<Tr> <Th> Songwriter (s) </Th> <Td> Vivian Stanshall and Neil Innes </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Producer (s) </Th> <Td> Gerry Bron, Lyn Birkbeck </Td> </Tr> <P> "Death Cab for Cutie" is a song composed by Vivian Stanshall and Neil Innes and performed by the Bonzo Dog Doo - Dah Band . It was included on their 1967 album Gorilla . </P> <P> Innes has stated that his initial inspiration for the song was the title of a story in an old American pulp fiction crime magazine he found at a street market . Stanshall's primary contribution was to shape "Death Cab For Cutie" as a parody of Elvis Presley (notably Presley's 1957 hit "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear"), and he sang it as such, with undertones of 1950's Doo - wop . In the style of several early teenage tragedy songs, such as "Teen Angel", it tells a story of youthful angst: "Cutie" who goes out on the town against her lover's wishes . "Last night Cutie caught a cab, uhuh - huh ..." She is killed when the taxicab she is in runs a red light and crashes . Stanshall, as lead singer, details Cutie's doomed journey to the sound of a honky - tonk piano and surging saxophones, while the Bonzo chorus warns: "Baby, don't do it ..." Stanshall repeats the refrain in true Presley hip - wriggling style: "Someone's going to MAKE...you pay your fare ." </P>

Who wrote the song death cab for cutie