I'm putting together a proposal for a show of my art at our campus gallery, and the work I'm submitting is all about food. Well, it's about food, kitchens, women, and some lovely psychological undertones to all of the above.
As part of the show, which is kind of an installation piece in the least obnoxious sense of installation art, I'll be playing a CD of music about food, and the songs I've picked so far are mostly jazz, because jazz singers seem to knot only sing about food a lot, but also seem to sing about the psychological undertones I'm going for.
Here is the list of the songs I've got so far, and I'm wondering if anyone has any that would be in the same vein that I should add:
"Kitchen Man" - Bessie Smith "The Frim Fram Sauce" - Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong "Come On-a My House" - Jodi Stevens (originally Rosemary Clooney) "Beautiful Soup" - Celeste Krenz "The Big Kitchen" - Deborah Liv Johnson "Everybody Eats When They Come to My House" - Cab Calloway & His Orchestra "Sunshine Cake" - Frank Sinatra "Mangos" - Rosemary Clooney
I've also got waiting in the wings the following two, because I'm not entirely convinced they fit the groove:
"Soul Kitchen" - The Doors "Cornflake Girl" - Northwestern University Purple Haze (covering Tori Amos)
What do you think? Anything I'm missing?
[ September 20, 2004, 04:42 PM: Message edited by: Annie ]
Posted by amira tharani (Member # 182) on :
REM's "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight" has some lyrics about food, though it's not all about food. It's a favourite song of mine though Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
Just guessing here...
"Cheeseburger in Paradise" by Jimmy Buffet wouldn't really fit in here, would it?
Posted by Telperion the Silver (Member # 6074) on :
"Choppin broccoli! A choppin broccoli! Choppin choppin broccolieand;a!"
"Sloppy Joe! Slop sloppy joe! Sloppy Joe! Slop sloppy joe!"
Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
That, and "I Will Play for Gumbo" on one of Jimmy Buffett's more recent albums (Beach House on the Moon, IIRC).
[ September 20, 2004, 04:49 PM: Message edited by: TheTick ]
Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :
"It's Gonna be Dinner Soon," Tom Chapin "Gravy on my Mashed Potatoes," I'm not sure if that's the actual title, or who the artist is.
Posted by Vera (Member # 2094) on :
"Food, Glorious Food" from "Oliver!"
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I'm thinking that TMBG's Dinner Bell probably wouldn't strike quite the right tone.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Here are some snippets of lyrics of the songs I've already got:
quote:Come on-a my house my house, I'm gonna give you candy Come on-a my house, my house, I'm gonna give you Marriage ring and a pomegranate too ah
-"Come On-a My House"
quote:Mangos, papaya, ches- nuts from the fire In my house of straw I have so much more
Pie from the peach and I fix in the kitchen Each bite is just right for your appetite
Now if you like-a the way I cook And if you like-a the way I look Then step inside my shady nook And you'll find mangos and papayas, anything your heart desires.
-"Mangos"
quote:I don't want pork chops and bacon. That won't awaken My appetite inside. I want the Frim Fram Sauce With the oss and fay With shifafa on the side.
Well, you know, A fella's really got to eat, And a fella should eat right. Five will get you ten I'm gonna feed myself right tonight.
-"Fram Fram Sauce"
[ September 20, 2004, 04:52 PM: Message edited by: Annie ]
Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
quote:Well, at lunchtime you can always find me At the Whole Earth Vitamin Bar Just sucking on my plain white yogurt From my hand thrown pottery jar And sippin' a little hand pressed cider With a carrot stick for dessert And wiping my face in a natural way On the sleeve of my peasant shirt Oh, yeah
Ah, but when that clock strikes midnight And I'm all by myself I work that combination on my secret hideaway shelf And I pull out some Fritos corn chips Dr Pepper and an ole Moon Pie Then I sit back in glorious expectation Of a genuine junk food high
Oh yeah, in the daytime I'm Mr Natural Just as healthy as I can be Oh, but at night I'm a junk food junkie Good lord have pity on me
Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :
quote: "Food, Glorious Food" from "Oliver!"
I can't believe I forgot this one!
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
"Gimme a Pigsfoot and a Bottle of Beer." Not sure who the artist is, but I'll find out when I get home.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Oh, I think Bessie Smith does that one, ElJay.
Should I stick with the jazz? What do we think?
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
You put the rum in the coconut...
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
How about "Black Coffee?" Hmmm...
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
"Caramel" by Suzanne Vega "Eat the Music" by Kate Bush "Chocolate Jesus" by Mr. Tom Waits
Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
quote:I'm not talkin' quesadillas or a dozen Krispy Kremes, Or a pound of caviar that's a rich man's dream. No banana split or fillet of pompano. No, I will play for gumbo, Yeah, I will play for gumbo
Chorus A piece of French bread With which to wipe my bowl, Good for the body. Good for the soul. It's a little like religion And a lot like sex. You should never know When you're gonna get it next. At midnight in the quarter or noon in Thibadeaux I will play for gumbo Yes, I will play for gumbo.
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
What!
No one has mentioned Wierd Al?
"Eat it!"
et al.
Or "Fish heads, fish heads"
or the Monty Python "Spam!"
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
Yes, Bessie Smith. And yes you should stick with jazz. And yes Black Coffee, one of my favorites.
Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
Actually, Calaloo from Jimmy's Don't Stop the Carnival soundtrack may be more appropriate.
Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
*notes that "helpful" suggestions by male hatrackers are being politely ignored*
[ September 20, 2004, 05:00 PM: Message edited by: sndrake ]
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Ella singing Black Coffee? There's a KD Lang version that sounds interesting...
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
You say potato, and I say po-tah-tuh, You say tomato, and I say toh-mah-tuh, Potato, po-tah-tuh, Tomato, toh-mah-tuh, Let's call the whole thing off... Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Actually, SN, I'm currently looking up Stormy's reccommendation, so being male has nothing to do with it. Posted by sndrake (Member # 4941) on :
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
"Savoy Truffle" by the Beatles!
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Ooh! Sinéad O'Connor does a version of Black Coffee!
Posted by the master (Member # 6788) on :
Cibo Matto's entire Viva! La Woman album, and some of their other songs.
"You can go for a week without love - you will die without food."
[ September 20, 2004, 05:05 PM: Message edited by: the master ]
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
***Derailment Alert***
"Come On-a My House" would be a very very creepy song if sung by a man, especially with a "dirty old man" voice.
[ September 20, 2004, 05:06 PM: Message edited by: Dan_raven ]
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
Wish I was a Kellogg's cornflake Floating in my bowl, taking movies Relaxing a while, living in style Talking to a raisin who 'ccasionally plays LA Casually glancing at his toupee
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
This is really fun to look up everything. I especially like the Cibo Matto album. Though it may not work with my jazz groove, I find it pleasingly funky.
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
Peggy Lee has a version of Black Coffee, too, but my favorite is by a lesser-known signer who's name I can't remember right now... if I come up with it, I'll let you know.
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
When my Dad was a kid in my Grandma’s home She taught him how to start with an old soup bone You put the onions, carrots, celery, and water in the pot It only takes a little of whatever you’ve got “There ain’t no way to hurry it,” my Grandma would remind “Anything worth waiting for is gonna take time”
It smells like winter at our house Smells like winter at our house Smells like winter at our house Smells like soup
Bean soup, chicken soup with macaroni Cream of broccoli, minestrone Potato soup, tomato soup, chowder made of clam Miso soup, mushroom soup, split pea with ham Bouillon, scallion, tom kha ghai with lemongrass Matzoth ball, chilibean, cream of asparagus
So it doesn’t even matter if the cold winds blow If the rivers freeze and there’s three feet of snow From my Dad and my Grandma it’s what I got The put a whole lotta love in that old black pot In my mind I see a little boy, a distant winter day He’s standing at the door and I can hear him say . . .
It smells like winter at our house Smells like winter at our house Smells like winter at our house Smells like soup
Posted by the master (Member # 6788) on :
I have been known to leave that CD in my car for months. Hobbes hates it. Not in the general disdain he has for all my music, but in the very specific, "what on earth is this noise and why are you subjecting me to it?" sense.
I'm not exactly a Moxy Fruvuos fan, but they have a couple that might fit with the rest of your CD. Green Eggs and Ham or Johnny Saucep'n, maybe?
[ September 20, 2004, 05:16 PM: Message edited by: the master ]
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
I think that's what Hobbes thinks of pretty much everything I listen to.
me: "I've got this great new Algerian CD, you have to hear it!"
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
quote: Oh I wish I were an Oscar Meyer Weiner That is what I truly want to be For if I were an Oscar Meyer Weiner Everyone would be in love with me.
You have to throw that one in, sung by an off key little child, just to add a note of disonance in the evening.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
I just found and added:
"Love Me Like Candy" - Rebecca Kyler Downs "Candy" - Dinah Shore
and I'm still torn on versions of Black Coffee....
Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
Someone else who's heard of Moxy Fruvous??
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
Ooo . . . from the same CD as the other one:
"Supper's on the Table"
quote:Shadows growing longer, light is growing dim Supper's on the table everybody come in Been playing at the river and I'm tired to the bone She's calling all the children home
Chorus
Home to the table and the big, black pot Everybody's got enough, 'though we ain't got a lot No one is forgotten, no one is alone When she's calling all the children home
. . .
Bridge:
I could hear her voice in the middle of a crowd It was never too late and it was never too loud Smelled just like home by the time we hit the door There was always just enough but there was always room for more
. . .
Last Chorus:
Home to the table, home to the feast Where the last are first and the greatest are the least Where the rich will envy what the poor have got Everybody's got enough, 'though we ain't got a lot No one is forgotten, no one is alone When we're calling all the children home Gathered 'round the table and the big, black pot Everybody's got enough, 'though we ain't got a lot No one is forgotten, no one is alone From the shacks in Soweto to the ice of Nome From Baghdad City to the streets of Rome When we're calling all the children home
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Those are cute, Dana. Posted by Son_of_Priam (Member # 6411) on :
The Potato Song by Cheryl Wheeler
quote:They're red, they're white, they're brown They get that way underground There can't be much to do So now they have blue ones too
We don't care what thay look like we'll eat them Any way they can fit on our plate Every way we can conjure to heat them We're delighted and think they're just great
(Chorus) PO ta to po ta to po ta to po ta to po ta to po ta to po ta to po ta to po ta to po ta to po ta to po ta to po ta to
Sometimes we ditch the skin To eat what it's holding in Sometimes we'd rather please Have just the outside with cheese
They have eyes but they do not have faces I don't know if their feelings get hurt By just hanging around in dark places Where that only can stare at the dirt
(Repeat Chorus)
I guess the use is scant For other parts of the plant But that which grows in view Is eating potato too
I imagine them under their acres Out in Idaho and up in Maine Maybe wondering if they'll be bakers Or knishes or latkes or plain
(Repeat Chorus)
Sung to the tune of the mexican Hat dance
Posted by the master (Member # 6788) on :
Somewhere we have a food themed mix CD that's probably not going to work with what you have at all. If I'm still thinking of it when I get home, I'll see what's actually on it. (Besides TMBG's Dinner Bell and Morphine's French Fries with Pepper, heh, maybe I'll think of the rest of them while I'm sitting here avoiding work)
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
Songs that Won't work!
"Pour some Sugar on me Baby" "Sugar Walls" "Cherry Pie"
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
There's a song by Koko Taylor and I don't even know what the lyrics are, but it's really catchy: "Put The Pot On".
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Maybe my next show will have a sountrack of entirely non-mellow food songs. Posted by Lucky4 (Member # 1420) on :
"Hey good lookin', whatcha got cookin'?" by Hank Williams
Posted by the master (Member # 6788) on :
Spinal Tap, Cups and Cakes.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
By the way, the song I have on my first list called "Beautiful Soup" is the actual poem from Alice in Wonderland set to music. Muy cool.
Posted by kwsni (Member # 1831) on :
Chicken Cordon Blues, by Steve Goodman.
Ni!
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Looking for but cannot find:
"You're my Little Potato" - Metamora
Posted by Sara Sasse (Member # 6804) on :
May or may not be what you want:
quote:Movin' to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches Movin' to the country, Gonna eat me a lot of peaches Movin' to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches Movin' to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches
Peaches come from a can, they were put there by a man In a factory downtown If I had my little way, I'd eat peaches every day...
("Peaches," The Presidents of the United States of America)
quote:Don't go to church on Sunday Don't get on my knees to pray Don't memorize the books of the Bible I got my own special way Bit I know Jesus loves me Maybe just a little bit more
I fall on my knees every Sunday At Zerelda Lee's candy store
Well it's got to be a chocolate Jesus Make me feel good inside Got to be a chocolate Jesus Keep me satisfied...
("Chocolate Jesus," Tom Waits)
quote:I went to church last Sunday So I could sing and pray But something quite unusual Happened on that day ... You know the preacher he kept preaching He told us I have one more thing to say Children before you think of leaving You better think about the judgment day
Now everyone got nervous Because everyone was hungry too
...And the preacher he kept preaching Long is the struggle, hard the fight And I prayed, father please forgive me And then I stood up and with all my might I sang
To the lord let praises be It's time for dinner now let's go eat We've got some beans and some good cornbread And I listened to what the preacher said Now it's to the Lord let praised be It's time for dinner now let's go eat...
("Church Lyrics," Lyle Lovett)
[all are in the sort of happy/quirky mood, likely not mellow enough anyway]
[ September 20, 2004, 06:19 PM: Message edited by: Sara Sasse ]
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