The controversial Randy Newman song featuring the Eagles
When it comes to irony, a pop song might not be the best place for it. That’s what Randy Newman learnt in 1977 when he dragged the Eagles down with him into the pits of social backlash.
Newman’s association with the playful and heartwarming ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’ from the Toy Story franchise certainly casts a dominant image in the minds of many. However, delving deeper into Newman’s discography reveals a multifaceted artist whose work extends far beyond animated films. His self-titled debut album indeed showcases his talent as a singer-songwriter, but Newman’s repertoire encompasses a diverse range of themes and styles, from biting satire and social commentary to poignant storytelling and introspective balladry. While his whimsical contributions to Toy Story are undeniably memorable, they only scratch the surface of Newman’s depth and versatility as a musician and songwriter.
Newman enjoyed long-lasting and major commercial success. In the 1970s especially, Newman was up there with the leaders of the time. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he was embedded in the music scene there as he began to pen what would become regularly covered standards like ‘I Think It’s Going To Rain Today’ and ‘You Can Leave Your Hat On’.
As well as his own career and his later connection with Disney, he wrote for many other artists. All of this is to say that in the 1970s, everyone knew his name. He made friends in high places and enjoyed the life that talent and success will bring you, and he enjoyed it next to his musical friends. The Eagles Glenn Frey, Don Henley and Timothy Schmit were among these friends.
In 1974, Newman roped his friends into providing some backing vocals for his album Good Old Boys. It went by without an issue as the classic rock legends helped imbue the release with their signature rich, close harmonies. On the record, Newman began examining more intense social issues like institutional racism and slavery, especially on the opening track ‘Rednecks’. It was a new move from an artist who, until then, had been relatively clean-cut and focused on more upbeat subjects, but everyone seemed to get what he was doing.
Maybe that’s what empowered him to try it again in 1977. However, when it came to ‘Short People’, his metaphors fell flat and limp into the wrong hands. As the Eagles boys provided backing vocals once again, they were pulled into the mess, too.
Singing about “nasty little feet”, “stubby little fingers”, and “dirty little minds”, on the surface, it seems that Newman is quite literally making fun of short people or being cruel towards dwarfism. For this reason, many radio stations refused to play the track, and there was public backlash, calling the songwriter a bigot. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy of hate, as the more backlash it got, the more attention the song received, adding to the reaction. It was soon a hit, but not in the way any musician would want.
In reality, Newman is using height as a metaphor for character, making a comment on short-tempered or small-minded people. He didn’t think that metaphor would be hard to get as he told The Guardian, “I thought, all you gotta do is listen. It’s not like it’s James Joyce”.
But in a typical case of music falling guilty to the lowest common denominator of intelligence, Newman’s point was lost. “I realised the medium wasn’t great for that. People don’t listen to music like that, where they’re actually listening,” he said, “They’re doing all kinds of things. It’s just an irritation.”
Glenn Frey and Timothy Schmit sang back up on the track, so they must have understood what Newman was trying to get at. Frey, Schmit and Henley all came back for more, providing more vocals on his next album, Little Criminals, as well as plenty more throughout his lengthy discography, so the backlash to their track clearly didn’t impact their friendship.
Eventually, the world forgave Newman, not letting one misjudged metaphor stop him from becoming the Disney soundtracking, dancing cartoon songman the world imagines him as now, rather than the evil bigot pointing and laughing at those smaller than him.
