These songs may not help when you’re actually hungry, but they’re delicious nourishment for your ears.
A Tribe Called Quest – “Ham N’ Eggs”
ATCQ rappers Phife Dawg and Q-Tip are legendary for turning any subject into a lyrical jungle gym for verses spat out with the nursery-rhyme playfulness. “Ham N’ Eggs” gives thanks to all their favorite foods that allow them to keep “Questin’.” A “collage of good eats” such as collard greens, “apple sauce and some nice red beets” stock Q-Tip’s kitchen, while Phife Dawg’s palette is much more carnivorous: turkey, Slim Jims and beef jerky. Before blunts and Hennessy became the mainstays of the rapper’s diet, A Tribe Called Quest kept it simple with soul food.
OutKast – “We Love Deez Hoes”
While not strictly about food, OutKast’s half-serious “We Love Deez Hoes” doubles as a cautionary tale about the defense of soul food above all else. Big Boi’s introductory verse gives a vivid––bordering on nauseous––diatribe on why everyone should embrace (and fear) any infatuation with “deez hoes.” His verse ends with a frantic warning on why one should never, ever allow the aforementioned hoes to order strawberry lemonade and popcorn shrimp at Cheesecake Factory because their ultimate purpose is to rob you of quality food. His message is simple: entrees from Atlanta’s finest restaurants come before hoes.
The Beach Boys – “Vegetables”
The Beach Boys were one of the few bands that could have their lyrics cross over from PSAs to existential crises without completely ruining themselves in the process. “Vegetables” takes the cake for being the greatest foodie tune, because not only is the song uniformly about food, but the backing beat is actually Paul McCartney chomping down on celery. Lead singer Brian Wilson even invites his listeners at the end to send them a letter detailing their favorite vegetables. The fact that The Beach Boys were willing to sift through mountains of vegetable-themed fan mail proves their commitment to the beauty of food.
Warrant – “Cherry Pie”
“Cherry Pie” is an obligatory addition to this list, but that doesn’t mean it’s unimportant. Warrant’s libido-charged arena rock classic is an essential example of one of food’s most important metaphorical uses. Of course, “Cherry Pie” isn’t really about cherry pies. The food-as-sex wordplay stems back in literature for hundreds of years, but Warrant was by far the best at extracting any and all subtlety from the analogy.
Animal Collective – “Applesauce”
Animal Collective’s singer/enigma Avey Tare’s lyrics are notorious for often being abstracted to the point of infinite speculation. Not so on “Applesauce.” Tare describes the simple euphoria of ripe apples, starfruits, mangoes and cherries, all within the first minute of the song. He connects the feeling of holding fruit to a celebration for the limitless optimism of childhood. For him, fruit brings him back to a simpler time when he was young “and thought fruit was an infinite thing.” It’s a joyous, frenzied ode to why fruit, something so commonplace that it’s often taken for granted, can be a connection to the sublime.
Weezer – “Pork and Beans”
Weezer is an awkward band to listen to now. They sound like a bunch of aging men perpetually stuck in a mid-life crisis, and their track “Pork and Beans” is the perfect distillation of their geriatric angst. Lead singer Rivers Cuomo wails about asserting his individuality in a world where everyone else just cares about having a full head of hair and wearing a pair of Oakley sunglasses. The chorus treats food as his grand anecdote of why he’s still cool by proudly claiming that he’ll eat his “candy with the pork and beans.” Very punk rock, Rivers Cuomo.
