The band originally consisted of Ed King (lead guitar), Mark Weitz (keyboards), Lee Freeman (rhythm guitar), Gary Lovetro (bass), and Randy Seol (drums). On their first and most famous single, Incense and Peppermints, lead vocals were sung by Greg Munford, a 16-year-old friend of the band.
Strawberry Alarm Clock's song reached #1 on the Billboard pop singles chart in late 1967, and it has since been included in many mutli-artist collections and also appeared in many films as an iconic tune of the swinging sixties. After that success, the band added George Bunnell (bass and rhythm guitar) before making their first LP in 1967, also titled Incense and Peppermints. Bunnell would also become their main songwriter.
Membership changes were many. which sadly foretold the band's falling fortunes. Gary Lovetro left the band before their second album, Wake Up It's Tomorrow, which was also released in 1967. Their single from that album, Tomorrow, was a minor hit and their only other top 40 appearance, reaching #23 in early 1968. Although the group followed up with more LPs in 1968 (The World in a Seashell) and 1969 (Good Morning Starshine), Strawberry Alarm Clock had begun to fall apart and their audience was mostly gone The group managed to keep performing in various forms until 1971, when Strawberry Alarm Clock finally broke up.
Strawberry Alarm Clock as a band has made two notable appearances in films, first in the 1968 Jack Nicholson movie Psych-Out, where they played several songs including Incense and Peppermints, Rainy Day Mushroom Pillow, and The Pretty Song from Psych-Out. They second' appeared in the 1970 Russ Meyer camp classic Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.
Ed King went on to join Lynyrd Skynyrd. Several members of Strawberry Alarm Clock reunited in the 80s to perform on oldies concert tours as well. Still, no additional albums came of that.
The original band lineup reunited one last time to perform an approximately one-hour set at the Virginia Theatre in Champaign, IL, on April 29, 2007. The event was part of the last day of film critic Roger Ebert's ninth annual Overlooked Film Festival and was preceded by a screening of Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. Despite being unable to speak due to recent surgery, Ebert made prepared remarks with the use of a device given to him by a U of I professor.
Incense & Peppermints
Strawberry Alarm Clock Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ba, ba, ba, ba
Good sense, innocence, cripplin' mankind
Dead kings, many things I can't define
Occasions, persuasions clutter your mind
Incense and peppermints, the color of time
Little to win but nothin' to lose
Incense and peppermints, meaningless nouns
Turn on, tune in, turn your eyes around
Look at yourself, look at yourself, yeah, yeah
Look at yourself, look at yourself, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
To divide this cockeyed world in two
Throw your pride to one side, it's the least you can do
Beatniks and politics, nothing is new
A yardstick for lunatics, one point of view
Who cares what games we choose?
Little to win but nothin' to lose
Good sense, innocence, cripplin' mankind
Dead kings, many things I can't define
Occasions, persuasions clutter your mind
Incense and peppermints, the color of time
Who cares what games we choose?
Little to win but nothin' to lose
Incense and peppermints
Incense and peppermints
Sha la la, sha la la
Sha la la, sha la la, sha la la, sha la la
The song Incense and Peppermints by Strawberry Alarm Clock is a psychedelic song with a lot of symbolic and metaphorical references. The opening lines, "Good sense, innocence, cripplin' mankind, dead kings, many things I can't define, occasions, persuasions clutter your mind" indicate the general confusion and cluttering of our minds by various influences. The use of incense and peppermints as the metaphorical reference for the color of time highlights the psychedelic nature of the song. The use of meaningless nouns and phrases like "turn on, tune in, turn your eyes around" creates a hazy and trippy atmosphere.
The song talks about unity amid division, asking people to throw away their pride and beatnik attitudes. The use of the phrase "a yardstick for lunatics," suggests the measure for sanity and insanity is subjective and arbitrary, and we are all somewhat insane in our ways. The chorus, "who cares what games we choose, little to win but nothing to lose" indicates that ultimately, our choices and actions may not matter much in the grand scheme of things and we should not take ourselves too seriously.
Line by Line Meaning
Good sense, innocence, cripplin' mankind
The world's decent and pure qualities are crippling humanity by emphasizing the stark contrast between them and the current state of the world.
Dead kings, many things I can't define
The immortality of dead rulers and the omnipresence of unexplainable vagueness across the world.
Occasions, persuasions clutter your mind
Certain events and forces of influence can be overwhelming and cause mental clutter.
Incense and peppermints, the color of time
The scent of incense and the color of peppermints represent the passing of time and the fleeting nature of human experience.
Who cares what games we choose?
Why does it matter which path we take or what actions we choose to undertake?
Little to win but nothin' to lose
There is very little to gain from any particular choice, but there is also nothing to lose.
Incense and peppermints, meaningless nouns
The ideas of incense and peppermints are light and meaningless in comparison to the larger problems in the world.
Turn on, tune in, turn your eyes around
Become aware of your surroundings and try to see them from different perspectives.
Look at yourself, look at yourself, yeah, yeah
Reflect on yourself and your own actions and decisions.
To divide this cockeyed world in two
To try and draw a clear line between good and bad, and to categorize people and things based on this binary thinking.
Throw your pride to one side, it's the least you can do
Be humble and try to see things from a different point of view, without trying to impose your own beliefs on others.
Beatniks and politics, nothing is new
Counterculture and political movements are not new, and there is always opposition against the status quo.
A yardstick for lunatics, one point of view
The standard for what is considered 'normal' or 'crazy' is arbitrary and subject to change based on perspective.
Incense and peppermints, the color of time
The scent of incense and the color of peppermints represent the passing of time and the fleeting nature of human experience.
Who cares what games we choose?
Why does it matter which path we take or what actions we choose to undertake?
Little to win but nothin' to lose
There is very little to gain from any particular choice, but there is also nothing to lose.
Incense and peppermints
The fleeting and meaningless nature of sensory experiences like the smell of incense and the taste of peppermints in the face of greater human problems and experiences.
Sha la la, sha la la
Repeating sounds that evoke a sense of carefree happiness.
Sha la la, sha la la, sha la la, sha la la
Further repetition of the previous sounds.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: John Carter, Timothy P. Gilbert
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@googlepigs7027
@@silverload3622
Hey dude !
These things are purely subjective
and personal. I took plenty of acid,
M.M, peyote, and the best weed and
hash there was, all through the 70's.
And sober or high, l will always pick
this psychedelic masterpiece, as
the most trippy, vibey, nostalgic,
transcendental, otherworldly song
that came out of that time; and
reflects better than any other, the
multitude of feelings, sensations
and flashbacks that came out of
that totally unique and fantastic
era. But many others certainly did
so as well. I Love them ALL !✌⚡🌠
@OO-by2jl
I was 14 my sister went to a dance , my dad and i went to get her . The music was still playing and my ole man said go in and get her. Strawberry alarm clock was playing this song. I will never forget it
@patton303
The story of this song is pretty crazy. That isn’t the guy who sang this. The song started off as an instrumental. But they decided it needed vocals. John Carter wrote some lyrics but the band thought they were dumb and embarrassing so nobody would sing it. A 16 year old friend of the band named Greg Munford just happened to be in the studio that day. So they asked him if he would sing it and obviously he did. Originally this was a “B” side to “The Birdman Of Alkatrash” but DJ’s around Los Angeles started flipping it over and played this song. Strawberry Alarm Clock was just a local indie band in LA but when DJ’s started playing it, the rights were bought by MCA and distributed nationwide and it became number one on the Billboard charts. Because of this song, Ed King the guitar player obtained a development deal with MCA which was exercised when he joined a little band called The One Percent which became Lynyrd Skynyrd.
@DariusM
😲 Wow!
@granthurlburt4062
Ed King's transition from pschedelia to L.S. is like part of the introductory sequence for Spinal Tap.
@patton303
@@granthurlburt4062 😀😄😂🤣😅
@danm3213
A couple of things: Ed King wrote this song. He might've been in The One Percent, but he was not an original Skynard. He joined the 2nd iteration until health issues forced him out.
@bowieeatsyou7303
@@danm3213 I'm not sure what you mean by "second iteration"? Ed started with Skynyrd in '72, and while there were a couple of people in and out of the band in '71 and '72, he played with RVZ, Allen, Gary, Bob Burns, Leon, and Billy on Pronounced, etc.
@Steve-lq5wt
Got out of high school in 1967.........this song I never understood but I loved it......still do! Went in Air Force a year later Vietnam was going strong.......RIP to the ones who never got home again
@dianequick3127
Yes, RIP to the ones who never got home again.
@roberts1918
Amen. That war was terrible for everyone accept the military industrial complex.