Mister Softee Truck Jingle Driving New Yorkers Mad

Courtesy IrishNYC.

The insipid melody blaring from Mister Softee ice "cream" trucks has Inwood up in arms. City officials say that so far this year there have been 205 complaints about ice cream trucks in the Community Board 12 district, which includes Inwood. One area by Inwood Hill Park is going particularly mental; a resident tells the Daily News, "It reverberates into the building and sounds like someone is in your apartment with their car stereo blasting. It's almost vindictive." New York City noise code bans the playing of jingles while a food vending vehicle is stationary, but the rule seems to be generally laughed off by the truck drivers.The DEP has sent inspectors to Inwood, and this week police told a community meeting they're looking into it. Another resident says the driver of the truck is simply merciless: "He will say he's going to turn it off, and when you walk away, five or 10 minutes later it's back on. It's the repetition as well as the melody itself. Even with the windows shut and your TV on, you can hear it." For more on the Mister Softee Jingle, here are the lyrics, sheet music, and an mp3.

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By John Del Signore in Food on March 27, 2009 11:45 AM

Comments [rss]

yesi-ny

OH PLEASE STOP THAT!!!!

ALL YOU PEOPLE COMPLAINING ABOUT, WAY DON'T YOU KILL YOUR SELF AND MAKE EVERYBOBY ELSE LIFE HAPPY, ENJOY YOUR LIFE, LIFE IS SHORT. COMPLAINTS MAKE YOUR LIFE MORE MISERABLE. WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL NEXT TIME U LISTEN TO THE MUSIC GO OUTSIDE AND BUY AN ICE CREAM TO MAKE YOUR LIFE PLEASANT AND SWEET .

yesi-ny

TO ALL OF YOU, CRAYING ABOUT THIS SIMPLE AND SWEET SITUATION. KILL YOUR SELF AND MAKE EVERYBODY ELSE A FAVOR. ENJOY LIFE, LIFE IS SHORT. THE MOST YOU COMPLAINT MORE MISERABLE YOUR LIFE IS!!!!!!!

rehoboth

Mr. Softee would be a lousy name for a porn star.

electrablue

I love music Any kind of music I love music Just as long as it's grooving. Makes me laugh Makes me smile all the while Whenever I'm with you boy. Get it on get it on get it on yeahhhhhh. Oh oh oh oh I love music........ :)

James Conway

The truck in question is NOT A Mister Softee truck. The Daily News has made a mistake with this story. The truck belongs to a former franchisee who is infringing our trademarks. The authorized franchisee for this area is extremely curteous with respect to the music.

James Conway, VP

Mister Softee Inc.

Potty Boy

It would seem that an injunctive order should be a no-brainer.

bronxgirl

I don't mind the truck, but in my neighborhood it's playing music until 2 or 3 AM! It's RIDICULOUS and maddening.

amethystdeceiver

Oh my fucking god finally!!! I fucking hate that shit, bar none the worst thing about living in Bed Stuy.

7train

The ones above making fun of the complaints should be more compassionate. Yes, it is a big, BIG deal to be constantly bothered by noise. So what, just because "it's NYC" doesn't mean you should put up with all sorts of noise and think that's normal. There's no need to keep blasting that music on and on if the truck is parked, that just adds to the stress with this unnecessary nuisance.

KING

how can people be so hateful & angry. Its Ice cream for the kids. Its gotta be some New Utah resident. i can't imagine a old school NYorker complain. Send these peolpe back to Ohio

Wordsniper

I know, right? No one who grew up in the city could ever complain about that jingle. In fact, I know of one guy who broke up a fight on the subway between two thugs by getting in between them and singing the Mr. Softee song with his own made-up lyrics. Cracked the whole car up. Try that with a bell, Ohioans.

ides_of_march

Probably the only time kids in certain neighborhoods hear a tune that's not rife with words like bitch, ho and muthafucka.

NannyState

So turn down your stereo already.

NannyState

So turn down your stereo already.

urbangeek

I drove all the way down to Mr. Softee Headquarters in Southern New Jersey, played CEO James Conway Jr. tracks from my album "Songs For Ice Cream Trucks," trying to convince him to get rid of that annoying song. He said he liked my songs, but that the Mr. Softee theme is their trademark. "People hear it and know it's Mr. Softee." How do you argue that? It's like trying to convince McDonalds to start using a giant letter B for their logo. -Michael Hearst http://www.songsforicecreamtrucks.com

longacre

Yeah, those MIDI files would sound great over the loudspeaker.

sexisicilian

I guess some people are not happy no matter what. When I was a kid, everyone knew the ice cream truck was coming BECAUSE OF THE MUSIC, HELLO ... I still run out & buy it when it comes ... some people should just go & get a job, or better yet a F&%*IN LIFE!!

Geoelh

I'm in favour of a quiet Mr. Softee. Seriously, that music sounds like the demented sound track to a movie about a murderous babysitter or something.

lucyvanpelt

The Mister Softee guy who patrolled our nabe (Eastern Qns) for several years was one of the biggest jerks I've ever met. I work at home several days a week, and the constant blaring of the jingle drove me apeshit on a regular basis. All of my neighbors were about ready to slash his tires by about April of each year, too. He'd sit near our building with the motor running and the music blaring for upwards of an hour, several times a day. All of that exhaust made our home smell like the boarding lanes of Port Authority.

All of the neighbors took turns calling 311 on the guy. We called in so many complaints that his manager came out to our nabe and tried to intimidate us. It was surreal.

Well, flash forward to a weekend a few years ago. The hubby and I came home from a day out to discover that undercover cops had been casing this guy for ages.

He was selling all sorts of fun things in little packets in the bottoms of those cones.

The music? It was a signal to one of his accomplices/suppliers way up the street.

The cops who busted him gave his ice cream away to all of the kids in the area before his truck was towed away to the impound lot. Our neighbors all got victory cones.

We got a new Mister Softee guy just after this happened. I barely know the guy is here he's so quiet. I love this guy. I hate their ice cream, but we buy from him every once in a while just to express our gratitude.

jibbly

Can you imagine the junkies buying their heroin standing in line with a bunch of kids?

Uh...yeah...uh, I'd like, man, I'd like...uh...huh? Oh yeah, I want uh, the poppy softserve on a waffle cone...yeaaaah.