Lizard Lady

Duck Stab!/Buster & Glen Side B label art, 1978

**"Lizard Lady"** is a song by The Residents, originally recorded for the EP *Buster & Glen*, and released on the album *Duck Stab!/Buster & Glen* on Ralph Records in November 1978.

The song features contributions from the group's friend Snakefinger, who is credited in the album's liner notes as "slithering almost everywhere".

## History

   This song was recorded with Snakefinger in 1978 for inclusion on the planned *Buster & Glen* EP, which evolved into the *Duck Stab!/Buster & Glen* LP. The song would have featured in a sequence in the unproduced *Duck Stab!* film, conceived by Graeme Whifler shortly after the album's release.

It was first performed live as the opening song during the 13th Anniversary Show from 1985 to 1987. This live version features a new intro, a slower tempo and shorter solos.

"Lizard Lady" was revived for the 1997 Adobe Disfigured Night performance, this version features Molly Harvey in the role of the Lizard Lady. The 1997 version is significantly slower, and feature a new intro as well as outro.

The next performance would be for the Way We Were Australian mini-tour in 2005, which was modeled heavily after the 13th Anniversary Show, and as such featured "Lizard Lady" as the opening number. This arrangement is the inverse of the Adobe version, in that it features Molly Harvey singing the first part of the song, and The Singing Resident taking over the closing rant.

In February 2011 the song was re-recorded for the album *Lonely Teenager*, being one of the few songs on that album not performed on the corresponding Talking Light live tour. The song was then subsequently added to the tour on its fourth and final leg.

Ten years later, the track was recorded live in the studio and featured as the opening song in The Residents' streaming TV special *Duck Stab! Alive!*. Subsequently, it was featured in the September 2021 Dog Stab performances.

## Lyrics

```
What's a woman going to do
But throw away her bread;
Her feet are feeling funny
As she lies beneath the bed;
She reminisces of the pungent
Adriatic Sea,
And then she crawls and counts
her cans
And twitches like a flea.

```

```
What she really likes to do
Is sit upon a pew,
And make believe that time has
stopped
And motionless is new;
Planes are stranded in the sky
And drains are stopping, too,
And she alone is laughing under
Eyelids full of flu.

```

```
She scurries hurries worries that
The wicked will receive
Their candy from a handsome
man
And coffee from a thief;
She gazes at a hourglass and
Asks it if it cares,
And then she wonders if the lizard
Likes his lettuce rare:

```

```
*"Lizard, yes a lizard, little lizard of*
*the sea,*
*Conspicuously alcoholic, flicks his*
*tongue at me!*
*Release me lizard! Licking lizard,*
*blizzard of the bea,*
*Mushed inside a sock you still*
*dare me - to die*
*Dare me to die - at home..."*

```

```
*"Coating all my lungs with honey,*
*Sticky coating running runny,*
*Feet of lizard fly!*
*And stop and fly and stop and fly*
*And flicker tongue is licking out*
*To find me - feel me. Hide!*
*Hide from the tongue!*
*The tongue is coming! Cruising!*
*Oozing!*
*Over land and under ashes,*
*In the sunlight, see - it flashes,*
*Find a fly and eat his eye,*
*But don't believe in me.*
*Don't believe in me.*
*Don't believe in me."*

```

## Credits

***Original Version***

* ***Written By:*** The Residents
* ***Slithering Almost Everywhere***: Snakefinger

## List of releases

* Duck Stab / Buster & Glen (1978)
* Hell! (1986)

* Live In The USA! 13th Anniversary Tour - With Snakefinger (1986)

* Liver Music (1990)
* Our Tired, Our Poor, Our Huddled Masses (1997)

* 13th Anniversary Show - Live In Tokyo - With Snakefinger (1999)

* The Way We Were (2005)
* Adobe Disfigured Night (2009)

* Lonely Teenager (2011)

* Talking Light Downloads (2011)
* Talking Light Bimbo's (2011)
* D\*ck S\*ab 35th Anniversary (2012)
* Performance Art (1982-1990 Taking It On The Road) (2014)
* Lizard Lady (Live) (2015)
* Disfigured Night (2016)
* Loss Of The Lizard Lady (2018)

### List of versions

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1978 Version (1:52)
2. ↑ 1986 Live Version (2:47)
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 1985 Live Version (2:26)
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 2005 Live Version (1:57)
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 1997 Live Version (3:29)
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 2011 Studio Version (3:05)
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 2011 Live Version (s) (3:47)
8. ↑ 1985 Live Version Edit (0:51)

## See also

* The 13th Anniversary Show
* The Way We Were
* Dog Stab!
* *Duck Stab!* (film)
* "Lovely lizard memories"

## External links and references

* *Duck Stab!/Buster & Glen* at The Residents Historical

1. ↑ *Duck Stab!/Buster & Glen Notebook*, 2022
2. ↑ Dog Stab! on Setlist.fm
3. ↑ Ima Buddy, *Ima Buddy's Totally Impartial Companion to Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated BIG MAMAS*, 1992

**Side A:** **Duck Stab!**
"Constantinople" · "Sinister Exaggerator" · "The Booker Tease" · "Blue Rosebuds" · "Laughing Song" · "Bach Is Dead" · "Elvis And His Boss"
**Side B:** **Buster & Glen**
"**Lizard Lady**" · "Semolina" · "Birthday Boy" · "Weight-Lifting Lulu" · "Krafty Cheese" · "Hello Skinny" · "The Electrocutioner"
**Personnel**
The Residents · Snakefinger · Ruby
**Related works**
*Duck Stab!* EP · "Soulful Sax" · "Ow Boutthat" · "When Johnny Comes Marching" · "Unlisted" · "Santa Dog '78" · "Guylum Bardot '78" · *Duck Stab!* film · "Hello Skinny" video · *D\*ck S\*ab - 35th Anniversary* · Dog Stab! · *Duck Stab! Alive!* · *Duck Stab!/Buster & Glen Notebook* · "Duck Kosmische"
**Related articles**
Ralph Records · The Cryptic Corporation · Grove St. studio · Pore No Graphics · Graeme Whifler · Bridgit Terris · The Rick & Ruby Show · "Satisfaction" · *Not Available* · *Eskimo*‏‏‎