Act of Being Polite

**"Act of Being Polite"** (or **"The Act of Being Polite"**) is the sixteenth track on The Residents' *Commercial Album*, released by Ralph Records on October 29th 1980. Like all songs on the album, it is exactly one minute long. Later in the year it was one of four songs from the album which received a short music video, as part of the film *One Minute Movies* (a concept later expanded in 2004 for the *Commercial DVD*).

The Residents recorded a new arrangement of the song for the 2001 retrospective DVD/soundtrack project *Icky Flix*. This new version of the song was also performed live on the related tour in a medley with the other new *One Minute Movies* arrangements.

## Lyrics

```
I found her crying in the morning
Sitting in a chair
She was wrapping something up
And wrapping it with care

```

```
I did not mean to hurt her
When I fell asleep last night
I was just exhausted
From the act of being polite

```

```
Yes I was just exhausted
From the act of being polite

```

## Music videos

A short music video by The Residents was created for the song the same year it was released as part of *Commercial Album.* It was included as the second of four such videos in their short film *One Minute Movies*.

The video co-stars a Resident wearing the blue eyeball mask, laying in bed while trying to rest, and a woman with another eyeball mask, sitting in a chair and rubbing a mysterious box while she giggles. Both of them end up laying on top of a bed, exhausted. The video also has animated sequences, with a cartoon heart being crushed by a hydraulic press, and an animated mouth singing the final lyrics of the song. The music video ends with the caption "THANK YOU".

A second video for the original song was created by Bill Domonkos in 2004 for the group's *Commercial DVD*. This new short has a man looking around the surroundings of his house while it seems that he has gone insane. There is heavy implication that there is a history of domestic violence between him and his wife. The video ends with blood spiling down from his mouth.

## List of releases

* *Commercial Album* (1980)
* *Ralph Video Volume I* (1983)
* *Video Voodoo Volume I* (1987)
* *Twenty Twisted Questions* (1993)
* *In Memoriam Torso* (1994)
* *Icky Flix* (2001)
* *Live! ...On The Outskirts* (2002)
* *Kettles Of Fish On The Outskirts Of Town* (2003)
* *Commercial DVD* (2004)
* *Icky Flix Live* (2009)
* *Icky Flix - The Original Soundtrack Recording* (2020)

#### Versions

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1980 Studio Version (1:00)
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2001 Studio Version (1:00)
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Icky Flix live recording, October 2001 (1:00)
4. ↑ Icky Flix live recording, March 2001 (1:00)

## See also

* *Commercial Album*
* *One Minute Movies*
* *Commercial DVD*

## External links and references

* Commercial Album at The Residents Historical
* Commercial DVD at The Residents Historical
* Commercial Album on Discogs
* Commercial DVD on Discogs
* "Act of Being Polite" at Genius

1. ↑ Ima Buddy, *Ima Buddy's Totally Impartial Companion to Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated BIG MAMAS*, 1992

**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*‏‏‎