The Purple People Eater

The Purple People Eater is a 1958 song written by Sheb Wooley. Sheb Wooley, who also starred in films such as Twelve clock noon, the single sold over three million copies. The song was a number -one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the United States.

The English version of the song is about a strange creature that is described as a one-eyed, horned, flying purple people eater and who wants to play in a rock 'n' roll band. The story is based on a joke that a child of a friend Wooley said. He wrote the song within an hour to do so. In the course of the song the singer asks the creature

" I said Mr. Purple People Eater, what's your line, He said it 's eatin 'purple people and it sure is fine. "

"I said Mr. Purple People Eater, what's your profession, he said, it's purple people eating and that is certainly good. "

A version of Jimmy Buffett was used for the film Contact. A German -language cover version with text by Kurt Feltz was sung by Bill Ramsey, under the title Wumba - Tumba Schokoladeneisverkäufer. Published in 1988, the Deep Purple members Ian Gillan and Roger Glover on the album Accidentally on Purpose their side project Gillan & Glover a cover.