Butcher Babies Great Remake of They’re Coming To Take Me Away

Butcher Babies Coming to take me away

Photo: By José Miguel Rosas (Flickr: H&H Metal Fest 2014) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

If your under fifty-five years old, chances are you have never heard the 1966 song “They’re Coming To Take Me Away,” written by Jerry Samuels. The song that had been recorded under Samuel’s  pseudonym Napoleon XIV,  had been originally released in 1966 and reissued in 1973. If there ever was a definition for the term novelty song, than “They’re Coming To Take Me Away,” clearly defined the term. The song was a top 10 hit in 1966 and then quickly disappeared from the charts faster than any other top 10 hit in history.  In an era that showcased many novelty hits, the song “They’re Coming To Take Me Away,” may have just been too demented to stick around. Its sudden disappearance is what probably made most people over the age of fifty-five forget they had ever heard the song, if they had even ever heard of it in the first place.

In 2014, thrash metal band Butcher Babies recorded a cover of the song”They’re Coming To Take Me Away,” and released it on their EP Uncovered. Gone from the track was the novelty aspect of Jerry Samuel’s original version. The band’s thrash metal sound easily captured the inherent insanity of the song’s original lyrical ideas and delivered it withe a “grab you by the throat and listen to me attitude.” The band’s Frontwomen Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey, performances on the song echoed the familiar grounds of old school Alice Cooper theatrics. Yet,there is a freshness to the sound of the band clearly inspired by the works of musical groups such as  Pantera and Slipknot. While the recording is dynamic, the video really captured the essence of the song and the intent behind the remake.

Butcher Babies are a relatively new band that have taken the metal world by storm over the past few years. The band released two EPs Uncovered in 2104 and Butcher Babies in 2012. The band has also two full length albums to their credit. Their first full length record Goliath was issued in  2012. Their latest full length released entitled Take It Like A Man was released in 2015.

While bands like Pantera, Slayer, Metallica, and Marilyn Manson have clearly served as an inspiration for the band, the group has mentioned in many articles that it was Wendy O Williams of the Plasmatics that served as their greatest inspiration. In fact the name of the band was taken from the Plasmatics song “Butcher Baby.”

The band Butcher Babies feature Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey on lead vocals, Jason Klein on bass, Henry Flury on guitar, and Chris Warner on drums. The band hails from Los Angles California.

The original version of They’re Coming To Take Me Away by Napolean XIV

Updated Jan 7, 2021

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  1. Salvage Torn Zeppelli September 12, 2016

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