What were the characteristics in the lyrics of the "Purple People Eater"?

A novelty song written and performed by Sheb Wooley, which reached No. 1 in the Billboard pop charts in 1958 followed by No. 1 in Canada and reaching No. 12 overall in the UK Singles Chart.

The lyrics took just one hour for Wooley to write having heard a joke told by a child of a friend of Wooley's. He described it as "undoubtedly the worst song he had ever written.” According to Wooley, MGM Records initially rejected the song, saying that it was not the type of music with which they wanted to be identified. However, it became popular with the office's young people with up to 50 people listening to the song at lunchtime. This attention was noticed, MGM Records reconsidered and decided to release the song.

This strange creature, "The Purple People Eater" is described as a "one-eyed, one-horned, flying, purple people eater".