General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThat Familiar Ice Cream Truck Song? Yeah It’s the Most Racist Song Ever (Video)
With summer upon us and as we all look forward to that familiar sound of the friendly neighborhood ice cream man coming by to sell us overpriced dairy productsas we watch our children flock to him to satisfy their appetite for something to offset the blistering heat of the day and as that iconic tune plays
wait, what is that tune called, anyway?
Oh, thats rightN*gger Love A Watermelon Ha! Ha! Ha! Wait, what? Thats right, folksthe song we all know and lovethe one that signifies that frozen confections are on their wayis one of the most racist songs ever written! Released in 1916 by Columbia Records, the catchy tune plays on the watermelon-eating stereotype surrounding African Americans.
The melody itself is nearly as old as the country itself, adding racist lyrics to what was originally a 19th-century melody Turkey in the Straw, which was based on the traditional British song, The Old Rose Tree. In the late 1820s, lyrics were added and the song was retitled, Zip Coon and used in what right-wingers would call traditional blackface minstrel shows (because bigotry is a traditional value, dontchaknow?).
However, the new version of the song just wasnt racist enough! New lyrics were written, incorporating the general theme of the wildly popular Coon Cards, seen below:
More at http://atlasleft.org/that-familiar-ice-cream-truck-song-yeah-its-the-most-racist-song-ever-video/ .
JackRiddler
(24,979 posts)This is a different song, right? I've heard it, but I never heard it used to sell ice cream, guess that's true outside New York. I've also never heard it with the racist lyrics. It's not the tune's fault if racist lyrics were devised for it.
The melody itself is nearly as old as the country itself, adding racist lyrics to what was originally a 19th-century melody Turkey in the Straw, which was based on the traditional British song, The Old Rose Tree.
notadmblnd
(23,720 posts)Do your boobs hang low? Do they wobble to and fro? Can you tie them in a knot? Can you tie them in a bow? and on.....
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)of which I am acquainted.
frylock
(34,825 posts)tinymontgomery
(2,584 posts)That's the one I grew up with. 50 some odd years later the toon and a some of the lyrics are still in my head.
notadmblnd
(23,720 posts)But never, ever in my life have I heard an ice cream truck play that one. Could it just be a regional thing?
Donald Ian Rankin
(13,598 posts)On the other hand, it doesn't greatly surprise me either that people set words to it, or that those words were racist.
I'd propose the opposite course of action to the article linked: don't draw attention to it, let the racist associations fade into well-deserved obscurity, and go on using a perfectly good tune just as before.
seaglass
(8,171 posts)when we had to do the dreaded square dancing. No racist lyrics. I think the racist songs were different versions of the original song and of course disgusting.
bullwinkle428
(20,629 posts)that the truck in my neighborhood plays ad nauseum for a good 5-6 months out of the year. If I happen to be outside for any length of time, that constant repeated jingle threatens to turn me into something just short of Michael Douglas' character in "Falling Down"!
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)a tune that had been around forever the tune is now racist? That is silly. If I put anti-Chinese lyrics to Beethovans 5th amd start calling it "C/*@$ Cant Drive" does that make the symphony racist long aft er people have forgotten my racist lyirics? I think not.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)Much as many traditional English hymns were simply words set to popular British drinking songs (e.g., From Heavn Above, We Thank Thee Our Father, and Amazing Grace)... but the tunes are now religious? That is silly...
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)But not after any religious connection is forgotten.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)MineralMan
(146,288 posts)If someone wrote racist lyrics for that tune, it doesn't mean that the notes of Turkey in the Straw are racist.
There has to be some intent, and there is none in ice cream trucks playing Turkey in the Straw. I'm not seeing this at all.
Orrex
(63,203 posts)Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)know the title as "Turkey in the Straw." I was the buyer at a Sheet Music store for 9 years so have a pretty good knowledge of titles, composers and publishers. I've never heard of the "re-titled" version . . . until now. With this article and the reposting on DU, now lots more people will know the re-titled version along with some of the racist lyrics now where before, virtually no one knew. Good job!
grasswire
(50,130 posts)although it would have been more fun at the turn of the twentieth century. I collect vintage sheet music. Love the stuff.
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)Have some great stories about weird requests. Now, mind you we only sold sheet music and folios, no records or cassettes (this was in the 1980's). But one of my favorites was a lady who came in and asked for, and I quote, "the original cast recording of Handel's 'Messiah.'" Some days it was hard as hell to keep a straight face.
grasswire
(50,130 posts)"adding racist lyrics to what was originally a 19th-century melody "Turkey in the Straw"
The song was parodied in minstrel shows. That means minstrel shows were racist, not "Turkey in the Straw".
Brother Buzz
(36,420 posts)Our Sikh ice cream dude plays insipid electronic Christmas carols on his loudspeaker. I'm guessing he found his treasured tape in a bargain bin somewhere.
Munificence
(493 posts)I can just visualize the scene...too bad Cheech and Chong didn't use xmas carols in the movie, would have been brilliant.
whistler162
(11,155 posts)TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)to make a point about what?
So far, hardly anyone here ever heard that song on an ice cream truck and nobody heard the alternative lyrics. Let the old minstrel shows die a proper death.
Xyzse
(8,217 posts)I can put alternative words to the American Anthem, and promote it as something.
Then, the later generations would say:
"You know the 'Murica Anthem? It is the most socialist song ever."
struggle4progress
(118,281 posts)Xyzse
(8,217 posts)Does your ears hang low
Does it wobble too and fro
???
I don't have sound at the moment, so I have no idea.
msongs
(67,400 posts)Xyzse
(8,217 posts)They come in a multitude of colors.
grasswire
(50,130 posts)closeupready
(29,503 posts)that I've always associated with the ice cream trucks - anytime the weather warms up, and you hear that song, you know summer is either here or on the way.
Codeine
(25,586 posts)Who the fuck ever heard of some old asshole putting racist lyrics to an existing tune? I've heard Turkey in the Straw my whole life without ever encountering a hint of some forgotten added-on lyrics.
Goofy article.
Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)Ice cream trucks play a melody, not a song with lyrics. And as your post points out, the melody is "Turkey in the Straw", which is in no way racist. Whoever came up with this is obviously one of those people who is very desperate and eager to search out and find things to be offended about.
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)hunter
(38,311 posts)... into something racist and ugly?
I swear, what was wrong with a nation that couldn't tolerate some silly song about sucking and fucking, bouncing balls and breasts, but openly celebrated racism?
Sadly, our nation is still twisted. A movie can be a bloody violent spectacle and get a PG rating, but get too explicit with ordinary fun and silly sex and that's an R or NC-17.
sigh.
SwankyXomb
(2,030 posts)Well done.
zach.magee
(13 posts)I thought we were talking about Cazwell for a sec.
closeupready
(29,503 posts)louis-t
(23,292 posts)I haven't heard Turkey in the Straw from an ice cream truck for a long time.
winter is coming
(11,785 posts)LuvNewcastle
(16,844 posts)but I've never heard anyone say it's racist, just annoying as hell. I live in a mostly black neighborhood, and no one around here has ever said they're offended by the song. All the adults do joke about how much they would like to destroy the truck, but that's only because the truck plays the song so loudly and it seems to take forever for the damn thing to wind around the streets through the neighborhood. People make up awful lyrics to songs all the time, lyrics that would never have been conceived by the original composers. I think this article is silly, and it might even be an attempt to stir up shit about something that should properly be ignored.
warrprayer
(4,734 posts)TexasTowelie
(112,144 posts)warrprayer
(4,734 posts)you just gave me the muchies!
diabeticman
(3,121 posts)episode where Yakko (?) named all the state capitols and she could swear the melody they used was the Turkey in the straw
GreenEyedLefty
(2,073 posts)Nothing like a Russian dirge to bring the kiddies running for ice cream!
Feron
(2,063 posts)"Pop goes the Weasel" or "The Entertainer".
Nothing against the latter two songs, but they're awful after a few months of an ice cream truck blaring them daily.
I don't know how ice cream truck drivers stay sane.
NCTraveler
(30,481 posts)Their imagination and need to be outraged is something to behold. If they are looking this far to get outraged, every task must be monumental.