buddy, Ima Buddy's Totally Impartial Companion to Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated BIG MAMAS, 1992
== List of releases ==
* Not Available (1978) El Ralpho studio recording, April 1974 ("reprocessed" album mix, 7:03)
* Please Do Not Steal It! (1979) El Ralpho studio recording, April 1974 (excerpt, 2:17)
* Nibbles (1979) 
*Beautiful Eyes (2010) El Ralpho instrumental studio demo recording, April 1974 ("Available Piece", 1:18)
*Not Available expanded edition (2011) El Ralpho studio recording, April 1974 (extended album mix with "Asonarose", 8:54)
*"The Sycamore Street Studio (1974-77 Embracing Obscurity)" (2014) El Ralpho studio recording, April 1974 (excerpt, 0:37)
*"Never Known Questions" by Charles Bobuck (2014) Charles Bobuck studio recording, 2014 (3:08)
*THIS by Charles Bobuck (2016) 
*Not Available pREServed edition (2018) El Ralpho studio demo recording, April 1974 ("New Mexico Dream", 5:09) El Ralpho studio demo recording, April 1974 ("Anaconda Montana", 2:53) El Ralpho studio demo recording, April 1974 ("O Solo Meow", 3:35)
*The Godfather Of Odd - A Hardy Fox Tribute (2019) Randy Rose and Už Jsme Doma live recording, Olomouc, Czech Republic, October 20th 2010 (with drum overdubs, 7:59)
*Moravian Meeting (2020) Randy Rose and Už Jsme Doma live recording, Olomouc, Czech Republic, October 20th 2010 (8:03)
*WOW Demos 1 (2021) The Wonder of Weird studio demo recording, 2012 (version #1, 3:12)
*WOW Demos 2 (2022) The Wonder of Weird studio demo recording, 2012 (version #2, 3:10)
=== List of versions ===
== See also ==
* Not Available
* The Porcupine
* X Is For Xtra (A Conclusion)
*"Asonarose"
*Vileness Fats
* Moravian Meeting
*Randy Rose
*Charles Bobuck
*"Never Known Questions" (Bobuck single)
== External links and references ==
* Not Available at The Residents Historical
*Not Available at RZWeb (archived via archive.org)
*Not Available at Discogs
*"Never Known Questions" lyrics at Genius
Category:Not Available‏‎
Category:Songs‏‎
Category:Please Do Not Steal It!
Category:THIS