WEBVTT - The Monstrefact: The Purple People Eater

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Hi, my name is Robert Lamman. This is The Monster Fact,

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<v Speaker 2>a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind,

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<v Speaker 2>focusing on mythical creatures, ideas, and monsters in time. In

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<v Speaker 2>this episode of The Monster Fact, I'd like to continue

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<v Speaker 2>our trend of discussing monsters that originate in works of music,

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<v Speaker 2>following most recently an episode on the Googoo Muck. Unsurprisingly,

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<v Speaker 2>we turn to another classic novelty song and one that

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<v Speaker 2>predates the Monster Mash by several years, nineteen fifty eight's

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<v Speaker 2>The Purple People Eater, which, along with fifty eight's Which Doctor,

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<v Speaker 2>helped pave the way for even more popular novelty tracks

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<v Speaker 2>including Monster Mash, including Googo Muck and so many others.

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<v Speaker 2>We have American singer songwriter Chev Wooley to thank for

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<v Speaker 2>the track. A successful and highly prolific country and rock

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<v Speaker 2>and roll performer whose acting credits include such films as

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<v Speaker 2>High Noon and The Outlaw Josey Wales, but for many

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<v Speaker 2>he might be most recognizable as the originator of the

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<v Speaker 2>so called Wilhelm Scream and this admittedly stupid song. The

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<v Speaker 2>lyrics are pretty straightforward I don't think I really have

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<v Speaker 2>to walk you through it. A single eyed, single horned,

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<v Speaker 2>flying alien to sinds to Earth with only two goals

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<v Speaker 2>in mind, to eat purple people and to find success

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<v Speaker 2>in a human rock and roll band. I don't know

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<v Speaker 2>what if it manages to eat any purple people, but

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<v Speaker 2>it does find success in a rock and roll band. Again,

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<v Speaker 2>no one is arguing that there's much to these lyrics,

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<v Speaker 2>and yet a lot has been made out of two

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<v Speaker 2>key ambiguities in the lyrics. A lot of fun has

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<v Speaker 2>been had with this. First of all, here's the question.

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<v Speaker 2>Is the creature's horn indeed a living bony protusion from

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<v Speaker 2>the skull or is it a musical instrum of some sort?

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<v Speaker 2>Is it somehow both? Is it a musical instrument that

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<v Speaker 2>grows out of its head? And then second, is the

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<v Speaker 2>creature purple or does it just eat purple people? Or

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<v Speaker 2>is it somehow both? Let's start with the first question.

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<v Speaker 2>Interestingly enough, the idea of a horned creature with a

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<v Speaker 2>horn that produces music is actually nothing new. If you've

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<v Speaker 2>been listening to the show long enough, this may stir

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<v Speaker 2>something in your memory. Because we have the mythical persian

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<v Speaker 2>creature known as Shadhavar, and I have covered this on

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<v Speaker 2>The Monster Fact before. According to various descriptions, it has

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<v Speaker 2>a cranial horn with various apertures on it, and when

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<v Speaker 2>the wind passes over those apertures, the horn produces sweet music.

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<v Speaker 2>This music is so sweet that it draws in other animals,

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<v Speaker 2>subdues those animals, and then allows Shadhavar to kill them

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<v Speaker 2>and eat them. So it ends up being a tricky

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<v Speaker 2>form of predation on the Shatavar's part. In most tellings,

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<v Speaker 2>the creature is land based, but in some tellings it's

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<v Speaker 2>just described as a marine creature. Go back and look

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<v Speaker 2>for that older episode of The Monster Fact on Shatkavar

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<v Speaker 2>if you want some more details. So obviously there is

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<v Speaker 2>a precedent for this sort of thing, So go ahead

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<v Speaker 2>and imagine the purple people eater as having this horn

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<v Speaker 2>on its head with apertures that make sweet music. Music's

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<v Speaker 2>so sweet that it can find success in rock and roll,

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<v Speaker 2>at least for a little while. And then there's the

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<v Speaker 2>issue of purple pigment, which I think is easily addressed

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<v Speaker 2>by looking at the real life pigmentation of the flamingo. Obviously,

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<v Speaker 2>The birds gain their pink or red pigmentation from the

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<v Speaker 2>bacteria and the beta carotene in their diet of animal

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<v Speaker 2>and plant plankdin, as well as shrimp. Color saturation varies

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<v Speaker 2>depending on diet, but this is a classic example of

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<v Speaker 2>you are what you eat, at least with the flamingos.

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<v Speaker 2>Just a reminder, if you were to eat a flamingo,

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<v Speaker 2>you yourself would not turn pink. Therefore, we might imagine

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<v Speaker 2>that the purple people eater here is in fact purple

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<v Speaker 2>because it acquires the pigments from something in these mysterious

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<v Speaker 2>purple people. Purple and violet are exceedingly rare in our

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<v Speaker 2>natural world, and of course it doesn't occur in humans

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<v Speaker 2>outside of arguably bruising certain skin conditions and in rare

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<v Speaker 2>cases of violet irises in the eye, but these instances

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<v Speaker 2>would seem far too rare to sustain the alien's diet.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm not sure we're asking questions involving alien physiology, but

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<v Speaker 2>I'm not sure that the pigmentation would necessarily carry over

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<v Speaker 2>into the purple people eater's body. So I think the

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<v Speaker 2>safest thing is to assume that this alien creature eats

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<v Speaker 2>other alien humanoids that are themselves purple. I think that's

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<v Speaker 2>just logical. I think we can all probably agree on this, right.

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<v Speaker 2>So there you have it. That's my take on the

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<v Speaker 2>Purple people eater. I'm not going to pretend that any

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<v Speaker 2>of these takes we're completely groundbreaking. I think this is

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<v Speaker 2>the natural direction to go in with these two questions.

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<v Speaker 2>But if you have other thoughts, if you disagree, certainly

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<v Speaker 2>write in. I would love to hear from you. And also,

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<v Speaker 2>if you have other monsters that originate in song that

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<v Speaker 2>you think I should consider, go ahead and write in

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<v Speaker 2>as well. Tune in for additional episodes of The Monster Fact,

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<v Speaker 2>The Artifact, and Animalia Stupendium each week in the Wednesday slot.

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<v Speaker 2>As always, you can email us at contact at stuff

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<v Speaker 2>to Blow your Mind dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For

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