Who sang put the lime in the coconut

"Coconut"
Single by Nilsson
from the album Nilsson Schmilsson
B-side	"The Moonbeam Song"
Released	June 1972
Recorded	1971
Genre	Novelty, calypso
Length	3:52
Label	RCA Victor
Songwriter(s)	Harry Nilsson
Producer(s)	Richard Perry
Nilsson singles chronology
"Jump into the Fire" (1972) "Coconut" (1972) "You're Breakin' My Heart" (1972)

"Coconut" is a novelty song written[1] and first recorded by American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson, released as the third single from his 1971 album, Nilsson Schmilsson. It was on the U.S. Billboard charts for 14 weeks, reaching #8,[2] and was ranked by Billboard as the #66 song for 1972. It charted minorly in the UK, reaching #42.[3] "Coconut" did best in Canada, where it peaked at #5.[4]

In 1998, a cover version was released by Australian singer Dannii Minogue as a single, peaking at #62 on the ARIA singles chart.

Lyrics[edit]

The lyrics feature Nilsson singing three characters (a narrator, a woman and a doctor), each in a different voice.[5] The woman drinks a mixture of lime juice and coconut water, becomes sick, and calls the doctor. The doctor, annoyed at being woken up, tells her to drink the same thing again and call in the morning.

Music[edit]

There are no chord changes in the song: an arpeggiated C7th accompanies the song.

Personnel[edit]

According to the 1971 LP credits:[6]

• Harry Nilsson – vocals
• Caleb Quaye – guitar
• Ian Duck – acoustic guitar
• Herbie Flowers – bass
• Jim Gordon – drums, percussion
• Roger Pope – drums

Chart history[edit]

Dannii Minogue version[edit]

"Coconut"
Single by Dannii Minogue
from the album Girl
B-side	"Everybody Changes Underwater" "Heaven Can Wait" "Someone New"
Released	16 November 1998
Recorded	1994–1995
Genre	Dance-pop techno-pop
Length	4:50
Label	WEA
Songwriter(s)	Harry Nilsson
Producer(s)	Flexifinger (Original vocal production: DNA)
Dannii Minogue singles chronology
"Disremembrance" (1998) "Coconut" (1998) "Everlasting Night" (1999)

Dannii Minogue recorded the song in 1994 with UK dance producers DNA. When Minogue parted ways with Mushroom Records in 1995 and signed to Eternal Records in 1996, she had the track remixed by producers Flexifinger.

The track was originally used as a hidden bonus track on her third album Girl. It was subsequently released in Australia on 16 November 1998 as the fourth and final single from that album, peaking at number 62 on the ARIA singles chart upon its debut, on the chart dated week commencing 23 November 1998.[13]

In 2009, the original version of "Coconut" was made available on the compilation The 1995 Sessions.

Charts[edit]

Other versions[edit]

• Flip Wilson (in his role of Geraldine Jones) covered this song in a fourth-season episode of his variety show along with Harry Belafonte.
• Kermit the Frog and other Muppet characters covered the song in a sketch on The Muppet Show (as part of episode 4.10, with guest Kenny Rogers). The scene showed Kermit in a hospital bed, having hurt his flipper slipping on some oil on the floor in the theater, joining hospital staff singing the song as the room developed a jungle theme.[14]
• The song was also used in commercials for Coca-Cola with Lime.[15] These ads are set in a Coke factory and a corporate boardroom and feature various people incorrectly singing the line as "you put the lime in the Coke, you nut!"
• In the 2003 film Daddy Day Care, Jeff Garlin sings the song with a children's chorus.
• Fred Schneider performed the song on Late Night with Conan O'Brien[16] after the release of the 1995 Everybody Sings Nilsson tribute album, for which the song was the lead single. He was joined on the show by the track's producer Richard Barone of The Bongos on lead guitar.
• The Baha Men (portraying the "Ha-Ha Men") covered the song in the ChalkZone episode "The Smooch".
• In an episode of The Good Place, while in the midst of an existential breakdown, Chidi Anagonye proceeds to make a giant pot of chili in front of his class, while adding unorthodox ingredients and singing, "You put the Peeps in the chili pot and eat them both up/You put the Peeps in the chili pot and add the M&Ms/You put the Peeps in the chili pot, it makes it taste...bad."
• Bones (TV series) season 6 penultimate episode (#22 - The Hole in the Heart) lab assistant Vincent Nigel-Murray (Ryan Cartwright) is killed by a sniper, and in valediction the cast sing his favourite song at the suggestion of Dr Sweets (John Francis Daley).
• Other cover versions of the song have been recorded by Lazlo Bane (under the title "Lime in the Coconut"),[17] Sprung Monkey, P.M. Dawn, and, according to a Nilsson website, the Alice Cooper Band.[18]
• Ty Segall recorded and released the song along with an entire cover version of the album which is offered for free download on Bandcamp as a free album of Harry Nilsson covers called Segall Smeagol after Nilsson Schmilsson.

References[edit]

1. ^ Jones, Dylan. "You may remember Harry Nilsson as the man who led John Lennon astray during a lost LA weekend". The Independent. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
2. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Billboard Top 40 Hits (8th ed.). p. 458. ISBN 0-8230-7499-4.
3. ^ UK Official Charts, 27 September 1969
4. ^ RPM Top Singles, 9 September 1972
5. ^ Alyn Shipton (2013). Nilsson: The Life of a Singer-Songwriter. Oxford University Press. 9780199330690
6. ^ Nilsson Schmilsson (CD booklet: reproduced 1971 LP sleeve). Harry Nilsson. BMG Entertainment. 2000.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
7. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". 30 March 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
8. ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
9. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, September 2, 1972". Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
10. ^ "Best of 1972 songs and music, on". Musicandyears.com. 12 November 2010. Archived from the original on 16 September 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
11. ^ "Musicoutfitters.com". Archived from the original on 27 April 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
12. ^ "Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 30, 1972". Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
13. ^ a b "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart: Week Commencing 23 Nov 1998". Australian Record Industry Association Ltd. Archived from the original on 11 October 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
14. ^ Coates, Tyler (7 January 2015). "10 Essential Musical Moments From 'The Muppet Show'". Decider. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
15. ^ Coca Cola:Coke Commercial(Funny)Put the Lime in the Coke – YouTube
16. ^ "Fred Schneider of the B-52s sings Harry Nilsson's 'Coconut' with two different Nineties supergroups". 5 October 2017.
17. ^ "Lazlo Bane's Guilty Pleasures". cdbaby.com. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
18. ^ "Interview: Alice Cooper on Lemmy, Raquel Welch, Elvis Presley and more".

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