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ASK!: They're coming to take me away

By Mike Rudeen, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published August 12, 2008 at 3 p.m.

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Mike, of Eagle, remembers being scared as a young boy in the '60s by a song on the radio with the words, "I'm coming to take you away, ha ha to the funny farm, where life is beautiful all the time," and the sound of chains and sirens in the background. He wondered what the song was.

Andrea, Kris, Deb, Bob, Brad, Gary, another Mike and Art remembered that song and helped us out.

It's They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-haaa, written and recorded by Napoleon XIV (actually Jerry Samuels, a New York recording engineer) and released in 1966.

The hit novelty song, since covered by many artists, is about a man going crazy because someone has left him - we find out at the end that it's a dog.

Brad lived in Michigan when the song came out, and he remembers that it was banned from the radio because it was thought to be offensive to people in a nearby asylum.

For lyrics and enough information to drive you crazy, visit songfacts. com/detail.php?id=675.

Try this one:

Why is Fritz blamed when something breaks, e.g., "The TV is on the fritz"? - Tom

Know the answer? Post it on the Ask! blog, blogs.RockyMountainNews.com/denver/ask, or e-mail rudeenm@RockyMountainNews.com. While you're on the blog, check out the other questions on the Ask! home page, or post one of your own by clicking on the link to the left on the page.