Butcher Babies Unveil Rocked Out Cover of ‘They’re Coming to Take Me Away’
Butcher Babies recently revealed plans to release a new covers EP titled 'Uncovered' and one of the more intriguing selections they made was taking on the Napoleon XIV classic, 'They're Coming to Take Me Away.'
The track was initially recorded in 1966 as a novelty song by Jerry Samuels, who used the moniker Napoleon XIV. The song shot all the way up the charts to No. 3, but wasn't exactly the first track you'd associate with hard rock or metal … that is until now.
Co-vocalist Carla Harvey recently stated in the press release announcing the collection, “It was a blast recording songs that we have been fans of our entire lives and putting our spin on them. We all chose a song that had some significance to us. My pick was ‘They’re Coming to Take Me Away’ by Napoleon XIV because I have a vivid memory of my stepdad, who I considered completely insane, playing it over and over again on his car stereo when I was a pre-teen. The song is about being taken away to a mental institution. I can still see him tapping his fingers on his steering wheel to the beat…”
The song, which gets a significant hard rock makeover courtesy of Butcher Babies, can be heard in the player above. 'The 'Uncovered' EP, which also features covers of songs from ZZ Top, the Osmonds and more, is due Sept. 30 and can be pre-ordered here.