Mark of the Mole - Definition and Overview

Mark of the Mole is an album by The Residents. It was meant to be the first album in a series detailing the conflicts between the Moles-a subterranean society whose gods offer salvation through hard labor-and the Chubs-a vapid, hedonistic culture.

After the Moles are forced to abandon their tunnels due to flooding, they enter the land of the Chubs seeking work. At first they are welcomed with open arms because the Chubs despise hard labor. Conflict arises when a Chub scientist invents a machine that can do the work instead, making the Moles obsolete and a drag on Chub society. What follows is a brief war ending in a stalemate.

The work and its follow-up album, The Tunes of Two Cities, became the basis for the Residents' first international tour, the Mole Show.

Tracklist:

1. Voices of the Air
2. The Ultimate Disaster
   1. Won't You Keep Us Working?
   2. First Warning
   3. Back to Normality?
   4. The Sky Falls!
   5. Why Are We Crying?
   6. The Tunnels Are Filling
   7. It Never Stops
3. Migration
   1. March to the Sea
   2. The Observer
   3. Hole-Worker's New Hymn
4. Another Land
   1. Rumors
   2. Arrival
   3. Deployment
   4. Saturation
5. The New Machine
   1. Idea
   2. Construction
   3. Failture/Reconstruction
   4. Success
6. Final Confrontation
   1. Driving the Moles Away
   2. Don't Tread on Me
   3. The Short War
   4. Resolution?