A lot of people know Randy Newman primarily from “Short People” or his work on the Toy Story movies. I used to be one of those people.
“You Can Leave Your Hat On” is a Randy Newman song you should know. Joe Cocker’s famous version is good. Newman’s is better. Etta James, Three Dog Night, Tom Jones and plenty of others have recorded it. Newman’s is still better. It’s his song, and nobody understands its peculiar character quite as well as he does.
Cocker turns it into a confident, full-blown striptease anthem. Newman takes a different approach. His narrator sounds less like a commanding seducer and more like an awkward, slightly desperate man trying to prolong the moment. That makes the song funnier, stranger and perhaps a little more disturbing.
People rarely talk about the pace of a song, but this one is all about pace. Newman refuses to hurry. Every piano chord, instruction and pause increases the tension.
Take your time. Real slow. And leave the hat on.