Top 10 Country Songs About Food
One of the many things that sets country music apart from other genres is its ability to make us really, really ... hungry.
From Charley Pride's "Burger and Fries" to the Zac Brown Band's "Chicken Fried," food and drink can play heavily into country songs -- and with how good Southern cookin' is, we can't blame the artists! The following are The Boot's favorite of country music's most mouth-watering tunes:
- 10
"Biscuits"
Kacey MusgravesMost Delicious Lyrics: "Mind your own biscuits and life will be gravy."
This song is less about actual biscuits and more about minding your own business and not judging your neighbors for their choices, as Musgraves encourages us to "mend your own fences and own your own crazy." Still, the mention of biscuits and gravy is a delicious distraction!
- 9
"Do You Want Fries With That?"
Tim McGrawMost Delicious Lyrics: "You're out here buying Happy Meals / And I'm eating rice and pintos / You so much as crack a smile at me, man / I'll come through this here window."
"Delicious" might be a bit of a stretch; after all, the narrator of this song is describing the fury of having to take on a second job working at a fast-food drive-thru in order to support his ex-wife and her new man. "I hope you both choke on a pickle," he sings, while fantasizing about other food-related ways to exact revenge on the man who stole his life.
- 8
"Watermelon Crawl"
Tracy ByrdMost Delicious Lyrics: "He said, 'We got a hundred gallons of sweet red wine / Made from the biggest watermelons on the vine.'"
After starting the song off by describing a hot drive through Georgia in July, by the time this song's narrator makes it to the small town hosting a watermelon festival, you're just as thirsty for watermelon wine as he is!
- 7
"Burgers and Fries"
Charley PrideMost Delicious Lyrics: "Burgers and fries and cherry pies / It was simple and good back then."
This song is a nostalgic for a simpler time, when the singer could walk in the sand hand in hand with someone he loved. Amind the backdrop of sandy beaches, drive-in movies and the "little things [they] used to say" is the title meal: burgers and fries (and cherry pies).
- 6
"Christmas Cookies"
George StraitMost Delicious Lyrics: "Now, Christmas cookies are a special treat / The more she bakes, the more I eat / And sometimes, I can't get myself to stop / Sometimes she'll wait 'til I'm asleep / She'll take the ones I didn't eat / And put those little sprinkly things on top."
What could be more delicious than a song all about Christmas cookies? Strait knows the struggle of not being able to wait until the cookies are frosted to eat them all ... but, in a sweet turn, he admits that the 15 minutes of "kissin' an' a huggin'" while the cookies bake are the real reason he eats Christmas cookies all year round.
- 5
"Please Pass the Biscuits"
Jimmy DeanMost Delicious Lyrics: "I got a plate of chicken and taters and a lot of stuff like that / All, all I need is a biscuit, but I wish you'd look where they're at / I guess I could reach across the table / But that's ill-mannered, Mom always said / I wish I had a biscuit, I just can't eat without bread."
This song is the tragic tale of a boy desperately trying to get somebody to pass him biscuits to eat with his Sunday meal. The grownups ignore him, and by the time he decides to stop being polite and just reach for one, there isn't a biscuit left! It may be one of the saddest songs in country music.
- 4
"Dry Land Fish"
The Kentucky HeadhuntersMost Delicious Lyrics: "Dry land fish, so good for the soul / You just reach out and grab 'em and put 'em in a poke / And if a genie gave me a bottle, there'd be three things I'd wish / Corn, greens and taters and dry land fish."
This song celebrates warm spring nights, tiptoeing through the grass with your girl and neighbors getting together to dance and laugh. As a bonus, it's also basically a how-to guide for catching and preparing dry land fish (sides included)!
- 3
"Meat and Potatoes Man"
Alan JacksonMost Delicious Lyrics: "I like my Wrangler jeans, cowboy boots / Cornbread and beans and country roots."
A few things Jackson isn't a fan of: caviar, sushi bars, the IRS, politics and hypocrites. Instead, he sings, he likes the simple things: football, fishin' holes and Merle Haggard, to name a few. But for all of the mentions that different meals get in this song, it seems as though the main thing he loves may just be food.
- 2
"Chicken Fried"
Zac Brown BandMost Delicious Lyrics: "Well, I was raised beneath the shade of a Georgia pine / And that's home, you know / Sweet tea, pecan pie, and homemade wine / Where the peaches grow."
This Zac Brown Band song is all about the good life in Georgia. In addition to "jeans that fit just right," watching the sun rise and "the radio turned up," the ZBB are especially grateful for family, freedom and fried chicken (and beer and wine and pecan pie).
- 1
"Jambalaya (on the Bayou)"
Hank WilliamsMost Delicious Lyrics: "Settle down far from town, get me a pirogue / And I'll catch all the fish in the bayou / Jambalaya and a crawfish pie."
This Williams classic celebrates the Creole and Cajun dish jambalaya and has spawned dozens of covers. Versions of the song have been recorded by Conway Twitty, Elvis Presley, Lucinda Williams, the Carpenters, Emmylou Harris and Garth Brooks, to name a few.