Antigonish (poem)

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates "Antigonish" is a poem by the American educator and poet William Hughes Mearns, written in 1899. It is also known as "The Little Man Who Wasn't There" or "The Man Who Wasn't There", and has been adapted in song under the former title.

History of the verse

Inspired by reports of a ghost of a man roaming the stairs of a haunted house in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada, the poem was originally part of a play called The Psyco-ed, which William Hughes Mearns had written for an English class at Harvard University, circa 1899. In 1910, Mearns staged the play with the Plays and Players, an amateur theatrical group, and on March 27, 1922, the newspaper columnist F.P.A. printed the poem in "The Conning Tower", his column in the New York World. Mearns subsequently wrote many parodies of this poem, giving them the general title of Later Antigonishes.

In popular culture

Music entries

Template:Refimprove section In 1939 "Antigonish" was adapted as a popular song titled "The Little Man Who Wasn't There", by Harold Adamson with music by Bernie Hanighen, both of whom received the songwriting credits. A 1939 recording of the song by the Glenn Miller Orchestra, with vocals by Tex Beneke, became an 11-week hit on Your Hit Parade and reached #7.Template:Fact

The Danish fusion-rock band Rainbow Band, later renamed to Midnight Sun, recorded a song based on the lyrics on two albums with two different vocalists, first in 1970, then in 1971.Template:Fact

Industrial metal band Psyclon Nine used the poem in their song The Unfortunate from their 2005 album INRI.Template:Fact In 2016, The Odd Chap released an electro swing version using samples from the Glenn Miller Band recording.Template:Fact In 2018, the experimental industrial group The Reptile Skins released an EP entitled Antigonish with the two lead singers having a different interpretation of the poem.Template:Fact In 2019, the YouTube channel Estela Naïad released a song adapted from the poem, with the composition of the main theme and the voice of Estela Naïad, the harmonies and choirs of Priscilla Hernández, and the musical production of Naliam Cantero.Template:Fact

Lil Wayne used a variation of the poem in his song "Pick Up Your Heart".Template:Fact The opening verse is featured on the opening track "Ytterligare ett steg närmare total jävla utfrysning" off the album Halmstad by Swedish band Shining.Template:Fact Other versions were recorded by Mildred Bailey & Her Orchestra,Template:Fact Larry Clinton & His Orchestra with vocals by Ford Leary,Template:Fact and Bob Crosby & His Orchestra with vocals by Teddy Grace.Template:Fact

Outside of music

• The Coen Brothers film, The Man Who Wasn't There, was given its title based on the poem.
• The poem is pivotal in “Upon the Stair”, the 85th episode of the Rusty Quill podcast The Magnus Archives.
• The poem was used in the 2003 film Identity starring John Cusack.

See also

• Extensional and intensional definitions
• Plato's beard
• The Man Who Sold the World (song), a song by David Bowie