I heard this song all the time when growing up, as Dr. Demento would play it regularly on his show. Listening to it as an older adult, I find it more disturbing than weird. Listening to this multiple times in succession would do something to my brain, I fear.
Napoleon XIV was a pseudonym used by Jerry Samuels (1938-2023), a singer and songwriter who grew up in the Bronx neighbourhood of New York City. "They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!" reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold over a million copies.
The flip side of the single was the same song in reverse, titled "!aaaH-aH ,yawA eM ekaT oT gnimoC er'yehT". Music critic Dave Marsh wrote that this B-side was the most obnoxious song to ever appear in a jukebox, once clearing out a diner of forty patrons in two minutes flat. I lasted 25 seconds of it before hitting Pause.
In later years, Samuels operated a talent agency with his wife before retiring in 2021.
Created May 25, 2026.