Antigonish / Hughes Mearns

"Antigonish" is a poem by American educator and poet Hughes Mearns. It is also known as "The Little Man Who Wasn't There", and was a hit song under that title.

Poem
Yesterday, upon the stair, I met a man who wasn’t there He wasn’t there again today I wish, I wish he’d go away...

When I came home last night at three The man was waiting there for me But when I looked around the hall I couldn’t see him there at all! Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more! Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door... (slam!)

Last night I saw upon the stair A little man who wasn’t there He wasn’t there again today Oh, how I wish he’d go away

History
Inspired by reports of a ghost of a man roaming the stairs of a haunted house in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada, the poem was originally part of a play called The Psyco-ed which Mearns had written for an English class at Harvard University about 1899. In 1910, Mearns put on the play with the Plays and Players, an amateur theatrical group and, on 27 March 1922, newspaper columnist FPA printed the poem in "The Conning Tower", his column in the New York World.

In popular culture
Mearns' "Antigonish" has been used numerous times in popular culture, often with slight variations in the lines. Versions are frequently featured in modern entertainment.

Film

 * Identity
 * Velvet Goldmine
 * Being Cyrus
 * Logan's Run
 * The Haunting in Connecticut
 * Being Cyrus
 * The title of the 2001 movie The Man Who Wasn't There was taken directly from this poem.
 * Knowing

Literature

 * Dreamcatcher
 * Halting State
 * Dead Guilty
 * The Ambler Warning
 * Major Operation
 * Q-Squared
 * The Silent Tower
 * Shades of Grey
 * Being Human (Star Trek New Frontier, No 12)
 * Night of the Jabberwock
 * The Immortal Highlander
 * Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington
 * Methuselah's Children - Robert A. Heinlein

Comics

 * The Question (DC Comics), write by Dennis O'Neil;
 * 52 (DC Comics), write by Greg Rucka, Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison and Mark Waid.

Television

 * Sapphire and Steel
 * Midsomer Murders
 * La Femme Nikita
 * A Touch Of Frost
 * Lost

United States Supreme Court Decision

 * Crawford v. Marion County Election Board. 553 U.S. 181, 227 (2008).

Other media
A version printed in Mad magazine around the time of the Church Committee hearings read:

There was a man upon the stair When I looked back, he wasn't there He wasn't there again today I think he's from the CIA.

A version appeared in March 2008 that played on the contrast between UK Prime Ministers Tony Blair (1997–2007) and Gordon Brown (2007-2010). Allegedly it was composed by a minister in the Labour government.

In Downing Street upon the stair I met a man who wasn't Blair. He wasn't Blair again today. Oh how I wish he'd go away.

A version appeared in issue 33 of the DC Comics title 52. It was spoken by The Question

...Upon the stair, I met a man who was not there... He was not there again today, I wish to gosh he'd go away.

Song
In 1939, "Antigonish" was adapted as a popular song titled "The Little Man Who Wasn't There" by Harold Adamson with music by Bernie Hanighen, both of whom received the songwriting credits. A 12 July 1939 recording of the song by the Glenn Miller Orchestra with vocals by Tex Beneke became an 11-week hit on Your Hit Parade reaching #7. Other versions were recorded by Larry Clinton & His Orchestra with vocals by Ford Leary, Bob Crosby & His Orchestra with vocals by Teddy Grace, Jack Teagarden & His Orch Orchestra with vocals by Teagarden, and Mildred Bailey.

In 1971, on their eponymous album, the Danish band "Midnight Sun" (A.K.A. "The Rainbow Band") released the song "Nobody" which has as its lyrics the first verse of the poem.

In 2005, the U.S. American aggrotech band Psyclon Nine featured a sample of the poem in the song "The Unfortunate" from their album INRI.

In 2005, the U.S. Christian metal band Nodes of Ranvier includes lines from this poem in the song, "Novocain For No Reason".

In 2007, the Swedish black/doom metal band Shining featured a sample of the poem in the opening of their album, V - Halmstad.

The poem is also sampled in the EBM song "Recognition" by The Parallel Project.

Similar lyrics can be heard in the song "The Man Who Sold the World" by David Bowie, popularly covered by Nirvana...

We passed upon the stair We spoke of was and when Although I wasn't there He said I was his friend...

...furthermore, in an example of meme, pop band Visage (a legacy of David Bowie) depict in their music video clip "Mind of a Toy" - a nighttime meeting/passing upon a staircase with a little man who fades away.

The poem is referenced in OTEP's song "Communion" from their 2007 album The Ascension, and Chino XL's song "Skin" from the album Poison Pen. The psy-trance band Xerox and Illumination used an excerpt from the poem in the song "Paranoia" from their album XI.