Sing Us a Song, You're Banana Man

Musings on some Musa-related musical faves

Listen — I know I wrote a prune-related post less than two weeks ago, and I swear I never meant to make songs about specific fruits a regular topic of conversation around these parts. But then I had this insane dream a few nights ago…

I was in a small house out in the country somewhere, and there was a big party going on that included live music. There was a trio setting up in the corner of the living room, but one-third of the band had yet to arrive — their guitarist. Knowing that I played guitar, the bassist (a white, red-haired woman in her forties or fifties who looked a little like Sara Lee in her Gang of Four days) asked me if I could fill in.

“Sure,” I said. “What are we playing?”

“Some blues,” grunted the drummer, a large Black man in his sixties.

“Okay, I can handle that,” I shrugged. “I didn’t bring a guitar, though. Do you have something I can play?”

“Yes,” said the bassist, handing me a banana about the length of your standard broomstick. “Peel this and plug it in.”

I did as I was told, plugging the cable from the guitar amp into the base of the banana and hoping for the best. Much to my amazement, I could actually get a pretty good (if slightly mushy) guitar sound out of the thing; there were no fret markers on the banana, but as long as I stuck to D, C and G in standard “cowboy chord” voicings, I was able to stay in the proper key for the song.

We had the place rocking, but then it came time for me to play a guitar solo; and as I slid up around to where the 12th fret would have been, in hopes of finding the right note to start from, the whole banana fell apart in my hands. The partygoers looked on and jeered my predicament, loudly wondering what kind of idiot would actually attempt to play a banana solo.

I’m sure there’s a message in there somewhere. But rather than attempting to decipher it, this dream inspired me to put together a list of my ten favorite songs related to that most popular fruit from the genus Musa: The Banana. I hope it will, er, a-peel to your sensibilities, as well.

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Donovan - Mellow Yellow

Though “thy humble minstrel” would later reveal that his 1966 smash was actually inspired by an advertisement for an electric vibrator called “Mellow Yellow,” the “electrical banana” line was apparently taken as a call to action at the time by listeners who believed that you could get high from smoking dried banana peel scrapings. You couldn’t, of course, but THE MAN couldn’t bust you for trying!

Electric Prunes — The Great Banana Hoax

The opening track of the Prunes’ fantastic 1967 album Underground doesn’t actually mention bananas, nor say anything that could reasonably be interpreted as a riposte to the aforementioned rumor about smoking them. But “The Great Banana Hoax” is a killer title nonetheless, and the tune’s trippy, pulsating vibes make it pretty clear that the Prunes were smoking something far more powerful than peel scrapings.

Tommy James & The Shondells — I Am a Tangerine

ToJam struck psychedelic gold in 1968 with “Crimson & Clover,” but my favorite psych track from him (and from the same album) is “I Am a Tangerine,” a completely bonkers foray into the lysergic regions of the farm stand. Or is “Hello, Banana… I am a Tangerine” simply the greatest fruit-and-vegetable section pickup line of all time? Hard to say — but I dare you to try it!

Legay — The Fantastic Story of the Steam-Driven Banana

And speaking of bonkers… the title of this 1968 British B-side could have easily substituted “Incomprehensible” for “Fantastic,” because even after searching out the lyrics it’s hard to figure out exactly what the hell is going on here. A farmer discovers a steam-driven banana in his greenhouse (is that some kind of… metaphor?), but then people freak out and chop down his greenhouse and he’s arrested for possession of a steam-driven banana, because THE MAN (it’s always THE MAN, isn’t it?) is threatened by the existence of such things? The pounding chorus is great singalong fun, regardless.

Banana Splits — Wait Til Tomorrow

Gotta have a Banana Splits song on this list, of course. And while Bob Marley would probably pick “Tra-La-La” as his favorite Splits jam (having lifted its chorus melody wholesale for “Buffalo Soldier”), I’m gonna go with “Wait Til Tomorrow” — both because it sounds a little like a Gary Puckett cast-off, and because it has a great video that follows my childhood heroes Fledge, Bingo, Drooper and Snorky as they cavort around various San Francisco attractions and landmarks circa 1969. I’m guessing they waited to hit Haight-Ashbury (or the Castro) until after the cameras stopped rolling.

The Kinks — Apeman

Ray Davies’ 1970 cry for help in a disgustingly polluted world has (unfortunately) lost none of its relevance. But he has a personal escape plan, and it involves bananas: “I’ll be your Tarzan/You’ll be my Janes/I’ll keep you warm and you’ll keep me sane/We’ll sit in the trees and eat bananas all day/Just like an apeman”.

Milton Banana Trio — Amazonas

Brazilian bossa nova and jazz drummer Milton Banana played on over 100 albums during his lengthy career, most famously 1964’s blockbuster Getz/Gilberto, which of course featured Astrud Gilberto singing “The Girl From Ipanema” and made bossa nova all the rage in the US. Milton’s own recordings are well worth seeking out if you’re a fan of Brazilian music; dig, if you will, his Trio’s groovy 1971 version of Joao Donato’s “Amazonas (Keep Talking)”.

Kevin Ayers — Oh! Wot a Dream

Whenever I think of bananas, I inevitably think of Kevin Ayers’ brilliantly-named 1973 album Bananamour; and whenever I think of Bananamour, I inevitably think of “Oh! Wot a Dream,” Ayers’ lovely salute to his fallen psychedelic comrade Syd Barrett. No bananas here other than that, but I don’t really mind.

Bananarama - Cruel Summer

While I can’t say I’ve ever owned a Bananarama album, I do have a ton of nostalgic associations with them, including hearing Graham Dene hyping their latest singles on the syndicated radio show “Rock Over London” — I rarely missed a Sunday night episode between 1982 and 1985 — and the fact that they filmed their video for “Cruel Summer” in NYC during the summer of 1983, at the same time while I was working a temp job at my dad’s office on East 79th. Just as that summer remains my favorite NYC summer, “Cruel Summer” remains my favorite Bananarama hit, and watching this video (which is also where my crush on Keren Woodward officially ignited) still triggers a flood of happy memories for me.

Robyn Hitchcock — I Like Bananas Because They Have No Bones

Though it was written by Chris Yacich back in the 1930s, and recorded by many artists of the day (including the Hoosier Hot Shots, whose 1935 version apparently got a lot of Dr. Demento airplay), I have no memory of hearing “I Like Bananas Because They Have No Bones” until about 1988, when I scored a copy of The Soft Boys’ then-scarce Live at the Portland Arms. It’s nice to see that former Soft Boys leader Robyn Hitchcock still finds mordant joy in singing the whimsical ditty; but while I appreciate the song’s sentiment, I must admit that I did once bite into a banana that seemed to have a bone in its center. Maybe it just hadn’t fully ripened yet, but it was a really fucking disgusting surprise, and one which actually put me off eating bananas for a good year or more…

What are some of your favorite banana songs, then? I’ll bet you’ve got a bunch of ‘em, heh heh — so feel free to post in the comments below!

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