Bubble Gum World

Album: Simon Says (1968)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The term "Bubblegum" came to describe a style of music that was light and fun, without requiring much thought. This song, which was written by the group's drummer Floyd Marcus, may have inspired the term. Says Floyd: "We've never been able to verify this, but we heard that somewhere in one of the major magazines somebody coined the phrase 'Bubblegum Music,' directly related to that song."
  • The 1910 Fruitgum Company was a classic "Bubblegum" band, and had several hits in the late '60s in this style, including "Simon Says" and "Indian Giver." Floyd Marcus explains: "I wrote a lot of different stuff back then. Before the band started, even, we were all fans of heavier music. We were fans of Hendrix and The Beatles and The Stones, and Cream, and Yardbirds to The Animals. But I just tended to write whatever. It was: "You think you're in a bubblegum world playing in sandboxes, too, I'd just like to tell you, girl, you're too old to think it's true." I was playing on the words a little bit, and there was a pretty wide range, a pretty big spectrum of music in the '60s. I point this out to my kids, that there was a pretty diverse terrain of music back then, from about '64 to '69. So I really didn't think about whether the song was light or bubblegummy. I just kind of wrote this song playing with those lyrics. And Jeff Katz and Jerry Kasenetz who were our producers, when they heard a lot of the songs, they liked them, they thought they would fit. So it wound up on our first Fruitgum Company album." (Check out our interview with Floyd Marcus.)

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Gary Brooker of Procol Harum

Gary Brooker of Procol HarumSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer and pianist for Procol Harum, Gary talks about finding the musical ideas to match the words.

Andy McClusky of OMD

Andy McClusky of OMDSongwriter Interviews

Known in America for the hit "If You Leave," OMD is a huge influence on modern electronic music.

Waiting For The Break of Day: Three Classic Songs About All-Nighters

Waiting For The Break of Day: Three Classic Songs About All-NightersSong Writing

These Three famous songs actually describe how they were written - late into the evening.

Donald Fagen

Donald FagenSongwriter Interviews

Fagen talks about how the Steely Dan songwriting strategy has changed over the years, and explains why you don't hear many covers of their songs.

Graham Nash

Graham NashSongwriter Interviews

Graham Nash tells the stories behind some of his famous songs and photos, and is asked about "yacht rock" for the first time.

Michael Sweet of Stryper

Michael Sweet of StryperSongwriter Interviews

Find out how God and glam metal go together from the Stryper frontman.