May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose
| "May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:May the bird of paradise fly up your nose.jpg | ||||
| Single by Little Jimmy Dickens | ||||
| from the album May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose | ||||
| B-side | "My Eyes Are Jealous" | |||
| Released | September 7, 1965 | |||
| Format | 7" single | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 2:28 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Writer(s) | Neal Merritt | |||
| Producer(s) | Don Law Frank Jones |
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| Little Jimmy Dickens singles chronology | ||||
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"May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose" is a 1965 novelty song performed by Little Jimmy Dickens. It was Dickens' most successful single on the U.S. country music chart. It spent two weeks at No. 1 that November, and stayed on the chart for a total of 18 weeks.[1] On the overall Billboard Hot 100 the song peaked at No. 15.[2]
Neal Merritt, who wrote the song, said it was inspired by one of the many comic putdowns uttered by host Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show.[citation needed]
Content
The song features three verses, each of which mentions an incident where Dickens (the narrator) performs an action which is perceived to be insulting:
- In the first verse, Dickens sees a beggar and proceeds to give him only a penny.
- In the second verse, Dickens gets a call from his laundryman, who returns $100 that Dickens left in his clothes. Dickens gives him 10 cents, to compensate him for the phone call.
- In the final verse, Dickens asks a cabdriver to rush so he can catch a train; the driver is ticketed for speeding, while Dickens stands by, waiting for the change from his fare.
The chorus is an insult, said back to Dickens, for his insulting action.
The distinctive guitar work was done by Grady Martin, using the brand new Echoplex unit which had just been released.
Chart performance
| Chart (1965) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 15 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles | 4 |
References
| Preceded by | Billboard Hot Country Singles number-one single November 20–November 27, 1965 |
Succeeded by "Make the World Go Away" by Eddy Arnold |
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