"Short People" is a song by

Randy Newman Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter, arranger, pianist, composer, conductor and orchestrator. He is known for his non-rhotic Southern American English, Southern-accented singing style, early America ...

from his 1977 album, '' Little Criminals''. With lyrics demeaning to short people, the song was intended by Newman to be a satire about

prejudice Prejudice can be an affect (psychology), affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived In-group and out-group, social group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classifi ...

more broadly. As with many of his songs such as " Rednecks", Newman wrote the song from the point of view of a biased narrator.

Production and reception

The song follows a basic musical formula with

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

and

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

centering on Newman's catchy pop

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

line in the key of A major. A small

brass section The brass section of the orchestra, concert band, and jazz ensemble consist of brass instruments, and is one of the main sections in all three ensembles. The British brass band, British-style brass band contains only brass and percussion instrume ...

and an

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

occasionally rise into the mix and conga drums (played by Los Angeles–based session musician

Milt Holland Milton Holland (born Milton Olshansky; February 7, 1917 – November 4, 2005) was an American drummer, percussionist, ethnomusicologist and writer in the Los Angeles music scene. He pioneered the use of African, South American, and Indian perc ...

) also feature prominently in the song. Although Newman had never charted a single before, and his preceding album, '' Good Old Boys'', had been the first to reach the Top 150 on

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

’s Pop Albums chart, "Short People" soon gained attention as a

novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and w ...

. The song consequently became a major hit on radio peaking at No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for three weeks; it was kept from reaching No. 1 by

Player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

's " Baby Come Back" and the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in ...

' "

Stayin' Alive "Stayin' Alive" is a song written and performed by the Bee Gees from the ''Saturday Night Fever'' motion picture soundtrack. The song was released in December 1977 by RSO Records as the second single from the ''Saturday Night Fever'' soundtr ...

". It became a

gold record Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

. Newman would later grow to dislike the song and its success, eventually calling it a "bad break", a "novelty record like

The Chipmunks Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks and billed for their first two decades as the Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for Novelty records in ...

", and said it caused him to receive several threats regarding its misinterpreted message. He said, "I had no idea that there was any sensitivity, I mean, that anyone could believe that anyone was as crazy as that character. To have that kind of

animus Animus may refer to: Philosophy * Anima and animus, Jungian concepts * The ancient Roman concept of ''animus'' or soul * Animus (journal), ''Animus'' (journal), an electronic journal of philosophy and humanities Music * "Animus", a track on the ...

against short people, and then to sing it and put it all in song and have a philosophy on it." However, it ended up being included on almost every one of his

greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

albums and he re-recorded it for his 2016 album The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 3. ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' said the single was "one of the funniest of any year." In 1978, Maryland State Delegate Isaiah Dixon attempted to introduce legislation making it illegal to play "Short People" on the radio. He was advised by Maryland Attorney General Bill Burch that such a law would be a violation of the

First Amendment First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sales and certifications

Personnel

Musicians

* Randy Newman ‒ lead vocals, piano, synthesizer *

Glenn Frey Glenn Lewis Frey (; November 6, 1948 – January 18, 2016) was an American musician. He was a founding member of the rock band Eagles, for whom he was the co-lead singer and frontman, roles he came to share with fellow member Don Henley, with ...

‒ backing vocals * JD Souther ‒ backing vocals *

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Do ...

‒ drums *

Klaus Voormann Klaus Otto Wilhelm Voormann (born 29 April 1938) is a German graphic artist, artist, musician, and record producer. Voormann was the bassist for Manfred Mann from 1966 to 1969, and performed as a session musician on a host of recordings, includ ...

‒ bass guitar *

‒ congas * Timothy B. Schmit ‒ backing vocals * Waddy Wachtel ‒ electric guitar *

Mike Boddicker Michael James Boddicker (born August 23, 1957) is an American right-handed former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles (1980–1988), Boston Red Sox (1988–1990), Kansas City Royals (1991–1992), and Milwaukee Brewers (1993) ...

‒ synthesizer

Technical

* Lee Herschberg ‒ recording, mixing, mastering * Lenny Waronker ‒ producer * Loyd Clifft ‒ engineer * Russ Titelman ‒ producer

References

External links

Lyrics of this song
* {{Randy Newman 1977 songs 1977 singles Randy Newman songs Songs written by Randy Newman Cashbox number-one singles Novelty songs Black comedy music Music controversies Satirical songs Song recordings produced by Lenny Waronker Warner Records singles Song recordings produced by Russ Titelman