Ice Cream For Crow

Album: Ice Cream For Crow (1982)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The title track of Captain Beefheart's second-to-last album, "Ice Cream for Crow" is typically inscrutable, a word salad of lines like "crow pants the scarecrow" and "hop flop squawk." Good luck trying to figure it out. Beefheart once explained, "I'm just a silly ass. I have no method to my madness."
  • Beefheart and his Magic Band invested a lot in the video for this song, where they perform it the desert. It was supposed to bring the niche band into the living rooms of the masses, but they were quickly deflated when MTV deemed it "too weird" to play.

    Those who saw the video did so either on syndicated music video shows like Night Flight, or on David Letterman's show. When Letterman had Beefheart on, he played the video and asked him what "Ice Cream for Crow" means. Beefheart's reply made no sense, but he said it with a conviction that left you believing it made sense to him. A rough transcription: "Ray gun, jelly beans, rope trick, he's a bad actor. What it has to do is black and white at a raven, vanilla ice cream."

    Regarding the video, he declared, "I don't want my MTV if they don't want my video," referring to MTV's ubiquitous "I want my MTV" slogan.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty

Rob Thomas of Matchbox TwentySongwriter Interviews

Rob Thomas on his Social Distance Sessions, co-starring with a camel, and his friendship with Carlos Santana.

Stephen Christian of Anberlin

Stephen Christian of AnberlinSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer/lyricist for Anberlin breaks down "Impossible" and covers some tracks from their 2012 album Vital.

Part of Their World: The Stories and Songs of 13 Disney Princesses

Part of Their World: The Stories and Songs of 13 Disney PrincessesSong Writing

From "Some Day My Prince Will Come" to "Let It Go" - how Disney princess songs (and the women who sing them) have evolved.

Rosanne Cash

Rosanne CashSongwriter Interviews

Rosanne talks about the journey that inspired her songs on her album The River & the Thread, including a stop at the Tallahatchie Bridge.

Gene Simmons of Kiss

Gene Simmons of KissSongwriter Interviews

The Kiss rocker covers a lot of ground in this interview, including why there are no Kiss collaborations, and why the Rock Hall has "become a sham."

Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes

Chris Robinson of The Black CrowesSongwriter Interviews

"Great songwriters don't necessarily have hit songs," says Chris. He's written a bunch, but his fans are more interested in the intricate jams.