Stuck in the Middle with You

Stuck in the Middle With You (early references just call it "Stuck in the Middle") is a song written by Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty, and originally released in 1972 by their band Stealers Wheel and on the album Stealers Wheel. The single sold over one million copies, reaching number 10 on both the US and UK pop charts.

According to Rafferty, it was inspired by a pre-signing party at which he and Egan sat around a table with recording company executives.

Cultural references

"Stuck in the Middle" was used in Quentin Tarantino's 1992 film Reservoir Dogs, during the infamous "ear" scene. It was introduced on the radio in the warehouse, as part of K-Billy's "Super Sounds of the Seventies Weekend" by Steven Wright, who acted as the voice of the DJ. Here is how he introduced the song: "Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty were a duo known as Stealers Wheel when they recorded this Dylanesque, pop, bubble-gum favorite from April 1974, that reached up to number five, as K-Billy's Super Sounds of the Seventies continues." The song was also included in the Reservoir Dogs game.

This same scene was later parodied in The Simpsons episode Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious, where the ultra-violent cartoon characters Itchy and Scratchy are shown re-enacting the ear-slicing scene to the tune of "Stuck in the Middle", but end up decapitating Quentin Tarantino instead.

Jeff Healey recorded a cover version of Stuck in the Middle With You in 1995. Juice Newton also covered the song twice: once in 1985 on her album "Old Flame" and re-recorded it in 2004 for her "Collection" CD. Susanna Hoffs covered the song on her eponymous 1996 release. British singer Louise Redknapp also recorded a cover version.

"Stuck in the Middle With You" was featured in the 2000 Malcolm in the Middle episode "Funeral".

It was also recorded by Keith Urban and featured as a bonus track on the 2001 American re-release of his 1997 album The Ranch.

The song (playfully retitled "Stuck in the Metal") was covered by The Eagles of Death Metal on their 2004 album Peace, Love, Death Metal.

The song is used in the Disney Channel Original Movie's 2004 Stuck in the Suburbs.

It also appears in the 1997 movie, "Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie".

The song is often mistakenly attributed to Bob Dylan, likely because Dylan's distinctive voice is similar to Rafferty's, or perhaps because the line "jokers to the right" is vaguely reminiscent of the Joker character in Dylan's songs "All Along the Watchtower" and "Jokerman". It may as well due to the fact that in Reservoir Dogs, the DJ leads into the song by calling it "Dylan-esque". The Steve Miller Band is also mistakenly associated with the song, because the saying "jokers to the right" is compared with Miller's album The Joker and the nickname Joker.

On the Comedy Central TV show Crank Yankers, an episode featuring rapper Ludacris parodies a version of "Stuck in the middle". The episode involves Ludacris wanting to change his name to peanut head, which is actually the mascot for Planters peanuts, Mr. Peanut. After talking to his record executive, he begins to torture Mr. Peanut in the same manner from the movie Reservoir Dogs, even including a food version of "Stuck in the middle".

The band Lazlo Bane, known for the theme song for Scrubs, was told after a show in L.A. in December 2006 that the band reminded someone of Stealers Wheel, Lazlo Bane didn't know who they were. The next day they were asked to record a song for a scene in a movie. They searched the lyrics of Stuck in the Middle With You and it was by Stealers Wheel. It is going to be featured in their next CD.

The song was also on the show American Idol by the top 16 in 2007.