Lonely At The Top

Randy Newman Live cover art, 1971

**"Lonely At The Top"** is a song by American composer Randy Newman, first released in a live version on his 1971 album *Randy Newman Live*, and then in a studio version on the album *Sail Away* the following year.

The live album was known to the early Residents; the cover of their 1971 demo tape *B.S.* was intended as a parody of the album art of *Randy Newman Live*. "Lonely At The Top" (the closing track on the live album) was covered by the group in the mid-1970s for their unfinished feature film *Vileness Fats*, where it was to be performed by their friend Margaret Smyk in the guise of glamorous nightclub singer Peggy Honeydew.

In the 1984 VHS featurette *Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats?*, the song was replaced on the soundtrack with a similar Residents song titled "Lord It's Lonely". The Residents' original version of "Lonely At The Top" has never been issued in full, though snippets of one take on the *Vileness Fats* night club set were included in bonus material accompanying the 2016 documentary film *Theory of Obscurity: A Film About The Residents*.

## Lyrics

### Original version

```
I've been around the world
Had my pick of any girl
You'd think I'd be happy, but I'm not
Everybody knows my name
But it's just a crazy game

```

```
Oh, it's lonely at the top

```

```
Listen to the band play, they're playing just for me
Listen to the people paying just for me
All the applause and all the praise
And all the money I have made

```

```
Oh, it's lonely at the top

```

```
Listen all you fools out there
Go on and love me, I don't care
Oh, it's lonely at the top
Oh, it's lonely at the top

```

```
Oh, it's lonely at the top

```

## See also

* Randy Newman
* *Randy Newman Live*
* Peggy Honeydew
* *Vileness Fats*
* "Lord It's Lonely"

## External links and references

* "Lonely At The Top" at Genius
* *Randy Newman Live* at Wikipedia
* *Sail Away* at Wikipedia

**Scene by scene**
1: Arf and Omega · 2: Bellboys & Townspeople Battle 1 · 3: Town 1 · 4: Mother's House 1 · 5: Weescoosa & Ninnie 1 · 6: Cave 1 · 7: Weescoosa & Ninnie 2 · 8: Weescoosa's Flashback · 9: Weescoosa & Ninnie 3 · 10: Bellboys & Townspeople Battle 2 · 11: Town 2 · 12: Desert 2 · 13: Lonesome Jack & Peggy · 14: Desert 1 · 15: Mother's House 2 · 16: Town 3 · 17: Banquet Hall · 18: Cave 2 · 19: Bridge 1 · 20: The Master Plan · 21: Cave 3 · 22: Desert 3 · 23: Night Club 1 · 24: Desert 4 · 25: Night Club 2 · 26: Desert 5 · 27: Cave 4 · 28: Night Club 3 · 29: Desert 6 · 30: Night Club 4 · 31: Cave 5 · 32: Night Club 5 · 33: Mother's House 3 · 34: Night Club 6 · 35: The Window of Never
**Cast and characters**
Saint Steven / Lonesome Jack (Jay Clem) · Weescoosa (Sally Lewis) · Arf and Omega Berry (Palmer Eiland and George Ewart) · Ninnie (Danny Williams) · Steve's Mother (Marge Howard) · Peggy Honeydew (Margaret Smyk) · Weenie (Danny Williams) · Uncle Willy (Hardy Fox)
with
Irene Dogmatic · J. Raoul Brody · Barry "Schwump" Schwam · Hugo Olson · Bill Dewalt · Diane Flynn · Homer Flynn · Tony Logan · Dennis Sealy · The Mysterious N. Senada as himself

**Crew**
The Residents: direction, screenplay, music, sets, costumes · Graeme Whifler: lighting, sets, second unit direction · Diane Flynn: costumes · John Kennedy: editing
**Settings**
Vileness Flats (Mother's House · Ninnie's House · Banquet Hall · Willy's Hot Spot) · Motel · The Cave · The Desert · The Window of Never
**Soundtrack music**
"Aircraft Damage" · "The Importance of Evergreen" · "Eloise" · "Kamikaze Lady" · "**Lonely At The Top**" · "Fever" · "Russian Love Song" · *X Is For Xtra* ("Theme From X" · "Slow Texture" · "Asonarose" · "Soundtrack Music Piece 17")
**Related works**
The Boarding House performance · *Santa Dog* · *Meet The Residents* · *Not Available* (*X Is For Xtra*) · *The Third Reich 'n Roll* (video) · "March de la Winni" · Oh Mummy! Oh Daddy! performance · *Fingerprince* · *Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats?* (soundtrack · *PAL TV LP*) · *Video Voodoo* · *Twenty Twisted Questions* · *Icky Flix* (soundtrack · "The Knife Fight" · *RZ VF*) · *Theory of Obscurity: A Film About The Residents* · *Double Trouble* ("Junior's Double Trouble Nightmare" · trailer) · *Triple Trouble* (soundtrack)
**Related articles**
Atomic Shopping Carts · The Bell Boys · Residents, Uninc. · "My Mammy"· Sycamore St. studio · Ralph Records · The Cryptic Corporation · The Ugly Grey Theater