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 And Peppermint
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
@friesiamans1966
...and now, after we DID change the world, we´re old, dullheaded, grumpy, conservative, scournful and boring old farts, that keep preaching how the youth of today is completely stupid idiots listening to teenage crap and shite - wow, we rilly got somwhere, oh yes....
but i confess: "yummy yummy" and "chewy chewy" were really better than teenage crap and had DEEP feelings the youth of today doesn´t know about - - - NOT AT ALL - in fact they don´t know nothing at all, not even to play instruments - we had the true NATURAL electric guitars with the real NATURAL fuzz sound, not that machine sound of today...
yeah man, what a different and BETTER age, you forgot to mention...
oh, i´m grumpy - sorry for my little rant man, but i´m just revisiting my old heroes of the past, and EVERWHERE i read these comments, how much BETTER we were, and how much BETTER our taste is, and how much BETTER women looked back in the day (i really read that, phew, how embarassing), and i`m so very fed up with this snobism and obsolete chauvinism - love and peace and understanding was my parole from the 60s - sadly this parole has not survived...
the most peaceful people i found on youtube i found on the lofi hiphop sites: really humble and decent young people who talk about their problems of growing up, who listen to each other and try to help where they can...
hey, please don´t feel offended, not my intension, ok?
but understand: no one of our generation did accept, when our grandparents rejected our music, and none of us started listening to their music instead of our stuff, right? so, how could anyone dream of the youth of today rejecting the stuff of their own generation? what an utterly stupid idea!!! we ought to accept that we are OLD now...
btw. i don´t know this song from then - just stumbled across it right now - nice one for sure... :-)
my absolute faves were the who with crazy keith moon on drums - the other day i showed their woodstock show to my daughter and she really liked their raw power and humour...
... and i listen carefully to her music - she is fond of young german hiphoppers and is quite picky in her choice, especially when it comes to lyrics - she absolutely prefers peaceful and thoughtful lyrics - sometimes we sit there for hours reasoning about the lyrics, the techniques, the styles of those artists, her thoughts are way cool - she is a very accurate listener - i wish some of the old lads would be that careful and open minded...
peace and love from germany... :-)
@violet-fox
My mom was born in 1960. She died young, last march 2020. 10 days after her 60th birthday. Strep throat turned into an infection that had her fighting for months. Finally it took my mom. This is one of the last songs she listened too before she got sick... When I walked into the funeral home for her viewing, my little brother had this song playing on his phone..It was the last song he heard her listen to... she loved such a wide range of music. I'll miss her love of music & am forever grateful for her influencing on my music taste. Rest in peace, love you mom.... ✌🧜🏼♀️💫💛✨
@MaynardGKrebs-gv4vy
I am so sorry for your loss. Your Mom sure had a great ear for music. One great thing about being a human being is that you have your memories and no one can take those away. I am cerain your Mom would love this tribute to her.
@sondrasmith2691
I would love to have met your Mom bc I share her love of many different types of music. I am a musician
@Luca.Eller07
I‘m so sorry for your loss,may she rest peacefully. Peace and Love to you and your Fam❤️✝️
@JD-ov5gt
So sorry for your loss.
@pattiharvey2721
So sorry to hear that
@Magnabee97
I was 15 and worked at a fruit store when this came out. It funny how a certain song can put you right back to a distant time in your life
@cosybully
Magnabee97 Those are the best kind of songs!
@juliereminiec4937
@@cosybully I was starting kindergarten at that time
@krystalharwood7842
did the strawberries have an alarm? lol