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1959 single by the Coasters
"
Poison Ivy
" is a popular song by American songwriting duo
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
. It was originally recorded by
the Coasters
in 1959.
[1]
It went to No.1 on the
R&B
chart, No.7 on the
Billboard
Hot 100
chart,
[2]
and No.15 in the UK. This was their third top-ten hit of that year following "
Charlie Brown
" and "
Along Came Jones
".
Composition
[
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]
Lyrics
[
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]
The song discusses a girl known as "Poison Ivy". She is compared to
measles
,
mumps
,
chickenpox
, the
common cold
, and
whooping cough
, but is deemed worse, because "Poison Ivy, Lord, will make you itch". According to lyricist Jerry Leiber, "Pure and simple, 'Poison Ivy' is a metaphor for a sexually transmitted disease".
[3]
The song also makes references to other flowers such as a
rose
and a
daisy
.
Cover versions
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]
- The Dave Clark Five
? 1963. It was released as part of an E.P.
[4]
- The Paramounts
? as both a single (1963) and as part of a E.P. (released 1964). The single version got to #35 on the U.K. Charts.
[5]
[6]
- The Rolling Stones
recorded two different versions in 1963, the first version appeared on the EP
The Rolling Stones
, released early 1964. The second version appeared on a 1972 compilation of the Rolling Stones called
More Hot Rocks (Big Hits & Fazed Cookies)
.
[5]
- Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs
? Australia #1/1964. It famously kept The Beatles from the #1 spot on the Sydney charts at the very moment that the group was making its first and only tour of Australia?a feat which resulted in Thorpe being invited to meet the Fab Four at their hotel.
[5]
- The Hollies
- in 1963, on their first Australian LP.
- The Kingsmen
- on their
15 Great Hits
album in 1966.
- Manfred Mann
? B-side of the 1966 single "You Gave Me Somebody to Love"
- Redbone
- 1972, on their album
Already Here
.
- The Lambrettas
? 1980. They reached #7 in the British charts.
- Bobby and the Midnites
- Bob Weir - 1980. Live in concert 11/1/80
- The Romantics
? on the 1985 album,
Rhythm Romance
.
- Linda McCartney
? in 1987, and her cover was released on her posthumous album
Wide Prairie
in 1998.
- Young & Restless
? 1988
- The Nylons
? 1988, for the
Stealing Home
soundtrack.
- Ian Gillan
&
The Javelins
played it in the '60s, then reunited and recorded it for the
Sole Agency and Representation
album in 1994.
- Hanson
? on their 1995 album
Boomerang
.
- Meshell Ndegeocello
? 1997, with slightly altered lyrics. Her cover was included on the
Batman & Robin
soundtrack, in which the villainess
Poison Ivy
is a main character. A greatly altered instrumental cover of the song by Jai Winding is heard in the film, but not on the soundtrack.
- Los Straitjackets
? in 2007 released a Spanish-language cover of the song titled "La Hiedra Venenosa," on their album
Rock en Espanol, Vol. 1
.
- Giuliano Palma & the Bluebeaters
? on their 2008 album
Boogaloo
.
- Chris Burke
- The Lords
- Los Rebeldes del Rock ? a Mexican band formed in 1957 by
African
-Mexican singer
Johnny Laboriel
. Version in Spanish, "La Hiedra Venenosa", released on EP (Orfeon, 1964).
- The Puppets
- Golden Boys
? in Portuguese, as "Erva Venenosa", in 1965, with the version's lyrics portraying an evil woman.
[1]
Covered by Brazilian pop band Herva Doce in 1982, and
Rita Lee
on her album
3001
in 2000.
- Los Flippers, a
Colombian rock and roll
band of the 1960s, recorded a version in Spanish called "El Melenudo".
- Bleached
? on their 2014 EP
For The Feel
.
References
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Singles
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B-sides
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Other songs
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Decca (UK) and
London (US)
singles
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Rolling Stones
Records/Atlantic
singles
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Rolling Stones
Records singles
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Virgin singles
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Universal singles
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ABKCO singles
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Others
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Films
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Other media
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Characters
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Music
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Video games
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See also
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