Songs For Foodies

I like food. Most of us do. And it's always interesting and fun and sometimes even weird when musicians write and perform songs about food. Not exactly what you'd expect from rock or pop (or other) artists, since food isn't exactly sexy (maybe an exception or two) or cool or tough... or sad or angry or inspirational. But it might make your mouth water.

A lot of those songs may have a food title yet the lyrics have nothing to do with food. Like Prince's Raspberry Beret or Led Zeppelin's The Lemon Song or Strawberry Fields Forever by the Beatles. 

Not long ago, I killed some time by scraping around in the back of my mind and coming up with the names of some songs about food. My list is by no means exhaustive; these are just the tunes that I thought of off the top of my head and after a quick scan of my CD collection. Based on what I've got here, I see that all the major food groups are covered, and then some. And every meal of the day, even desserts and snacks.

The first rule in making my list was "no beverages"... if I included drinks, then my task would have been far too easy. There are so many songs about alcohol - One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer comes to mind. Or Kim Mitchell's Lager and Ale. Or The Eagles' Tequila Sunrise... and so on. So food only! My second rule in making my list was that there must be a food reference in the title, though it wasn't important that food appear in the song lyrics.

I guess what you see here represents my breadth of knowledge about food in music, so make of it what you will. I think my favourite of the bunch is Ice Cream Man by Van Halen. The song starts out with a playful bluesy comp then kicks into heavy metal high gear that features a blistering (and tasty) solo by guitar master Eddie Van. And a swaggering finale... the cherry on top.

Bon appetit! 

Raspberry Beret (Prince)
Rat Salad (Black Sabbath)
Apples Peaches Bananas and Pears (Monkees)
Shaved Fish (John Lennon)
Cold Turkey (Lennon)
Glass Onion (Beatles)
Brown Sugar (Stones)
The Lemon Song (Zeppelin)
(Do the) Mashed Potatoes (James Brown)
Lemon Wedge (Kim Mitchell)
Peaches (Presidents of the United States)
Savoy Truffle (Beatles)
TV Dinners (ZZ Top)
Supper's Ready (Genesis)
Quiche Lorraine (B-52's)
Strawberry Fields Forever (Beatles)
Another Piece of Meat (Scorpions)
American Pie (Don McLean)
Sugar Sugar (Archies)
Candy (Cheap Trick)
I Want Candy (Bow Wow Wow)
Hot Dog and a Shake (David Lee Roth)
Ice Cream Man (Van Halen)
Poundcake (Van Halen)
Cherry Pie (Warrant)
Marshmallow World (Bing Crosby)
Watermelon Man (Herbie Hancock)
Chocolate (Kylie Minogue)
Lollipop (Chordettes)
Popcorn (Hot Butter)
The Candy Man (Sammy Davis Jr)
Pretzel Logic (Steely Dan)
Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast (Pink Floyd)
Pour Some Sugar On Me (Def Leppard)


Mmm mmm good music...