“The Thing” is a novelty song that was written by American producer and composer, Charles Randolph Grean, in the year of 1950. Although the song has been recorded and released by many artists the original recording was made American comedian, actor, singer, and jazz musician, Phil Harris. If his voice sounds familiar, it may be because you recognize him as the voice behind Baloo the Bear in the hit Disney film, “The Jungle Book”. Harris recorded the novelty song on October 13, 1950. The record was released by RCA Victor Records, an American record label that is now owned by Sony Music. The record was extremely popular and even peaked at number one on the Billboard charts, and remained on the charts for the ensuing 14 weeks.
The original recording is C major and in the meter of 6/8. The story of the lyrics of the song is first person narration of someone discovering a large wooden box on a beach. However, the contents of the box are never revealed and it is the never specifically referred to in the lyrics as “The Thing”. Although the narrator is seemingly thrilled with his discover of such box, those that he shows to are not so thrilled. Throughout the song, he takes the box to various people only to be repulsed by the box’s contents and constructively shoo the narrator out of their presence. The song ends with a warning to listeners instructing them not open tempting boxes found on beaches as he did.
The song has made appearances in multiple films including, Harris himself performing the song in The Wild Blue Yonder, as well as portion of the song being played in The Last Picture Show. “The Thing” also influenced author, Edward G. Robles Jr., who wrote a short science fiction story based around the song.