August 4, 2023 – THEME WEEK DAY 5

This is the final day of our theme week on Aliens! We’re ending the week with the Purple People Eater!
“The Purple People Eater” is a novelty song written and sung by Sheb Wooley. The song is about a strange creature from outer space who comes to Earth because it wants to be in a rock ‘n’ roll band. Growing up in Oklahoma, Sheb Wooley had dreams of becoming a singing cowboy, but instead found himself acting in several western films and TV shows. His big break came when he was cast on Rawhide. During the shooting of the pilot episodes, he met up with an old friend, a songwriter named Don Robertson. Robertson told him a joke, originally posed by his son. The joke was this: What has one eye, one horn, and eats people? Wooley loved the joke and saw the potential for a song. He ended up composing the song in just an hour, adding the word purple in his lyrics.
MGM initially passed on the song, saying it wasn’t the type of music it wants to be identified with. However, a recording of it wound up at their New York office and it became really popular with young people in the office. Up to 50 people would listen to it during lunch! The company took note and reversed its initial decision. The song hit number 1 just 3 weeks after it was released in 1958.
The meaning of the song has been hotly debated for years. Is it a purple alien that eats people? Or an alien that eats purple people? Because the title doesn’t have a hyphen, it could be interpreted either way.
The popularity of the song inspired a range of merchandise and even some follow up songs. It also led to the nickname of the Minnesota Vikings highly effective defensive line from 1968-1977. The song was also adapted into a movie, starring a young Neil Patrick Harris, in 1988. Learn more here.