While I was working on the strawberry Root Source last week, iTunes shuffled three appropriate songs in the course of one afternoon: Strawberry Letter 23 (Shuggie Otis), Strawberry Fields Forever (The Beatles) and Strawberry Wine (Ryan Adams—not The Band, Pat Benatar or Deana Carter, all of whom have other songs with the same title).
It got me thinking: which fruit has inspired the greatest musical oeuvre?
Does the strawberry catalog (which could also include Sonic Youth’s Sympathy for the Strawberry) trump Stealin’ Apples (Benny Goodman), Red Apples (Cat Power singing a Bill Callahan song), Appletree (Eryka Badu), Apple Honey (Woody Herman), Big Apple (Tommy Dorsey—not Kajagoogoo) and June Apple, a traditional song that Doc Watson nails?
What about Cherry Oh Baby (Eric Donaldson), Cherry Red (Count Basie and the Bee Gees each have one), Cherry, Cherry (Neil Diamond), Cherry Bomb (John Mellencamp and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts each have one), and Cherry Pie (Warrant)?
Sticking with stone fruit, there’s Peach, Plum, Pear (Joanna Newsom, though the pear’s a pomego), Peaches and Cream (Beck), Peach (Blur) Peaches (The Presidents of the United States of America) and Three Peaches (Neutral Milk Hotel).
Citrus has some contenders: Grapefruit Moon (Tom Waits), Bowl of Oranges and Lime Tree (both by Bright Eyes), Lime Lime (Jimi Hendrix), Lemon Drop (Ella Fitzgerald doing George Wallington composition), Lemon (U2), Lemonade (Beck) and Lemon Road (Hall & Oates).
A real sleeper is the coconut: Coconut (Harry Nilson and Widespread Panic both had hits with this title), Coconut Woman (Harry Belafonte), Coconut Grove (Lovin’ Spoonful and Santana each found success with different songs) and Coconut Water (Desmond Dekker).
I’m sure I’ve left a ton out, but if I had to pick between these, I think I’d stick with the strawberries. You?
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Limes –
Margaritaville.
Lemon Tree, Peter, Paul, and Mary
Kiwi and the Apricot, Keller Williams
I’m waiting for a song featuring the mangosteen … or the pluot.
Lemon Jelly is one of my favorite bands of all time. They have a song called “Elements” which includes fruits: apple, orange, lemon, banana…
Huh. No pluot?
Pluot’s a tough word to rhyme with. I think it’s one of only six words in the English language that ends in -uot. I’m being too literal, though. “You got” fits well, as does (with a little stretch) “true that.” With those two, I think we’ve got the foundation for a song. Should we collaborate?
“blue spot” also kind of rhymes (too bad the juice of a pluot doesn’t leave a blue spot)
but perhaps “you thought,” “you bought,” even “you forgot” have more potential.
we could have a hit on our hands!
There ain’t nothing in the world that I like better
than bacon and lettuce and homegrown tomatoes.
Up in the morning, out in the garden, get you a ripe one, don’t pick a hard one.
Plant ‘em in the spring, eat ‘em in the summer. All winter without ‘em is a culinary bummer.
I forget all about the sweating and the digging every time I go out and pick me a big one.
Homegrown tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes, what would life be without homegrown tomatoes?
Only two things that money can’t buy and that’s true love and homegrown tomatoes.
You can go out to eat and that’s for sure, but there’s nothing a homegrown tomato won’t cure.
Put ‘em in a salad, put ‘em in a stew, you can make your own, very own tomato juice.
You can eat ‘em with eggs, eat ‘em with gravy, You can eat ‘em with beans, pinto or navy.
Put ‘em on the side, put ‘em in the middle, homegrown tomatoes on a hot cake griddle.
Homegrown tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes, what would life be without homegrown tomatoes?
Only two things that money can’t buy and that’s true love and homegrown tomatoes.
If I was to change this life I lead, you could call me Johnny Tomatoseed.
‘Cause I know what this country needs is homegrown tomatoes in every yard you see.
When I die, don’t bury me in a box in a cold dark cemetery.
Out in the garden would be much better ’cause I could be pushing up homegrown tomatoes.
Homegrown tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes, what would life be without homegrown tomatoes?
Only two things that money can’t buy and that’s true love and homegrown tomatoes,
homegrown tomatoes, what would life be without homegrown tomatoes?
Only two things that money can’t buy and that’s true love and homegrown tomatoes.
-Guy Clark
When we were young, we thought words to the song “Guantanamera” were “One two tomato, I see ya, one two tomato…”
*L*
Who knew?
At the store he thought
that he sought
a bunch of delicious fruit known as the Pluot
A delicous Pluot?
I think not.
I wouldn’t be caught.
with one, let alone a lot.
If I can’t have a lot of pluots, I’ll do without pluots.
(Apologies to Colette.)
I like where we’re going with all of this. If we can come up with a good pluot song, I can sing it to promote my book. Cookiecrumb: that may be the first apology Colette’s ever received on a blog.