Billy Radcliffe, the very first one....

I chose this as a starting point becauese for one, I love Black Francis, but two because I remember the first time I heard this song. I replayed the track about a dozen times and thought, surely this is not a real person- is it? William Radcliffe did not seem to be a real person after all but the lyric does call attention to the very real possibility of ultra secret experiments performed by the government. A track placed smack in the middle of the 1999 release Pistolero between other equally intriguing songs, (hell, the whole album is intriguing, go buy it!). This song stood out for me and engaged me in a search for Billy.
Below are the lyrics:

Billy Radcliffe-Frank Black and the Catholics:Pistolero 1999

Billy Radcliffe didn't go to town
and when he looked up he was really looking down.
Catching blue in his eyes that were brown, Billy Radcliffe.
Billy Radcliffe owned by the state
from his first breath, to the cemetery gate.
He was the first boy born in space, Billy Radcliffe.(Billy Radcliffe)

Billy Radcliffe very first one
he really had lived just a cursed son
a split in half man sang the cherubim,
Billy Radcliffe

Billy Radcliffe saw what the Devil man saw (He Saw)
a spot of blue in the black of the eye of the Lord (The Lord)
such a cruel love is the kind that has wrought, Billy Radcliffe.

Billy sadly didn't live long he had to stay there
because he wasn't too strong,
he's stepping out the door blowing up like a bomb, Billy Radcliffe.

Billy Radcliffe, very first one.
Really a hatched man, a light switch son.
A split in half man sang the cherubim.
I bet you cried when he died now didja, now didja??

Now Billy Radcliffe saw what the Devil man saw(He saw)
A spot of blue in the black of the eye of the Lord.(The Lord)
Now Billy Radcliffe saw what the devil had
and I feel very bad for..
... William Radcliffe.
Aow!