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Ten Little Indians
By Harry Nilsson
On June 14, 1967 Nilsson recorded 'Ten Little Indians.'
Also performed by The Yardbirds, see notes below
Ten little Indians standing in a line
One stood looking at another man's wife, then there were nine
Nine little Indians, their hearts all full of hate
One took another's goods, then there were eight
Eight little Indians, they just got down from heaven
One told a lie about another's best friend, then there were seven
Seven little Indians all trying to get their kicks
One thought he found another way to get to heaven, then there were six
Six little Indians all trying to stay alive
One took another man's life, then there were five
Five little Indians all trying to find the door
One pulled his mother down, then there were four
Four little Indians all thinking that they gotta be free
One little Indian forgot to say his prayers, then there were three
Three little Indians deciding what they're gonna have to do
One took the name of God in vain, then there were two
Two little Indians thinking that they oughtta have some fun
One took a liking to a picture of himself, then there was one
One little Indian out looking for the sun
At six o'clock the moon came out
Then there were none.
Ten Little Indians ... The Yardbirds recorded a cover of Harry's 'Ten Little Indians.'
'When I was still in the Yardbirds, our producer Mickie Most would always try to get us to
record all these horrible songs. He would say, 'Oh, c'mon, just try it. If the song is bad
we won't release it.' And, of course, it would always get released! [laughs] During one
session, we were recording 'Ten Little Indians,' which was an extremely silly song that
featured a truly awful brass arrangement. In fact the whole track sounded terrible. In a
desperate attempt to salvage it, I hit upon an idea. I said, 'Look, turn the tape over and
employ the echo
for the brass on a spare track. Then turn it back over and we'll get the echo preceding
the signal.' The result was very interesting - it made the track sound like it was going
backwards.' -- Jimmy Page
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