I know this isn’t the most earth shattering of questions, but here goes:
Concerning the line from the song “One eyed, one horned flying purple people eater,” what exactly is the creature?
Is it a one-eyed, one-horned flying purple creature who eats people?
OR
Is it a one-eyed, one-horned flying creature who eats purple people? (A purple people eater.)
(Yeah, I know… if I’m seriously concerned over this, I have no life…)
Zev Steinhardt
I vote A for no particular reason other than that there aren’t a lot of purple people around. Even if there were, I’m not purple, thus diminishing the immediate impact of the song and its application to my life.
I would agree with you Smeghead, however, the song clearly states that the creature is an alien. Maybe there is another planet with purple people that this creature eats.
Also, Smeghead, we could change the immediate impact this song has on your life with a can of paint 
Zev Steinhardt
Well, in the 3rd verse the back up singers sing “Purple people!?” So I think he’s a one eyed, one horned flying monster that eats purple people. Otherwise, why would he be so popular, playing rock n’ roll music through a horn in his head? Would you be a fan of an alien that’s going to eat you?
Logic people! 
“Eatin purple people and it sure is fine” Response from the one-eyed one-horned flying purple people eater when asked what his “line” was. Dr. Demento 20th Anniversery collection 2-CD set. I love strange music.MTS
I’m voting for B. If it were a flying purple creature that eats people, they would be easy to spot and would have an ample food source. However, if they were flying creatures that ate purple people, their food supply would be very limited. Since we don’t see many of these around, I don’t think they are exactly thriving.
Jim
Zev,
That song is stuck in my head now!
I would have to say that it eats purple people. I also feel compelled to add that I have no life, either ;).
Do you know the rest of the lyrics? I’m old enough to remember this song from my childhood, but not in detail. I have just the one verse repeating in my poor brain. I might as well be tortured properly with the whole thing.
D’Oh!! And I own that CD set (…and the 25th anniversary CDs…and the 30th anniversary CDs). That’s what I get for not listening carefully. Thanks, Booker57.
Zev Steinhardt
There is also the possibility that the one-eyed, one-horned creature eats flying purple people. In any case, I think there is no ambiguity as to whether the creature is purple or whether it eats purple people. If the creature was meant to be purple, shouldn’t it be “a purple one-eyed one-horned flying people eater”?
I’m just glad it’s not about green people. The song would be blatantly racist.
I refuse to give in to the voice of popular opinion! I’m staging a revolution!! Come, masses, rally around me! For I shall stand forever firmly declaring that the monster is now, always has been, and forever shall be purple!! And also that it eats people of normal color(s)!!
Standing on the table, madly waving around a homemade flag
Another vote for “a people-eater who happens to be purple.” The singer clearly requests, “Mr. Purple People-Eater, don’t eat me!” I don’t recall any purple rock groups in the '50s. They were definitely a late '70s to early '80s phenomenon.
That’s because he ate them all.
The lyrics clearly say…
“I said Mr. Purple People Eater, what’s your line
He said it’s eatin’ purple people and it sure is fine”
So, there’s your answer.
Also note the answer to the plea, “Mister Purple People Eater, don’t eat me!”:
“I heard him say in a voice so gruff:
'I wouldn’t eat you ‘cause you’re so tough.’”
Combined with the declaration from the creature himself that he eats purple people, we find that purple people became extinct because they were so tender and tasty. QED.
(“But that’s not the reason that I came to land,
I wanna get a job in a rock’n’roll band!”)
I’m glad I don’t have to change the name of my hard drive at work. They bought me a grape iMac, so I named it “Purple People Eater”. If anyone can find a pic so I can replace the daisy icon that is currently representing it, I’d appreciate it.
Does this imply that Sheb Wooley, the actor who sang the song was himself purple-skinned? Wouldn’t they have noticed this on the set on Rawhide, his TV show?
“What’s My Line”, the 50s game show, featured people with odd jobs that a panel would have to guess. So, “what’s your line…‘eating purple people, and it sure is fine’” may refer to the OEOHFPPE’s job.
My theory, then…
His job is “eating purple people.”
He freelances and eats regular people in his spare time.
He wants to quit his job of eating purple people to be a rock star. (Perhaps, as some have observed, he’s done his work so well that he is now out of work, no purple people left. Like someone whose job was to hunt passenger pigeons.)
If Mr. Purple People Eater was still around, wouldn’t he have eaten the Artist Formerly Known As The Artist Formerly Known As Prince?
He eats purple people.
My last name: Wooley
Singers last name: Wooley
Relation: Cousin
No kidding: we’re blood.
The creature has one horn
The creature has one eye
The creature flys
The creature eats purple people
Now we just need a no-holds-barred cage match between the PPE and the Man from Mars in Blondies Rapture…