Songs & Roller Coasters/Amusement Parks

Anyone know any songs relating to Roller Coasters and/or Amusement Parks? These are the only ones I can think of right now:

Blink 182 - Roller Coaster, Red Hot Chill Peppers - Love Roller Coaster, Redman - Reckless Abandon, ICP - Tilt-A-Whirl,and B*Witched - Rollercoaster.

Those are the only ones I can think of right now. Anyone know any others?

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Formerly SFMMANIAC

I know DMB's "The Space Between" has the word roller coaster.:)

Ya, I guess we need to have music appriciation day considering that you guys havn't heard "Palisades Park" by Freddy Cannon. The Beach Boys have a song called Amusement Parks USA where they metion several parks and rides. Joni Mitchel's "Moon, junes and Ferris Wheels" from her "Both Sides Now" song. Also the "I'm going to Disney World" song, which I did not like anyway and I can't remeber or acctually never knew who sang it, but I am glad that it is no longer played on the radio.

The Ohio Players: Love Rollercoaster

Blink 182: Carousel

The band Dexter Frebish is named for the Dexter Frebish Coaster, which changed to Excalibur and was taken down for Serial Thriller.

OMG! Someone who actually remembers "Palisades Park" , The Beach Boys Amusement Parks USA , and Joni Mitchel's "Moon, junes and Ferris Wheels" from her "Both Sides Now" song. All songs from when I was growing up!

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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead

"Amusement Parks USA" is on the album "Summer Days & Summer Nights." The song mentions a bunch of parks, but of all the parks listed, the only one still operating is Disneyland.

Parks listed are:
Palisades Park, Salisbury Park, Euclid Beach, Riverview Park, Disneyland, Pacific Ocean Park (POP), and Steel Pier.

Someone already mentioned Freddy Cannon's "Palisades Park," and of course there was a remake of that one done for "Kennywood Park". There is also a mention of a roller coaster in "Red Rubber Ball" by The Cyrkle. Buddy Holly's "Everyday" of course features a roller coaster. But why limit ourselves to roller coasters? The Hollies did a song called, "On a Carousel", and if you listen carefully to the lyrics, you might decide that "Spinning Wheel" by Blood, Sweat, and Tears is also referring to a carousel. There is also a mention of a carousel in The Drifters' "Under the Boardwalk." A rather unusual carousel reference is contained in "Wedding Bell Blues" by the Fifth Dimension.

Red House Painters put a composite photo of the Coney Island Thunderbolt and a British Mad Mouse on the cover of their self-titled album, along with the songs "Rollercoaster" and "Grace Cathedral Park." Unfortunately, the cover art is about all the album has going for it. The New Rhythm and Blues Quartet (NRBQ) has at least two amusement ride references on the album, "Wild Weekend", including a reference to a roller coaster in "Little Floater", and a specific reference to a Tilt-A-Whirl in, " believe, "Fraction of Action." On the album, "Amplified Heart" from Everything But The Girl there is a song called "Rollercoaster," and when Atlantic issued that song as a radio single, they came up with some neat artwork showing a Griffiths Scenic Railway from Coney Island, you know, with the dragon heads. Speaking of cover art, Dave Matthews Band put a gorgeous Wave Swinger photo on the cover of "Under The Table and Dreaming" although I don't think there are any specific park references in the music. And someone already mentioned Dexter Freebish, with the photo of the Chaos ride on either the cover or the disc, I forget which. It's the Chaos that sits under the West Coaster.

The db's have a song on the album "Paris Ave." entitled "Ride the Roller Coaster," which includes background sounds that any coaster nut will recognize as the wheel rumble and braking systems of an Arrow coaster. If you can handle his somewhat primitive singing style, Jonathan Richman did "Roller Coaster By The Sea" which specifically identifies the Santa Cruz Giant Dipper. Oh, and how can I forget "Fly," from Moxy Früvous' album "Wood", which makes generic references to an amusement park and a roller coaster. I also have a Früvous recording of four songs performed live with Vekoma Boomerang sounds in the background, but that came off my camcorder at Darien Lake last year.

"Love Rollercoaster" by the Ohio Players (later by the Red Hot Chili Peppers) is one of the more forgettable, but also more well known coaster-referencing songs out there. I heard a song on the radio once about a Ferris wheel, but I haven't heard it in years, and I don't remember who did it. I also have in my notes that the Lost Continentals also did a song called "Love Rollercoaster" which is completely different from the Ohio Players song. Oh, and I believe the Bottle Rockets' "Turn for the Worse" (from "24 Hours a Day") uses a roller coaster metaphor, but I haven't heard it in years.

There's a few, anyway... :)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

*** This post was edited by RideMan on 10/5/2001. ***

I can't believe no one has mentioned the song "Disneyland" by Dada.  :)

Here's some off the top of my head:
13th Floor Elevators - Rollercoaster (covered by Spacemen 3)
Mercury Rev - Coney Island Cyclone
Flaming Lips - Felt Good to Burn (makes reference to Ferris Wheels)
Chavez - Ride the Fader (Album starts with chain lift, people screaming)
There was also a tour in England in the 1990's called the Rollercoaster tour featuring the Jesus and Mary Chain (they also have a song called rollercoaster), Blur, My Bloody Valentine, Spiritualized, and Dinosaur Jr.
Dave's right about the Red House Painters album: the cover is way, way better than the music.
I know I'm forgetting some stuff, I'll try to remember.

*** This post was edited by chris on 10/5/2001. ***

The album "Headsparks" by Seam also features a cool Ferris Wheel photo, but I don't know where it is from.