The Story Behind ‘They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!’

Inside the Mind of Jerry Samuels, aka Napoleon XIV

Jerry Samuels, who recorded “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!” as Napoleon XIV, died March 10, 2023 at the age of 84.

Novelty songs first appeared in the late 19th century and were popular on the radio into the 1980s. One of the most successful—and weirdest—was 1966’s “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!” by Napoleon XIV.

Recording engineer Jerry Samuels, then 28, created the politically incorrect hit: a rant by a mental patient who had been dumped by his lover. The track does not include a note of music; a loop of snare drum, tambourine and claps pound out a rhythm that accompanies Samuels’ ravings. To enhance the effect of insanity, Samuels used a Variable Frequency Oscillator, or VFO, to gradually speed up the vocals, which were backed by a siren.

Samuels told Songfacts how, once he was armed with the new VFO technology, he came up with the lyric.

“I was sitting in a nice easy chair one night. It had a little vibrator on it and I was stoned because I loved to smoke grass. What popped into my head was the old Scottish tune, ‘The Campbells Are Coming.’ I didn’t know the title, but I’ll tell you who did — my friend Barry Hansen.