____twoism

A few months ago on Bocpages I posted a theory as to where the title of "Oscar See-through red eye" might come from.
What do you think?

The title could be a reference to the 1995 multimedia CD-ROM "Bad Day on the Midway" by the avant-gard band The Residents. In one part of the game you can see through the eyes of a rat named Oscar, and when you do so, everything is a monochromatic red. The scene can be clearly seen in this YouTube clip, around the 38 second mark

Yeah, I thought the title was a reference to Bad Day on the Midway the moment I bought TCH when it came out.

Does BoC like The Residents? They've been around since the early 70's. They're a controversial avant gard band.

Thanks, Mexicola. I edited my post too.

I always thought it referred to the fish species, which has a fake red eye near its tail fin to fool predators. Maybe that is too simple, but their are a lot of references to wildlife throughout their work.

that video is mad trippy, well the red eye buit anywayaszzz 0:42 to 1:12 .......

i think it might be something oscar said on sesame street. oscar see through red eye

i also always thought it might be a drug reference

lol my name is oscar

I remember this creepypasta that for some reason I keep associating with the song, which you've probably heard, which goes like this in ultra condensed mode:

Man goes to hotel, is told not to go into room 88 or whatever, so in the middle of the night curiosity gets the better of him and he looks through the keyhole but all he can see is red. He thinks not much of it and goes back to bed. The next morning he asks the person at the main desk what the deal is with that room, and he was told that there were these people who were locked up in there years ago to die, and had bright red eyes.

That always gives me the creeps thinking about it o___o

Hey guys! Watching the video again i noticed that around 0:32 seconds, you can hear like a voice going hmmmmmm, or ummmm, i'm 90% percent sure that is the same sound used in the song at 0:27 and throughout.
And you can actually hear a mouse also in the song (maybe birds, but probably a mouse)!

Bad Day (0:32, 8:29):
Oscar See through red eye (0:27):

Tell me what you think..

That's pretty damn close actually, changed the pitch in audacity and they match up surprisingly well.

I think there is another sample, one that appears at 01:04 in the bad day video is very similar to a sound at 01:34 in the song. Check it out, i really believe that this was the inspiration for the song, cheers!

“When I was a kid, about 5 or 6 years old, a relative of mine had one of those tacky ceramic owls on their mantelpiece, and it had multifaceted, diamante eyes. I was totally obsessed with those sparkly glass eyes, for ages. I felt like looking into them was like looking sideways though everything, right through time. That’s what we’re trying to do with our music.”

http://bocpages.org/wiki/Protect_and_Su ... interview)

Maybe Mike related that rat called Oscar with this memory of his childhood.

I’ve always imagined it as a reference to Oscar Goldman from the Six Million Dollar Man. The Steve Austin action figure had a hole in the head so you could peer out through his eye, which in early episodes of the TV series was always red vision.

And musically I feel like there might be some inspiration from the Six Million Dollar Man soundtracks...


And some of the sound effects in the latter part of this clip remind me of this track:

Interesting theories all around. Although it's named after a bad take, I think it's funny that "Happy Cycling (Bad Day)" could be related by title.

Christ I had that action figure too. I can still remember than feel and smell of those flimsy plastic trainers he was wearing.

tonx wrote:I’ve always imagined it as a reference to Oscar Goldman from the Six Million Dollar Man. The Steve Austin action figure had a hole in the head so you could peer out through his eye, which in early episodes of the TV series was always red vision.

this sounds like a very plausible theory. they've mentioned in interviews watching that show as children. and even that television commercial for the action figure is dripping with that BOC vibe.

the campfire headphase is such a beautiful album.

Hello all, just a quick one...highly recommend the 33rpm version of Oscar See Through Red Eye if you haven't heard it already...I seem to have fallen into a BOC induced coma!

bleak. wrote:Hello all, just a quick one...highly recommend the 33rpm version of Oscar See Through Red Eye if you haven't heard it already...I seem to have fallen into a BOC induced coma!

Always a good day when you open Twoism and see someone linking your video

I was so excited when TCH came out after what seemed like an eternity since Geogaddi, but I remember my first listen and how disappointed I was. It wasn't the BoC album I wanted. I was really disappointed they didn't make Geogaddi 2, I guess. Anyway, the only track that gave me the kind of spine tingling sensation I came to expect was "Oscar See Through Red Eye".

It took years for me to appreciate TCH, but now I love it and hold it in the same high regard as I do with the rest of their official catalog. "Oscar Sees Through Red Eye" still remains my favorite track.