Napoleon XIV, !aaaH-aH ,yawA eM ekaT oT gnimoC er’yehT | The Flops

In the fourth edition of The Flops (2026), we examine the questionable “!aaaH-aH ,yawA eM ekaT oT gnimoC er’yehT” recorded by Napoleon XIV. 

Like damn, bruh! Sis! C’mon! You thought it was bound to hit, but instead it was total shit – nothing but dookie 💩!  The songs that appear in The Flops didn’t hit, or the perception is that they underperformed or underwhelmed for a given artist.  Flops are even more detrimental when the artist is considered a superstar and rarely misses the mark. Flops can even be successful, even if the quality sucked. Or maybe they’re not-so-bad, but they bombed on the charts.  Regardless, this is the column to highlight abject failure. In the fourth edition of The Flops (2026), we examine the questionable “!aaaH-aH ,yawA eM ekaT oT gnimoC er’yehT” recorded by Napoleon XIV.

Say what, now?! Make it make sense, Napoleon XIV 😳😳😳. What the hell is going on, Jerry Samuels (1938 – 2023)?! It’s quite simple, believe it or not. “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!” was a weird novelty song that earned pop success. The B-Side is the song at hand, “!aaaH-aH ,yawA eM ekaT oT gnimoC er’yehT”. If you only examine the title, you can see what the B-side is all about… Both songs appear on the 1966 album, They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!.

No need to belabor this one. It’s not worth it, nor is there much to say. “!aaaH-aH ,yawA eM ekaT oT gnimoC er’yehT” is nothing short of ridiculous and unnecessary.  The ridiculousness begins with the title, which is literally “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!” backwards.  While researching this song, I found myself copying and pasting the title because it’s not easy on the fingers. How do you even read it? As bad as typing and attempting to read the nonsense, listening to it is far worse.  The weirdness of “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!” is respectable and part of the charm. The reversed version, “!aaaH-aH ,yawA eM ekaT oT gnimoC er’yehT” is UNLISTENABLE. You don’t get the fun, minimalist percussion of the original – it’s reversed, after all. All you get is a heaping dose of WTF is going on?!  Jerry Samuels, you were wild for this one.  Apparently  when “!aaaH-aH ,yawA eM ekaT oT gnimoC er’yehT” was played on a jukebox, it cleared a diner of people in only two minutes.  Listen to it, and you’ll understand.  Flop, flop, floppity flop!

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Napoleon XIV » They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa! » Print Music Inc. » 1966

Napoleon XIV, !aaaH-aH ,yawA eM ekaT oT gnimoC er’yehT: The Flops No. 4 (2026) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Print Music Inc.; Will Oliveira from Pexels; Gordon Johnson, OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay]

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