1968 One-Hit Wonder's Novelty Hit Became Known as the ‘Creepiest Song of All Time' Decades Later
In 1968, Tiny Tim's"Tiptoe Thru' the Tulips With Me" became a surprise hit. The song, written in 1929 by Al Dubin and Joe Burke and recorded in a falsetto voice for the cover version, appeared on the album God Bless Tiny Tim. It peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1968, becoming a one-off novelty hit for the eccentric ukulele player.
Tiny Tim famously performed "Tiptoe Thru' the Tulips" on the sketch comedy series Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In shortly before it was released as a single. While that was widely thought to be his first TV performance of the song, he later revealed he played it two years earlier on a daytime talk show.
"In March '66, on coast-to-coast television. It was The Merv Griffin Show. It went over great," Tiny Tim once told Scram magazine in an interview. "[I sang ‘Living in the Sunlight, Loving in the Moonlight']. I also sang 'Tiptoe Thru' the Tulips.' It brought the house down. However, the mail came in, and 99 percent of it asked, ‘What did you have on? What's happening to this place?' They were not happy, and Westinghouse canceled my next appearance due to the complaints."
A whirlwind of success
After "Tiptoe Thru' the Tulips" was released as a single, Tiny Tim appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
"Carson held up my album for the camera on his show before I came out to sing in April of '68," the singer recalled to Scram. "The first Carson show brought down the house. When I left, instead of going out the right way, I went backwards into the curtains. I was the first guest, and because I couldn't get off the stage, he brought me over to sit down. And they were laughing at the jokes. I felt great elation to be on the show. He sold the album so well, and I decided, because I was so hot, not to go on the Joey Bishop or the Merv Griffin Shows."
Tiny Tim had a whirlwind career fueled by his single hit song. He also made headlines for his tulip-themed televised wedding to Miss Vicki Budinger on the Dec. 17, 1969, episode of The Tonight Show, which drew in an estimated 40 million viewers, per IMDb.
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A darker turn
Decades after it was a Billboard hit, "Tiptoe Thru' the Tulips With Me" took on a darker role when it was featured in the 2010 horror filmInsidious. In a 2025 feature about Tiny Tim's novelty hit, Collider named it "the creepiest song of all time," echoing the sentiments of the film's director, James Wan.
In an interview with The Scorecard Review, Wan said, "When I first heard Tiny Tim's version of ‘Tiptoe Thru' the Tulips,' I said to [screenwriter] Leigh [Whannell], ‘This is one of the creepiest songs I've ever heard! It belongs in a serial killer movie.' Where someone is cutting someone up, and something's playing in the background. I told Leigh we needed to somehow get Tiny Tim in there."
The duo found a way to include it in the movie, and the rest is history.
Collider also ranked the scene, which features "Tiptoe Thru' the Tulips" playing as character Renai Lambert (Rose Byrne) sees a creepy-looking dancing boy outside her window, among Wan's scariest movie scenes of all time. "Ostensibly, there's no reason the imagery in this scene should conjure up the stomach-churning dread it does – it's just a Newsies-looking little dude dancing to Tiny Tim -- but thanks to Wan's precise use of movement and framing, that jiving little specter is downright chilling," the outlet noted.
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This story was originally published May 23, 2026 at 6:17 AM.