http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They're_Coming_to_Take_Me_Away "They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!" is a 1966 novelty song by Napoleon XIV (aka Jerry Samuels), re-issued by Warner Bros. Records in 1973. Initially it was controversial enough to get the record banned in several markets.
The song, mostly set to a rhythm tapped out on a snare drum, deals with mental illness, seemingly brought about by the singer's lover:
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!
However, later lyrics make it appear that the trigger for the singer's mental illness is not his lover, but rather his dog:
Well, you just wait
They ´ll get you yet
And when they do
They ´ll put you in the ASPCA, you mangy mutt!
However, this could be an insulting term to the lover, in much the same way as the term bitch is used as abuse.
Musically, "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!" could be called a very early rap record. The singer speaks rhythmically rather than singing the lyric, over a spare, multitracked percussion track dominated by drum kit and tambourines with a siren sounding in and out of the "chorus". According to Samuels, the vocal glissando, signifying the vocalist's plunge into insanity, was achieved by Samuels manipulating tape recording speeds, a variation on the technique used by Ross Bagdasarian in creating the original Chipmunks novelty hits. Supposedly the song's thumping beat derives from or was inspired by the Scottish marching song "The Campbells Are Coming".[1]
Furthering the theme of insanity, the flip or B-side of the single was called "!Aaah-aH yawA eM ekaT oT gnimoC er'yehT" and the singer billed as "VIX noelopaN". It was the A-side played in reverse; in fact, most of the label affixed to that B-side was printed backward, including the letters in the "WB" shield logo. This is the first known instance of backmasking in popular music.[2] Only the label name, disclaimer, and record & song master numbers were kept frontward. The backwards version does not appear on the original Warner Bros. album, although the title is shown on the front cover.