The Thing (song)
Encyclopedia
"The Thing" is a hit novelty song
by Charles Randolph Grean
which received much airplay in 1950
.
The most popular version of the song was recorded by Phil Harris
on October 13, 1950 and released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number
20-3968. The record first reached the Billboard charts on November 17, 1950. It lasted 14 weeks on the chart, peaking at #1.
Other versions were recorded by Arthur Godfrey
, Danny Kaye
, Ray Charles
, Teresa Brewer
and Australia
n orchestra leader Les Welch. The Arthur Godfrey recording was made in November, 1950 and released by Columbia Records
as catalog number 39068. The Danny Kaye recording was made on December 1, 1950 and released by Decca Records
as catalog number 27350. The Ray Charles
recording was made on July 13, 1963 and released by ABC-Paramount Records
in the album "Have A Smile With Me", as catalog number ABC 495 (mono) / ABCS 495 (stereo). The Teresa Brewer
recording was made in October 1950, and released by London Records
as catalog number 873. The Les Welch recording was made in January 1951
and released by Pacific Records, an Australia
n company, as catalog number 10-0051.
Initially, the narrator is overjoyed by his discovery and tries to sell it. Instead, he is thrown out by a proprietor with a threat to call the police. Undaunted, the narrator decides to give it to his wife, who also kicks him out and requests he never return with it. After going through life unable to rid himself of the Thing, the narrator dies and arrives in Heaven
where Saint Peter
tells him to take it "down below" to Hell
. In the final verse, the narrator warns the listener not to open boxes on the beach as he did.
promoting Howard Hawks
' science fiction movie, The Thing from Another World
. The Hawks film was released April 6, 1951. While the song had no connection with the movie, some suspect it was a clever marketing tool to increase interest in seeing the film.
Novelty song
A novelty song is a comical or nonsensical song, performed principally for its comical effect. Humorous songs, or those containing humorous elements, are not necessarily novelty songs. The term arose in Tin Pan Alley to describe one of the major divisions of popular music. The other two divisions...
by Charles Randolph Grean
Charles Randolph Grean
Charles Randolph Grean was an American producer and composer.-Professional life:Grean's first work was as a copyist in several big bands, including Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, and Charlie Spivak...
which received much airplay in 1950
1950 in music
-Events:*January 3 – Sam Phillips launches Sun Records at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee.*August – Herbert Howells' Hymnus Paradisi is premiered at the Three Choirs Festival.*Malcolm Sargent becomes chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra....
.
The most popular version of the song was recorded by Phil Harris
Phil Harris
Harris and Faye married in 1941; it was a second marriage for both and lasted 54 years, until Harris's death. Harris engaged in a fistfight at the Trocadero nightclub in 1938 with RKO studio mogul Bob Stevens; the cause was reported to be over Faye after Stevens and Faye had ended a romantic...
on October 13, 1950 and released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number
Catalog numbering systems for single records
This article presents the numbering systems used by various record companies for single records.- Capitol :...
20-3968. The record first reached the Billboard charts on November 17, 1950. It lasted 14 weeks on the chart, peaking at #1.
Other versions were recorded by Arthur Godfrey
Arthur Godfrey
Arthur Morton Godfrey was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer who was sometimes introduced by his nickname, The Old Redhead...
, Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye was a celebrated American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian...
, Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
, Teresa Brewer
Teresa Brewer
Teresa Brewer was an American pop singer whose style incorporated elements of country, jazz, R&B, musicals and novelty songs. She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of the 1950s, recording nearly 600 songs. Born Theresa Breuer in Toledo, Ohio, Brewer died of a neuromuscular...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n orchestra leader Les Welch. The Arthur Godfrey recording was made in November, 1950 and released by Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
as catalog number 39068. The Danny Kaye recording was made on December 1, 1950 and released by Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
as catalog number 27350. The Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
recording was made on July 13, 1963 and released by ABC-Paramount Records
ABC Records
ABC Records was an American record label, founded in New York City in 1955 as ABC-Paramount Records. It originated as the main popular music label operated the Am-Par Record Corporation, the music subsidiary of the American Broadcasting Company . ABC-Paramount Records' first president was Samuel H....
in the album "Have A Smile With Me", as catalog number ABC 495 (mono) / ABCS 495 (stereo). The Teresa Brewer
Teresa Brewer
Teresa Brewer was an American pop singer whose style incorporated elements of country, jazz, R&B, musicals and novelty songs. She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of the 1950s, recording nearly 600 songs. Born Theresa Breuer in Toledo, Ohio, Brewer died of a neuromuscular...
recording was made in October 1950, and released by London Records
London Records
London Records, referred to as London Recordings in logo, is a record label headquartered in the United Kingdom, originally marketing records in the United States, Canada and Latin America from 1947 to 1979, then becoming a semi-independent label....
as catalog number 873. The Les Welch recording was made in January 1951
1951 in music
-Events:*January 29 – Nilla Pizzi wins the first annual Sanremo Music Festival with "Grazie dei fiori".*February – The first complete performance of Charles Ives's Second Symphony is given in Carnegie Hall by the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leonard Bernstein.*March – Alan...
and released by Pacific Records, an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n company, as catalog number 10-0051.
Story
The lyrics take the form of a first-person narration, describing the discovery on a beach of a box. Whatever is in the box is never revealed, nor is it called "The Thing" in the lyrics. When the lyrics call for The Thing to be named, the vocals simply pause for three percussive knocks. For example, the first verse ends, "I discovered a [* **], right before my eyes!" (The knocks [* **] are unequally spaced, occurring on counts 1,3 and 4 of the song's 6/8 meter. The listener could substitute any three-syllable phrase his imagination might invent, such as "dog-gone thing".)Initially, the narrator is overjoyed by his discovery and tries to sell it. Instead, he is thrown out by a proprietor with a threat to call the police. Undaunted, the narrator decides to give it to his wife, who also kicks him out and requests he never return with it. After going through life unable to rid himself of the Thing, the narrator dies and arrives in Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
where Saint Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
tells him to take it "down below" to Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
. In the final verse, the narrator warns the listener not to open boxes on the beach as he did.
Film
The song aired on radio concurrently with a series of teaser ads which ran weekly in Collier'sCollier's Weekly
Collier's Weekly was an American magazine founded by Peter Fenelon Collier and published from 1888 to 1957. With the passage of decades, the title was shortened to Collier's....
promoting Howard Hawks
Howard Hawks
Howard Winchester Hawks was an American film director, producer and screenwriter of the classic Hollywood era...
' science fiction movie, The Thing from Another World
The Thing from Another World
The Thing from Another World , is a 1951 science fiction film based on the 1938 novella "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell . It tells the story of an Air Force crew and scientists at a remote Arctic research outpost who fight a malevolent plant-based alien being...
. The Hawks film was released April 6, 1951. While the song had no connection with the movie, some suspect it was a clever marketing tool to increase interest in seeing the film.