--- id: 562cbc78-bc47-42e3-9b0a-cdc031ec94fb title: Short People (Randy Newman song) abstract: Short People is a 1977 novelty rock single by Randy Newman from the album Little Criminals. The song features satirical lyrics that demean short people, intended by Newman as a commentary on prejudice and discrimination. It achieved significant chart performance and sales certifications upon its release. classification: primary: '786.2' secondary: - '780.1' - '305.5' udc_main_class: '7' tags: - Randy Newman - Novelty rock - Satire - Music - '1977' - Discrimination topics: - Music - Popular Culture - Social Commentary author: '' created_at: '2026-06-01T00:20:36.105924' updated_at: '2026-06-01T02:10:23.844696' sources: - type: url uri: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_People format: url_fetch udc_label: Rock music version: '1' --- ## Card: Short People (Randy Newman song) Short People is a 1977 novelty rock single by Randy Newman from the album Little Criminals. The song features satirical lyrics that demean short people, intended by Newman as a commentary on prejudice and discrimination. It achieved significant chart performance and sales certifications upon its release. ## Classification Primary: 786.2 | Secondary: 780.1, 305.5 | Tags: Randy Newman, Novelty rock, Satire, Music, 1977, Discrimination | Topics: Music, Popular Culture, Social Commentary ## Content Short People - Wikipedia Jump to content Main menu Main menu move to sidebar hide Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Special pages Search Search Appearance Donate Create account Log in Personal tools Donate Create account Log in Contents move to sidebar hide (Top) 1 Production and reception 2 Chart performance Toggle Chart performance subsection 2.1 Weekly charts 2.2 Year-end charts 3 Sales and certifications 4 Personnel Toggle Personnel subsection 4.1 Musicians 4.2 Technical 5 See also 6 References 7 External links Toggle the table of contents Short People 2 languages 日本語 Nederlands Edit links Article Talk English Read Edit View history Tools Tools move to sidebar hide Actions Read Edit View history General What links here Related changes Upload file Permanent link Page information Cite this page Get shortened URL Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikidata item Appearance move to sidebar hide From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For other uses, see Short people (disambiguation) . 1977 single by Randy Newman "Short People" UK cover Single by Randy Newman from the album Little Criminals B-side "Old Man on the Farm" Released November 1977 Recorded 1977 Genre Novelty rock [ 1 ] Length 2 : 54 Label Warner Bros. Songwriter Randy Newman Producers Lenny Waronker , Russ Titelman Randy Newman singles chronology "Birmingham" (1974) " Short People " (1977) "The Blues" (1982) Official video "Short People" on YouTube " Short People " is a song by Randy Newman from his 1977 album, Little Criminals . With lyrics demeaning to short people, the song was intended by Newman to be a satire about prejudice more broadly. [ 2 ] As with many of his songs such as " Rednecks ", Newman wrote the song from the point of view of a biased narrator . Production and reception [ edit ] The song follows a basic musical formula with bass and drums centering on Newman's catchy pop piano line in the key of A major . [ 3 ] A small brass section and an electric guitar occasionally rise into the mix and conga drums (played by Los Angeles–based session musician Milt Holland ) also feature prominently in the song. Although Newman had never charted a single before, and his preceding album, Good Old Boys , had been the first to reach the Top 150 on Billboard ’s Pop Albums chart, "Short People" soon gained attention as a novelty song . The song consequently became a major hit on radio peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks; it was kept from reaching No. 1 by Player 's " Baby Come Back " and the Bee Gees ' " Stayin' Alive ". It became a gold record . Newman would later grow to dislike the song and its success, eventually calling it a "bad break", a "novelty record like The Chipmunks ", and said it caused him to receive several threats regarding its misinterpreted message. [ 4 ] He said, "I had no idea that there was any sensitivity, I mean, that anyone could believe that anyone was as crazy as that character. To have that kind of animus against short people, and then to sing it and put it all in song and have a philosophy on it." [ 5 ] However, it ended up being included on almost every one of his greatest hits albums and he re-recorded it for his 2016 album The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 3 . [ 6 ] [ failed verification ] Record World said the single was "one of the funniest of any year." [ 7 ] In 1978, Maryland State Delegate Isaiah Dixon attempted to introduce legislation making it illegal to play "Short People" on the radio. He was advised by Maryland Attorney General Bill Burch that such a law would be a violation of the First Amendment . [ 8 ] Chart performance [ edit ] Weekly charts [ edit ] Chart (1977–1978) Peak position Australia [ 9 ] 12 Belgium ( Ultratop 50 Flanders) [ 10 ] 22 Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [ 11 ] 2 Canada Adult Contemporary ( RPM ) [ 12 ] 1 New Zealand ( Recorded Music NZ ) [ 13 ] 21 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 2 U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary [ 14 ] 25 U.S. Cash Box Top 100 [ 15 ] 1 Year-end charts [ edit ] Chart (1978) Rank Canada Top Singles [ 16 ] 30 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [ 17 ] 41 U.S. Cash Box [ 18 ] 15   Sales and certifications [ edit ] Region Certification Certified units /sales United States ( RIAA ) [ 19 ] Gold 1,000,000 ^ ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. Personnel [ edit ] Musicians [ edit ] Randy Newman ‒ lead vocals, piano, synthesizer Glenn Frey ‒ backing vocals JD Souther ‒ backing vocals Jim Keltner ‒ drums Klaus Voormann ‒ bass guitar Milt Holland ‒ congas Timothy B. Schmit ‒ backing vocals Waddy Wachtel ‒ electric guitar Mike Boddicker ‒ synthesizer Technical [ edit ] Lee Herschberg ‒ recording, mixing, mastering Lenny Waronker ‒ producer Loyd Clifft ‒ engineer Russ Titelman ‒ producer See also [ edit ] List of Cash Box Top 100 number-one singles of 1978 References [ edit ] ^ "Randy Newman: still biting, still brilliant | Arts & Culture | Music | spiked" . Spiked-online.com . November 6, 2015 . Retrieved October 12, 2016 . ^ Fricke, David (September 15, 2017). "Randy Newman: My Life in 15 Songs" . Rolling Stone . Retrieved April 28, 2020 . ^ "Short People : Sheet Music" . Archived from the original on July 16, 2011 . Retrieved October 12, 2016 . ^ Zitz, Michael (September 18, 2003). "Songwriter Randy Newman hates his 'Short People' " . The Free Lance–Star . Fredericksburg, Virginia . Retrieved April 17, 2012 . {{ cite news }} : CS1 maint: deprecated archival service ( link ) ^ Lydia Hutchinson. "Happy Birthday, Randy Newman" . Performing Songwriter . ^ "Best of Randy Newman: Randy Newman: Music" . Amazon . Retrieved April 17, 2012 . ^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF) . Record World . November 12, 1977. p. 1 . Retrieved February 16, 2023 . ^ Thompson, M. Dion (March 17, 2001). "They're smart, fast, usually right" . The Baltimore Sun . Retrieved December 15, 2015 . ^ Steffen Hung. "Forum – 1970 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)" . Australian-charts.com . Archived from the original on June 2, 2016 . Retrieved October 12, 2016 . ^ " Randy Newman – Short People " (in Dutch). Ultratop 50 . Retrieved November 28, 2013. ^ "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada" . Collectionscanada.gc.ca . Archived from the original on June 3, 2016 . Retrieved October 12, 2016 . ^ "Image : RPM Weekly – Library and Archives Canada" . Bac-lac.gc.ca . July 17, 2013 . Retrieved October 12, 2016 . ^ " Randy Newman – Short People ". Top 40 Singles . Retrieved November 28, 2013. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993 . Record Research. p. 174. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 1/28/78" . Retrieved August 30, 2015 . ^ "Image : RPM Weekly – Library and Archives Canada" . Bac-lac.gc.ca . July 17, 2013 . Retrieved October 12, 2016 . ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1978/Top 100 Songs of 1978" . Musicoutfitters.com . Retrieved October 12, 2016 . ^ "Cash Box YE Pop Singles – 1978" . Retrieved November 3, 2015 . ^ "American single certifications – Randy Newman – Short People" . Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved June 1, 2023 . External links [ edit ] Lyrics of this song Randy Newman – Short People on YouTube v t e Randy Newman Studio albums Randy Newman 12 Songs Sail Away Good Old Boys Little Criminals Born Again Trouble in Paradise Land of Dreams Bad Love Harps and Angels Dark Matter Live albums Randy Newman Live Compilations Lonely at the Top: The Best of Randy Newman Guilty: 30 Years of Randy Newman The Best of Randy Newman The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 1 The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 2 The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 3 Musicals Randy Newman's Faust Soundtracks Avalon Toy Story James and the Giant Peach A Bug's Life Toy Story 2 Meet the Parents Monsters, Inc. Cars The Princess and the Frog Toy Story 3 Monsters University Cars 3 The Meyerowitz Stories Toy Story 4 Marriage Story Toy Story 5 (coming soon) Songs " Have You Seen My Baby? " " Mama Told Me Not to Come " " I Think It's Going to Rain Today " " Sail Away " " He Gives Us All His Love " " Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear " " Political Science " " You Can Leave Your Hat On " " Louisiana 1927 " " Rednecks " " Short People " " I Love L.A. " " You've Got a Friend in Me " " When She Loved Me " " If I Didn't Have You " " It's a Jungle Out There " " Our Town " " Down in New Orleans " " Almost There " " Friends on the Other Side " " When We're Human " " We Belong Together " " The Ballad of the Lonesome Cowboy " Related Discography Accolades Nilsson Sings Newman Alfred Newman David Newman Emil Newman Joey Newman Lionel Newman Thomas Newman Category Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Short_People&oldid=1322363478 " Categories : 1977 songs 1977 singles Randy Newman songs Songs written by Randy Newman Cashbox number-one singles American novelty songs American black comedy songs Music controversies American satirical songs Song recordings produced by Lenny Waronker Warner Records singles Song recordings produced by Russ Titelman Hidden categories: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service Use mdy dates from April 2020 Articles with short description Short description matches Wikidata Articles with hAudio microformats All articles with failed verification Articles with failed verification from July 2017 Single chart usages for Flanders Single chart usages for New Zealand Certification Table Entry usages for United States Pages using certification Table Entry with shipments figures Pages using certification Table Entry with shipments footnote This page was last edited on 15 November 2025, at 21:01  (UTC) . Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy . Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. , a non-profit organization. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers Contact Wikipedia Legal & safety contacts Code of Conduct Developers Statistics Cookie statement Mobile view Search Search Toggle the table of contents Short People 2 languages Add topic ## Source - url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_People