Boots

A-side label of Meet The Residents

"**Boots**" is the opening track from The Residents' debut album *Meet The Residents*, released in 1974 on Ralph Records.

Apparently born from a desire to see how avant-garde composer Karlheinz Stockhausen would have approached Nancy Sinatra's famous single "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" (written by Lee Hazlewood), "Boots" is the first publicly released example of The Residents' tendency to deconstruct and re-interpret popular music.

## History

On the original 1974 release of *Meet The Residents*, "Boots" has a duration of 1:38 and segues into the following track, "Numb Erone", but is heavily edited on the 1977 remixed version and loses most of the segue.

The Residents recorded the song again around 2014 for an unfinished re-recording of *Meet The Residents*. Versions from these sessions can be heard on Charles Bobuck's 2017 EP *Clank Clank Clank*, and on the 2018 pREServed reissue of *Meet The Residents* (entitled "Boots Again").

## Lyrics

### Original lyrics

```
You keep saying you got something for me
Something you call love, but confess
You've been messing where you shouldn't have been messing
And now someone else is getting all your best

```

```
These boots are made for walking
And that's just what they'll do
One of these days these boots
Are gonna walk all over you
Yeah

```

```
You keep lying when you ought to be truthing
You keep losing when you ought to not bet
You keep saming when you ought to be changing
Now what's right is right, but you ain't been right yet

```

```
These boots are made for walking
And that's just what they'll do
One of these days these boots
Are gonna walk all over you

```

```
You keep playing where you shouldn't be playing
And you keep thinking that you'll never get burnt, hah
Well, I've just found me a brand new box of matches, yeah
And what he knows, you ain't had time to learn

```

```
These boots are made for walking
And that's just what they'll do
One of these days these boots
Are gonna walk all over you

```

```
Are you ready, boots?
Start walking!

```

### The Residents' version

```
Boots were meant for walkin'
That's just what they'll do.
One of these days
These boots are gonna
Walk all over you
Walk all over you
Walk all over you
Walk all over you
Walk all over you
Walk all over you
Walk all over you
Walk all over you
Walk all over you
Walk all over you
Walk all over you
Walk all over you
Walk all over you
Walk all over you
Walk all over you
Walk all over you
Walk all over you
Walk all over you
Walk all over you

```

## List of releases

* *Meet The Residents* (1974)
* *Meet The Residents* stereo remix (1977)
* *Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated Guide To The Residents* (1993)
* *The Sycamore Street Studio (1974-77 Embracing Obscurity)* (2014)
* *Walk Over* (2015)
* *80 Aching Orphans* (2017)
* *Clank Clank Clank* EP by Charles Bobuck (2017)
* *Meet The Residents pREServed* CD edition (2018)
* *Meet The Residents pREServed* vinyl edition (2023)

### List of versions

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 El Ralpho studio recording, February-October 1973 (original mono version, 1:26)
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 El Ralpho studio recording, February-October 1973 (1977 stereo remix, 0:50)
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 El Ralpho studio recording, February-October 1973 (excerpt, 0:38)
4. ↑ Charles Bobuck studio recording, 2014 (Siri overdub mix, 4:53)
5. ↑ Charles Bobuck studio recording, 2014 (3:38)
6. ↑ Studio recording, ca. 2014 ("Boots Again", 2:04)

## Buy Or Die!

### Listen online

* "Boots" (original mono version) on Spotify
* "Boots" (original mono version) on Apple Music
* "Boots" (pREServed mono version) on Spotify
* "Boots" (pREServed mono version) on Apple Music
* "Boots" (pREServed stereo version) on Spotify
* "Boots" (pREServed stereo version) on Apple Music
* "Boots Again" on Spotify
* "Boots Again" on Apple Music

## External links and references

* *Meet The Residents* at The Residents Historical
* "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" at Wikipedia
* "These Boots Are Made for Walkin' at Genius

1. ↑ Harvey Sox, "On Meet The Residents", 1974
2. ↑ Ima Buddy, *Ima Buddy's Totally Impartial Companion to Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated BIG MAMAS*, 1992

**Side A**
"**Boots**" · "Numb Erone" · "Guylum Bardot" · "Breath and Length" · "Consuelo's Departure" · "Smelly Tongues" · "Rest Aria" · "Skratz" · "Spotted Pinto Bean"
**Side B**
"Infant Tango" · "Seasoned Greetings" · "N-ER-GEE (Crisis Blues)"
**Personnel**
The Residents · Ruth Essex · Barry "Wool" Eiland · Pamela Zeibak · Philip Friehofner · Jim Whitaker · Bob Tangney · James Aaron
**Related works**
"Russian Love Song" · *1-10 (With A Touch of 11)* · "7733 Variations" · Tuesday tapes ("Sokurha") · "Overday" · "Inka Don't Dry" · "Horny Song" · "George's Horn" · "The Ralph Records Guided Tour" · *Meet The Residents Sampler* · "Saint Nix" · *Clank Clank Clank* · "Poisoned Popcorn"
**Related articles**
N. Senada (Theory of Phonetic Organization) · Residents, Uninc. · Sycamore St. studio · *Santa Dog* · Ralph Records · Porno/Graphics · *Vileness Fats* · "Nobody But Me" · The Beatles

**Resources**
Image gallery