Song:They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!
Album:Dr. Demento 20th Anniversary Collecrion: The Greatest Novelty Records Of All Time
This ode to mental health is quite possibly the goofiest top five pop hit ever. It's just unbelievably silly and it's still a popular song today. The man behind Napoleon XIV was recording engineer Jerry Samuels (born May 3, 1938 in New York City). So the whole Napoleon XIV character and They're Coming To Take Me Away came out of Samuels messing around with tape speeds, loops and sound effects while he was working at Associated Recording Studios in New York. There are no live instruments on this record. The result is a song about a guy going crazy after his girl left him. The flip side of the single was the same song backwards. The song became a hit when New York DJ Cousin Brucie played it. Warner Bros. picked it up for distribution and it reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The success didn't last long due to mental health advocate protests. Radio stations stopped playing it. Warners sent Samuels into the studio to record an album with Jonathan Winters' former head writer Jim Lehner and veteran songwriter Bobby Gosh. He even recorded a second album that wasn't released. But novelty songs generally are difficult to follow up and this was no different. Samuels' recording career was short lived. You can get this and other novelty classics on this Dr. Demento comp. Samuels now lives in Philadelphia and claims he's the most popular entertainer in nursing homes and senior facilities in the area. I'm not making that up. Here's a pretty good fan video for They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa! by Napoleon XIV.
The song is about a man who's upset his dog ran away........ really. That confusion was part of the controversy.
ReplyDelete"They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha Haaa!" :
Remember when you ran away
And I got on my knees and begged
You not to leave
Because I'd go berserk?
Well!
You left me anyhow and then
The days got worse and worse
And now you see I've gone
Completely out of my mind.
And
They're coming to take me away, Ha-Haaa
They're coming to take me away, Ho-ho
Hee-hee-haa-haa
To the funny farm
Where life is beautiful all the time
And I'll be happy to see those
Nice young men in their clean white coats and
They're coming to take me away, ha-haa!
You thought it was a joke
and so you laughed, you laughed,
when I had said that losing you
would make me flip my lid.
Right?
You know you laughed
I heard you laugh
You laughed, you laughed
and laughed and then you left but
Now you know I'm utterly mad
And
They're coming to take me away, ha-haa,
They're coming to take me away, ho-ho,
hee hee, haa haa
To the happy home
With trees and flowers and chirping birds
And basket-weavers who sit and smile
And twiddle their thumbs and toes
And they're coming to take me away, ha-hahaha...
I cooked your food, I cleaned your house,
And this is how you pay me back for
All my kind, unselfish, loving deeds,
Hah?
Well you just wait, they'll find you yet
And when they do they'll put you in the ASPCA you mangy mutt!
And
They're coming to take me away, Ha-haa
They're coming to take me away, Ho-ho
Hee-hee-haa-haa
To the funny farm
Where life is beautiful all the time
And I'll be happy to see those
Nice young men in their clean white coats and
They're coming to take me away, ha-haa!
To the happy home
With trees and flowers and chirping birds
And basket-weavers who sit and smile
And twiddle their thumbs and toes
And they're coming to take me away, ha-hahaha...
To the funny farm
Where life is beautiful all the time