Of Unicorns & Things

If you’re of a certain age, you’re familiar with The Unicorn by The Irish Rovers.

What you may not know is this song was written by Shel Silverstein, best-known for his children’s books Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, etc. I venture to guess that you’ve never heard the song sung by its creator before.

You also may not know that I wrote A Boy Named Shel, the first full-length biography published almost twenty years ago, which is also pretty hard to believe.

Here’s the introduction from the book, which is also surprising, since it was the very first time in my life that I wrote about myself:

When I was growing up in the suburban New Jersey of the ‘60s, going to diners with my father was my favorite thing in the world. Once we settled into the red Naugahyde banquette, I’d order a cheeseburger – regardless of the time of day – and he’d sit across from me, one hand around a cup of Sanka, the other holding a Kent cigarette.

For other kids, the highlight of the meal came with the chance to stand slack-jawed in front of the brightly lit glass carousel that displayed a variety of colossal desserts. But for me it was the moment when my father would slide a quarter across the greasy Formica and say I could pick any song I’d like from the chrome jukebox at the end of the booth. I’d grab the coin, spin it into the slot and stand up on the banquette in my Buster Browns, reaching for the wheel that flipped each page of selections with a metallic click.

After years of camping out in establishments along Routes 4 and 17, we had the ritual down pat. We went through the motions at every diner, even though we both knew there was only one song I wanted to hear: “The Unicorn” by the Irish Rovers. At five plays for a quarter, I’d punch in the same letter-number combination – E-2 or D-4, just like bingo – five times in a row. My job done, I’d settle back down into my seat and wait for the song to begin, my pulse racing until I’d heard my favorite line from the song: “humpty-backed camels and some chimpanzees.”

A few of the patrons would inevitably start grumbling around the third or fourth time the song played, but I didn’t care. I sat with a big grin on my face, my heels kicking the booth to keep time while my half-eaten burger grew cold. All the while, my father sat drinking and puffing, gray tendrils of smoke gathering in patchy clouds above his head.

When I discovered that Shel Silverstein had written “The Unicorn” back in 1962 – the year of my birth – I knew that I had found the subject of my next biography.

Do you have a favorite Shel Silverstein book or song? Leave a comment below!