Recall That Ice Cream Truck Song? racist

[PennySycamore]

Am I the only person who grew up with ice cream trucks that played "The Sting"?

I think the ice cream truck of my girls' youth played "The Sting" aka Scott Joplin's rag "The Entertainer".

[Rachel333]

I never realized before that "Turkey in the Straw" and "Do your ears hang low?" were the same tune, and I've been hearing both since I was a kid!

[polecat]

I never realized before that "Turkey in the Straw" and "Do your ears hang low?" were the same tune, and I've been hearing both since I was a kid!

I was an adult before I realized that the alphabet song and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star were the same, lol.

[Rebelwife]

Am I the only person who grew up with ice cream trucks that played "The Sting"?

Nope, ours played that too. The one that roams my mom's neighborhood still plays that.

[Rebelwife]

I was an adult before I realized that the alphabet song and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star were the same, lol.

Baa Baa Black Sheep, too.

[littleblueheathen]

This is how I learned it, grammatical in correctness and all:

Have you ever went a-fishin'

On a bright and sunny day

When you sat upon the bank

And watched the little fishes play

With your hands in your pockets

And your pockets in your pants

As you watch the little fishes

Doin the hootchie-cootchie dance

[FJismyheadship]

Do your ears flip flop?

Can you use them like a mop?

Are they stringy on the bottom?

Are they curly on the top?

Can you use them for a swatter?

Can you use them for a blotter

Do your ears flip flop?

Do your ears stick out?

Can you waggle them about?

Can you flap them up and down

As you fly around the town?

Can you shut them up for sure

When you hear an awful bore?

Do your ears stick out?

Do your ears give snacks?

Are they all filled up with wax?

Do you eat it in the morning

Do you eat it in the bath?

Do you eat it with a scone

Or do you eat it on its own?

Do your ears give snacks?

Anyway, I learned the first verse from Barney lol

[Ave Maria]

Am I the only person who grew up with ice cream trucks that played "The Sting"?

Nope.

When I heard the song in the OP, I thought of "Turkey in the Straw" and "Ears Hang Low" -- but I didn't associate that with ice cream. Ours played The Sting.

[thoughtful]

Slight OT. The ice cream vans round here tend to play Colonel Bogey, Whenever I hear the tune the words I hear "Hitler has only got one ball" pop into my head.

Hitler has only got one ball,

He keeps it in the Albert Hall,

Himmler has something sim'lar,

But poor old Goebbels has no balls at all.

My father's regiment sang it this way:

Hitler has only one big ball,

Goering has two, but they are small,

Himmler has something sim'lar,

But poor old Goebbels has no balls at all.

:D

One great thing about being both a musician and a lover of parodies who was raised on Tom Lehrer, Allen Sherman and MAD magazine -- no set of lyrics can ever ruin a melody for me! I can just shift my mind over to another set! :lol:

However, I did have one dramatic experience with a tune having only one association for me, and a very unpleasant one, at that. In college, we had listening assignments for music history classes -- I was not raised in a musically educated family, so there were many pieces I had never heard.

I was happily listening to a Haydn string quartet, and was unnerved when the second movement began:

4t3Vmo_EM8Y

I only knew that as Deutschland Uber Alles, and only thought of it in the context of Nazi Germany.

Now I know the history better, of course, but, at the time, it was very weird for me. Helps me be sympathetic when students only have one association, good or bad, with a melody.

Teaching music, I have had the twinkle/ABC/baabaa conversation many times - most adults seem to have never noticed it.

I also have to break it to people who heard somewhere that Mozart wrote the melody that he did not.

The earliest known appearance of the tune, written down with no words, was in 1761. Mozart knew it as a French folk song called "Ah Vous Dirai-je Maman" and what he did was write variations on it, playing around with the melody.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twinkle_Tw ... ittle_Star

And that is the end of today's music lesson. :lol:

[Jilli]

I was an adult before I realized that the alphabet song and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star were the same, lol.

Same :lol:

[ViolaSebastian]

This is hilarious. A writer for the daily fail must read FJ:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... story.html

[lilith]

My father's regiment sang it this way:

Hitler has only one big ball,

Goering has two, but they are small,

Himmler has something sim'lar,

But poor old Goebbels has no balls at all.

:D

:lol:

My father's did too - except it went "Hitler has only one left ball"

Also, as a result of my father's army days (and my Australian upbringing) I was an adult before I knew the words to "Battle Hymn of the Republic". I knew it as "He joined the paratroopers for the fancy uniform" with a chorus of "Glory glory what a hell of a way to die". I actually love the original and find it a very stirring piece of music, despite not being Christian or American.

[Rachel333]

Haha, there's an entire wikipedia article about Hitler's balls, or lack thereof: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitl ... monorchism

It may have actually been true that he only had one ball.

[bionicmlle]

Ours play The Entertainer.

I learned that song as the balls hang low song but then when I learned to fiddle, I learned it as Turkey in the Straw and it was one of our favorites to play! Too bad about the posted version but I am sure many folk tunes have alternative lyrics.

[doggie]

this thread has been funny but this version has to be the worst version of all.

[amster]

Am I the only person who grew up with ice cream trucks that played "The Sting"?

Here in Sydney the Mr. Whippy vans play Greensleeves. This is the best rendition I can find:

[uber frau]

Here in Sydney the Mr. Whippy vans play Greensleeves. This is the best rendition I can find:

They do in Perth too. Or sometimes 'It's a small world'. Ive never actually seen anyone buying anything from a neighborhood ice cream truck before and thought they were more about selling other things than ice cream. But then I met a friend who actually owns one and she assures me I'm wrong.

[Maxwell]

One great thing about being both a musician and a lover of parodies who was raised on Tom Lehrer, Allen Sherman and MAD magazine -- no set of lyrics can ever ruin a melody for me! I can just shift my mind over to another set! :lol:

D.e.m.e.n.t.o... Dr. Demento!

OK, so really going off topic here, I've always found it rather fascinating to find tune/lyric combinations that work -- my favorite is "Amazing Grace", "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear" and the theme song to Gilligan's Island. Lyrics and tunes are all interchangable. :)

[scc12]

does anyone recall the book Little Black Sambo? It later got changed to Little Brave Sambo.

[Rebelwife]

does anyone recall the book Little Black Sambo? It later got changed to Little Brave Sambo.

We still have a copy of the original book at my mom's house. I was always said it got such a bad rap, it is a really cute story.

[Rebelwife]

D.e.m.e.n.t.o... Dr. Demento!

OK, so really going off topic here, I've always found it rather fascinating to find tune/lyric combinations that work -- my favorite is "Amazing Grace", "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear" and the theme song to Gilligan's Island. Lyrics and tunes are all interchangable. :)

Someone once told me that any Emily Dickinson poem can be set to The Yellow Rose of Texas. I don't know if it's true for all her Poems, but I have never found one that doesn't work.

[Maxwell]

does anyone recall the book Little Black Sambo? It later got changed to Little Brave Sambo.

We grew up with that book! Found our old copy several years back when cleaning out my parents house. My sister snagged it as she remembered reading it more than I.

[Savoring Samsara]

Oh, folk music process, you have created so many amazing and horrifying things and will continue to do so long after we are all dead and gone.

To contribute to the new and evolving topic of discussion: the ice cream truck in my neighborhood plays the Tetris theme, weirdly enough.

[Sobeknofret]

Ours play either The Entertainer or Music Box Dancer.

[salex]

does anyone recall the book Little Black Sambo? It later got changed to Little Brave Sambo.

I loved that book as a tiny child. I thought he was brilliant to outsmart the tiger. I probably have a copy around somewhere.

That said, I think that the old origional bobbsey Twins books are likely far more racist than Little black Sambo. We only had the little golden books of the Bobbsey Twins when I was a kid, but my sister found an old copy of the full lenght books and gave me one for xmas a few years ago--I was amazed!