Popsicle

Album: Drag City (1963)
Charted: 21
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Songfacts®:

  • Popsicles often show up as prurient metaphors in songs, but this song really is about the delicious treat. It's a remarkably innocent song harkening back to a time when the best thing in life was enjoying a popsicle on a sunny day with your girl by your side. As a bonus, you could save the sticks for your younger siblings to play with, giving you more uninterrupted time together.
  • Buzz Cason and Bobby Russell wrote this song. Jan & Dean had a minor hit with the Cason/Russell composition "Tennessee" in 1962, and they included "Popsicle" on their 1963 album Drag City. The song wasn't released as a single until 1966, and it did well, going to #21 US.
  • This song describes a visit by the "popsicle man," which is a lot like an "ice cream man." There were also popsicle carts at this time, and the song's co-writer Buzz Cason worked one when he was a kid, giving him the idea for this song.
  • The first version of this song was released in 1962 by a studio group songwriters Cason and Russell put together called The Todds. That version went nowhere.
  • Later in 1966, Jan & Dean released a parody of this song called "Watermelon," which was written by Cason and Tony Moon.

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