Poison Ivy (song)

This article is about the song by The Coasters. For the song by Faster Pussycat, see Wake Me When It's Over.

"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".

"Poison Ivy"
Single by the Coasters
from the album The Coasters' Greatest Hits
B-side	"I'm a Hog for You"
Released	August 1959
Recorded	July 16, 1959
Genre	Rock and roll
Length	2:43
Label	Atco
Songwriter(s)	Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
The Coasters singles chronology
"Along Came Jones" (1959) "Poison Ivy" (1959) "What About Us" (1959)

Composition

Lyrics

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.

Notable cover versions

• Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs – Australia number 1 in 1964. It famously kept the Beatles from the number 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.^[4]
• The Lambrettas – 1980. They reached number 7 in the British charts.

References

1. Leiber & Stoller interviewed on the Pop Chronicles (1969)
2. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Record Research. p. 125.
3. Leiber and Mike Stoller with David Ritz, Jerry (2009). Hound Dog: The Leiber & Stoller Autobiography. Simon & Schuster. p. 141. ISBN 978-1-4165-5938-2.
4. Nuttall, Lyn (2000s). "Feature Item – poparchives.com.au – Poison Ivy". Lyn Nuttall. Retrieved 2009-02-24.