Boy in Love

Residue of The Residents Side A label art, 1983

**"Boy in Love"** is a song by The Residents, recorded during sessions for their eighth studio album *Mark of the Mole*. Stylistically and lyrically unrelated to that album, the "strange love song" was withheld from release, stored for safe keeping on one of the group's private "MOP tapes".

It was first released in April 1983 on the outtakes compilation *Residue of The Residents*. Closer in spirit to the minimalist pop songs found on their 1980 release *Commercial Album*, "Boy in Love" was later featured as a bonus track accompanying that album on its 1987 Classic Series and 2019 pREServed expanded CD reissues. In 2002, it was included on the promotional compilation CD *Petting Zoo*.

In 1992, it was covered by New York garage band the Cheepskates for their album *Songs Vol. 2 - The Residents*. In 1995, the song was covered by an artist also named Boy in Love for the Ecto Tapes tribute album *The Residents Unmasked! 2*. A version recorded in 2017 by fan Freek Kinkelaar was included on the vinyl version of the official tribute album *I Am A Resident!* in 2018.

## Lyrics

```
Once there was a boy who
Once thought he was in love
And he thought that true love
Was sent down from above.

```

```
Softly he was murmuring
And tenderly he cursed
Listening to secret sounds
He wished he had not heard.

```

```
He bit his tongue as
Desperation sank into the room
Like the pleasant scent of
Roses in the afternoon.

```

```
Once there was a boy who
Once thought he was in love
And he thought that true love
Was sent down from above.

```

## List of releases

* *Residue of The Residents* (1983)
* *Commercial Album* Classic Series CD edition (1988)
* *In Memoriam Torso* (1994)
* *Residue Deux* (1998)
* *Petting Zoo* (2002)
* *I Am A Resident!* vinyl edition (2018)
* *Commercial Album* pREServed CD edition (2019)

### List of versions

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Grove Street studio recording, October 1979 - July 1981 (2:55)
2. ↑ Freek Kinkelaar studio recording, 2017 (3:47)

## See also

* MOP tapes
* *Mark of the Mole*
* *Commercial Album*
* *Residue of The Residents*
* *I Am A Resident!*

## Buy Or Die!

* "Boy in Love" on Spotify
* "Boy in Love" on Apple Music

## External links and references

* *Residue of The Residents* at The Residents Historical
* *Residue of The Residents* at RZWeb (archived via archive.org)

1. ↑ *Residue of The Residents* liner notes, 1983
2. ↑ Ima Buddy, *Ima Buddy's Totally Impartial Companion to Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated BIG MAMAS*, 1992

**Side A**
"The Sleeper" · "Whoopy Snorp" · "Kamakazi Lady" · "**Boy in Love**" · "Shut Up! Shut Up!" · "Anvil Forest" · "Diskomo"
**Side B**
"Jailhouse Rock" · "Ups & Downs" · "Walter Westinghouse" · "Saint Nix" · "Open Up"
***Residue Deux* (1998)**
"Scent of Mint" · "From The Plains To Mexico" · "In San Francisco" · "Dumbo The Clown" · "Is He Really Bringing Roses?" · "Time's Up" · "Daydream Believer" · "Safety Is A Cootie Wootie" · "Daydream in Space"
**Superior Viaduct edition (2014)**
"Loser ≅ Weed" · "Death In Barstow" · "Melon Collie Lassie"
**Related articles**
MOP tapes · *The Tunes of Two Cities* · Residents Classic Series · pREServed · *Leftovers Again?!* · Pour No Graphics · Elvis Presley · Richard Nixon

**Side A:**
"Easter Woman" · "Perfect Love" · "Picnic Boy" · "End of Home" · "Amber" · "Japanese Watercolor" · "Secrets""Die in Terror" · "Red Rider" · "My Second Wife" · "Floyd " · "Suburban Bathers" · "Dimples and Toes" · "The Nameless Souls""Love Leaks Out" · "Act of Being Polite" · "Medicine Man" · "Tragic Bells" · "Loss of Innocence" · "The Simple Song"
**Side B:**
"Ups and Downs" · "Possessions" · "Give It to Someone Else" · "Phantom" · "Less Not More" · "My Work Is So Behind" · "Birds in the Trees""Handful of Desire" · "Moisture" · "Love Is..." · "Troubled Man" · "La La" · "Loneliness" · "Nice Old Man""The Talk of Creatures" · "Fingertips" · "In Between Dreams" · "Margaret Freeman" · "The Coming of the Crow" · "When We Were Young"
**Personnel**
The Residents · Fred Frith · Snakefinger · Don Jackovich · Chris CutlerSandy Sandwich · Mud's Sis · Nessie Lessons · Lene Lovich · David Byrne · Brian Eno
**Related works**
"Electronic Elaborate Waste" · "Kraftwerk" · "Cosmetics For Reality" · "Rosco's Righteous Rodent" · "Pretty Baby" · "Tuxedos""No Longer Unused" · "Instant Hostility" · "Elevator Lady" · "One Minute Movies" · *Commercial Single* ("Shut Up Shut Up" / "And I Was Alone") · "Boy In Love" · *Minatures* ("We're A Happy Family") · "Talkin' in the Town" · "Womb To Worm" · *Greener Postures* · "Theme For An American TV Show" · *Ralph Radio Special* · "Commercial Suite" · *Commercial DVD* · *Commercial Album* by The 180 Gs · *The Commercial Single Commercials (In Mono)*
**Related articles**
Ralph Records · The Cryptic Corporation · Grove St. studio · Poor No Graphics · Buy Or Die 1980½ · *Diskomo/Goosebump*‏‏‎

**Side A:** **Hole-Workers at the Mercy of Nature**
"Voices of the Air" · "The Ultimate Disaster" · "Migration"
**Side B:** **Hole-Workers vs. Man and Machine**
"Another Land" · "The New Machine" · "Final Confrontation"
**Personnel**
The Residents · Nessie Lessons · Penn Jillette
**Related works**
The Mole Trilogy (*The Tunes of Two Cities* · Part Three · *The Big Bubble*) · The Mole Show (*Live At The Roxy* · *Mole Show* VHS · *Live In Holland* · *Mole Bag*) · *Intermission* · *Mark of the Mole* video game (Greg Easter) · *Assorted Secrets* (Res Dance '82) · *Mark of the Mole* novel (T.D. Wade) · "Mole Suite" · *Mole Box*
**Related articles**
Ralph Records · The Cryptic Corporation · Grove St. studio · Porno Graphics · Moles · Chubs