Ice Cream Truck Music, Revisited
Embrace the summer: come to terms with your local ice cream truck chime, and admit that you crave -- nay, require -- its catchy 20 second hook on glorious infinite repeat for maximum seasonal enjoyment.
Last year, I dug up MP3s for a few of the most common ice cream truck songs heard on the sweaty streets of NYC. Be sure to visit this post, where you can grab MP3s of such summer hits as the Mister Softee (RIP) jingle, the Ghetto Ice Cream Truck song, and another tune that someone smarter than me identified as "And The Band Played On."
But we all know that three ice cream truck songs does not a summer make. Here's another scoop (all MP3 links):
Lips Stained Blue | Melted Drumstick Melancholy | Pink Panther Pops = Awesome | Creamsicle of My Dreamsicle | What the Hell is a Choco Taco | Torturing Swedes Since 1969 (Thanks, Marcus!) | Soft Serve Sleepytime | Push-Up Pop Malfunction
And if you're really curious about that signature tinny ice cream truck sound, read this post in the excellent Music Thing blog. Here's a big ol' article about the history and origins of ice cream truck music (via Confederacy of a Dunce).
Ice cream truck music history? I know it's shameless self promotion, but an article I wrote about the history of ice cream truck music got published a couple years back a great arts magazine called Esopus. As cool as the Musiclink outline is (and believe me, it's technological coolness is not lost on me), mine is a bit more comprehensive.
http://homepages.nyu.edu/~dtn9606/NeelySoftServe.pdf
Posted by: DTN | June 26, 2006 at 08:35 AM
Oops. Didn't see that the article was linked already! (I just got so excited about seeing someone talking about ICTM.) Sorry!
Posted by: DTN | June 26, 2006 at 08:37 AM
Where I grew up the ice cream trucks simply just wrang a bell. In the suburbs where I live now, Jack N' Jill has reigned for a few years with its ersatz piano rag ( Scott Joplin? ). The Blue Bunny, a competitor, has arrived this year. I'm still trying to figure out what its music is. I think its La Cu Ca Racha.
Posted by: bob | June 26, 2006 at 09:23 AM
"Pink Panther Pops" is actually "Turkey in the Straw." Lyrics include the following:
Went out to milk
And I didn't know how
I milked the goat
Instead of the cow
A monkey sittin'
On a pile of straw
A winkin' at
His mother-in-law
It's good to know.
Posted by: Cardhaus | June 26, 2006 at 12:18 PM
I grew up in a tough neighborhood. The icecream vans played "Helter Skelter"
Posted by: Ian Mackereth | June 27, 2006 at 10:14 PM
Yeah, when I was growing up the ice cream trucks all played either "The Entertainer" (the Scott Joplin tune bob mentions) or "Turkey in the Straw" (why is it titled "Pink Panther Pops" here?)
Posted by: Wim L | June 27, 2006 at 10:15 PM
I knew Melted Drumstick Melancholy sounded familiar - it is track 1 of the Conet Project and is known as the Swedish Rhapsody. See Conet Project at http://www.irdial.com/conet.htm .
Posted by: Shawn | June 27, 2006 at 10:42 PM
'Lips Stained Blue' is actually the Cuckoo Waltz.
'Melted Drumstick..' sounds like the 2nd half of Red Wing.
'Creamsicle..' sounds like And the Band Played On.
'What the Hell is..' sounds familiar but I cant think of the name. I think the lyrics are Navy-themed if I'm not mistaken.
'Push-Up Pop..' sounds like the same as 'Soft Serve Sleepytime', which is a famous lullaby everyone should recognize but I cant recall the name (is it Brahms'?)
Posted by: Eric | June 27, 2006 at 11:23 PM
What the hell is ... sounds like "Bicycle Built for Two". It should be said that most ice cream trucks play hella weird arrangements of public domain tunes (Joplin's Entertainer, Brahms' Lullaby, whatnot), and the superlicious sound systems make 'em sound even funkier.
The only thing better (or worse) that I've heard was the guy who cruised some of my old stomping grounds in a Yugo ... with a hood scoop ... and what sounded like football stadium tweeters (we never did hear a note of bass; always thought he must've had serious high-freq hearing loss ... or a tendency to think "treble rebel" was a term of endearment).
Posted by: Pierce Presley | June 28, 2006 at 12:32 AM
"What the Hell is..." is indeed "Navy-themed"; it is "Sailing, Sailing (Over The Bounding Main)", known commonly as "Sailing, Sailing (Over The Ocean Blue)", composed by Godfrey Marks [pseudonym of James Frederick Swift], first published in 1880.
Posted by: John H | June 28, 2006 at 06:40 AM
We have two competing trucks that visit our neighborhood in Iowa, and one plays Scott Joplin, while the other steals our souls with "Music Box Dancer." I was living in England during the deep winter one year and couldn't get over the truck that cruised our street every evening, despite the bone-chilling cold. I admit I couldn't resist the ice cream sandwich (handmade before your eyes between two large sugar wafers) drizzled with raspberry sauce. YUM.
Posted by: Rach S. | June 28, 2006 at 09:10 AM
the icecream truck song will never die as long as they can be downloaded as a F**CKN CELL PHONE RING.
does that express enough of my iritation with being force fed someone elses idea of good tunage?
Posted by: Daryl Licked | June 28, 2006 at 10:11 AM
We had the Mr. Softee tune in Kensington, Brooklyn, but we also had a truck that played an awesome, Russian-sounding tune, reminiscent of the Tetris theme that is sadly not represented here.
Posted by: dalas | June 28, 2006 at 02:02 PM
Thank you so much for the great Ice Cream Jingle links! My first exposure to IceCream Truck Jingles was in Karlsruhe, Germany. A truck which looked and sounded just like an american ice cream vehicle would visit our neighborhood daily, but instead of ice cream, it served children's beer to all of us kids...it looked and tasted just like beer..without the alcohol! When we moved back to Washington State, I missed that old truck with the cold beer.
Posted by: SWEETKALI | June 28, 2006 at 08:13 PM
We have an ice-cream truck SOMEWHERE near our neigherbor hood that plays the exact same pink panther pops/turkey in the straw song. I've never seen it. The song haunts me.
Posted by: Joseph Grabko | June 30, 2006 at 10:15 PM
Re: Cardhaus's comment, I've always known the Pink Panther one as "Do Your Ears Hang Low": http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/doyourears.htm . We had to sing this in music class in elementary school...
Posted by: Jenn | July 03, 2006 at 12:30 PM
Ahh the memories...
Great idea for adding to a mix for something completely different.
http://musiciansresources.blogspot.com/
Posted by: Mark spivey | August 06, 2006 at 07:16 AM
our ice cream man plays a song called happy wanderer, what you lot think of that tune ?
Posted by: reece | November 22, 2006 at 03:40 PM
In Australia, or at least in Melbourne, our ice ream trucks (Mr. Whippy) plays Greensleaves. cant find it for download :(
was going to use it for a ringtone in the summer :)
Posted by: Axeman2ooo | January 05, 2007 at 04:02 AM
Speaking of creepy/wierd: when I lived in the northern part of Brooklyn NY (Greenpoint / Williamsburg / Bushwick) the ice cream trucks played "Send in the Clowns".
Posted by: JohnU | January 29, 2007 at 07:26 AM
did anyone hear of the law they tried to pass about 3yrs ago to get all ice cream trucks to stop playing music and only ring there bell. i think a child got hit due to not hearing a car due to the music playing please let me know if anyone has heard of this thanks Kim...
Posted by: kim | April 20, 2007 at 03:34 PM
The swedish hemglass tune was composed by famous Swedish Classical choir conductor Robert Sund. Rumour has it that the pay was a life-time supply of icecream.
Posted by: cheerios | May 18, 2007 at 10:28 AM
ice cream trucks are awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: eathan | May 30, 2007 at 01:41 PM
my ice cream truck plays 'hitler has only got one ball' but i dont know the actual name of the tune.
Posted by: dafz | June 13, 2007 at 09:32 AM
In MASS they are trying to BAN Ice cream trucks from playing ANY music at all. This JUST aired on tonight's 10pm news of FOX 25. If they get the bill passed, we'll be taking down the ice cream man like me did the milk man. I miss the milk man! Freakin stupid if you ask me!!
Posted by: Andrew Gaudet | June 14, 2007 at 02:15 AM