| "The Unicorn" | |
|---|---|
Cover to the UK single release |
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| Single by The Irish Rovers | |
| from the album The Unicorn | |
| Released | 1968 |
| Genre | Folk |
| Label | Decca Records |
| Writer(s) | Shel Silverstein |
The Unicorn is a 1968 hit song by Canadian band The Irish Rovers from their album of the same name. It was written by Shel Silverstein and remains one of the best-known songs of the band's long career. It sold 8 million copies worldwide and reached #7 on the US charts[1] and can still be heard regularly in Irish Pubs. In 1981 Will Millar, a former band member, opened an Irish pub in Toronto under the name The Unicorn. [2] Sister pubs were also opened, including one at the site of Expo 86 where the Irish Rovers recorded a live version of the song. The lyrics to the song are also printed as a poem in Silverstein's book Where the Sidewalk Ends. In the original version of the song, The Irish Rovers speak half of the lyrics, as well as the part of the 4th Chorus. The final line of the 5th verse is spoken freely without the music: "And that's why you'll never see a Unicorn to this very day". On the remakes. the majority of the song is sung, again except for the final line, which is also spoken freely, without the music.
The words of the song detail how unicorns, like all other livestock, once ran free and wild prior to the Great Flood described in the Bible. In fact, Silverstein cites the reason they are never seen today as being because the unicorns were foolishly playing in the rain and failed to board the Ark in time. All specimens of the species, he says, therefore drowned in the flood waters and were never seen again. When the Irish Rovers sing the song, the 5th verse, or chorus, featuring the line "Elephants started Elephantin" is omitted, because it sounded too witty, or too nonsensical for airplay.
Andrew McKee later wrote new lyrics explaining that unicorns were magical creatures, and as the Great Flood was in progress, they grew wings and acquired the power to fly above the waters. He concluded the rewritten refrain by writing that to find them, one should seek out, in James M. Barrie's words from Peter Pan that explained how to reach Never-Never Land, "the second star to the right and straight on until morning."
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