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You Might Want to Re-Think the Ice Cream Truck Song

Hell, I'll even throw my ex-wife in there, the Washington Redskins.
 
What's up Big Perm... er Worm?

big-worm.jpg
 
The ice cream truck plays Turkey in the Straw - not whatever racist bullshit this article is about.
 
Just read the article, Kory. It explains the whole thing.
 
Go said:
Feeling dirty about a song created by some asshole back at the turn of the century is liberal guilt.

If we had to be ashamed of everything that was once racist, wouldn't we have to boycott pro sports? living in the south?
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Apparently, it was a popular song that was part of a popular brand of entertainment. Your grandparents may have even had the record and gone to minstrel shows.
 
I did read the article. I still don't attribute the common melody of the ice cream truck to that of "Nigger Love A Watermelon Ha! Ha! Ha!".

I have, and continue to believe that the melody of the ice cream truck is Turkey in the Straw. It's always been that. Just because some racist stole the melody for a more recent tune and NPR writes an article on it doesn't mean that the song the ice cream truck plays must be that song.
 
cookoutdeac said:
"The first and natural inclination, of course, is to assume that the ice cream truck song is simply paying homage to "Turkey in the Straw," but the melody reached the nation only after it was appropriated by traveling blackface minstrel shows."

and

"The ice cream crossover happened concurrently: 19th century ice cream parlors played the popular minstrel songs of the day. After World War II, the advent of the automobile and the ensuing sprawl required parlors to devise a way to take their products to customers. Ice cream trucks were the solution, and a music box was installed in them as a way to announce their presence in neighborhoods. Naturally, the traditional minstrel tunes of the previous century were employed to evoke the memorable parlor experience. "

So yeah, the reason this tune was chosen was not some innocent coincidence.
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I'm not sure why people assume the ice cream truck tune is the one about turkey and not the one that starts talking about wanting ice cream.
 
PhDeac said:
I'm not sure why people assume the ice cream truck tune is the one about turkey and not the one that starts talking about wanting ice cream.
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Perhaps -- and I'm not being deliberately obtuse here -- because the Ice Cream truck broadcasts just the melody of Turkey in the Straw and not the words of the Watermelon Song.
 
PhDeac said:
I've never really understood the term "liberal guilt" particularly when it comes to slavery and the Jim Crow era. It's like conservatives as saying only liberals feel guilty when they should be saying "Guilty? Nah, that era was awesome. I'm going to go fly my confederate flag right now. #bringbackourcountry."
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Hence why Caturday prefers the term "white guilt."
 
TenaciousKory said:
Perhaps -- and I'm not being deliberately obtuse here -- because the Ice Cream truck broadcasts just the melody of Turkey in the Straw and not the words of the Watermelon Song.
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But they appropriated the melody from the Watermelon Song.. not from the Turkey in the Straw song..
 
TenaciousKory said:
Perhaps -- and I'm not being deliberately obtuse here -- because the Ice Cream truck broadcasts just the melody of Turkey in the Straw and not the words of the Watermelon Song.
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That's what we all thought until we read the NPR article that explained the history and context.

Context matters. If you're watching something on TV and this melody is played over a shot of the night sky, do you assume they're playing "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep?" No.

 
Do ice cream trucks even exist anymore? Dont most of you guys eat that FroYo crap?

(I haven't had ice cream in awhile, I certainly don't need any due to being fat)
 
Can we just pass a law to make them all play David Lee Roth?
 
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