Love it or hate it, you have to cook yourself a meal at some point. Why not sing about it?
Food plays a big role in most cultures, and you probably associate certain foods with family members, events, or maybe even days of the week. Many singers and songwriters use cooking as inspiration for their own work, whether they talk about making food literally or as a metaphor for some other interesting topic.
Here are some interesting songs about cooking that could accompany your next kitchen session or be enjoyed in their own right.
Contents
- Home Cooking – Tony Allen
- Dip and Fall Back – The Spinners
- Food – The Turtles
- Making Pies – Patty Griffin
- The Wonderful Soup Stone – Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show
- Rad Gumbo – Little Feat
- Yip Roc Heresy – Slim Gaillard
- Pressure Cookin’ – Labelle
- Cookin’ Up Something Good – Mac Demarco
- Cookin’ – Pete Townshend
- Skillet (Good and Greasy) – Davy Graham
- Song of a Baker – The Small Faces
- Toast – Streetband
Home Cooking – Tony Allen
This song isn’t about cooking as much as it is about the downsides of war, connecting to your roots, and stopping yourself from using other people and their kindness for personal gain. It’s not typical of the US Hip-Hop genre, fusing different genre influences and beats for a unique sound.
Related: Hungry yet? Here are the best songs about food.
Dip and Fall Back – The Spinners
The Spinners talk about the “dip and fall back” cooking method in this track. They claim that this type of cooking and the delicious food that comes from it can help the protagonist face just about anything, even war and the death that could potentially follow. Several artists have covered this piece over the years.
Related: Listen to the best songs about war.
Food – The Turtles
Here’s a track that talks about cooking and an extensive range of foods in a unique way. It also mentions the Fourth of July holiday in the United States. The band seemingly tries to evoke the feelings of nostalgia and comfort that can come with enjoying a treasured recipe or favorite comfort food.
Related: Check out some patriotic songs about the USA.
Making Pies – Patty Griffin
A woman makes pies and sings of her loneliness after losing her lover to war. She also seems to lament that she was never able to have children. She makes the pies rather than falling apart, showing listeners the importance of resilience and living your life even if the world is bringing you down. It shows how a loving touch can make a recipe something extraordinary.
Related: Stay strong with these resilience songs.
The Wonderful Soup Stone – Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show
This Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show track tells of a soup stone and the meals that it helped create. The stone seems magical because it makes the simplest soup taste full of flavor. The cooking mama that the narrator sings about says, “It’s a magical stone, and as long as we got it, we’ll never have a hungry night. Just add a little love to the wonderful soup stone, and everything will be alright.”
Related: Abracadabra! Here’s a playlist of songs about magic.
Rad Gumbo – Little Feat
Little Feat sings of a woman who cooks gumbo for the many visitors that flock to taste her wonderful yet simple recipe. The protagonist is so impressed by her recipe’s attention that he is determined to find out what it is so he can hopefully have the same results.
Yip Roc Heresy – Slim Gaillard
Slim Gaillard was known for writing somewhat abstract songs that, upon closer reflection, highlighted aspects of life that he was dealing with at the time of their writing. This one was quite simple, based on an Armenian menu that he read. It was banned by some radio stations after it was released, as many listeners mistakenly thought Gaillard was discussing questionable topics.
Pressure Cookin’ – Labelle
‘Pressure Cookin’ appears on Labelle’s album of the same name. It seems to talk about the rough life of living in the city and the pressures of life in general. Human rights issues also seem to be discussed here, with the narrator asking young listeners to look toward the light and try to change things for the better.
Related: Head over to our playlist of the best peace songs.
Cookin’ Up Something Good – Mac Demarco
This track seems to be about a young protagonist who is bored and unhappy at home. He looks at life with an air of weariness and keeps to himself to try to stay motivated somehow, but he goes so far in his criticism of life as to say, “If there’s anything redeeming, I haven’t seen it yet.”
Related: See our playlist of songs about escaping.
Cookin’ – Pete Townshend
Sometimes experience helps us learn more about ourselves, even if we don’t like what we learn. In this piece, Pete Townshend sings of the surprises he seems to have had regarding his character, feelings, and behavior. He didn’t seem to know how far he would go in morally questionable situations—or love—until he dealt with the situation first-hand.
Related: Here are some more songs about feeling inferior.
Skillet (Good and Greasy) – Davy Graham
Davy Graham focuses on guitar music here, but it also talks about cooking, relaxing, and letting loose. It doesn’t really seem to have a much deeper meaning than that; it’s more or less a feel-good song with a simple guitar beat that can relax the listener and encourage them not to take life too seriously.
Related: You’ll love our playlist of the best uplifting songs.
Song of a Baker – The Small Faces
This song seems to be about someone who is using cooking metaphors to show how people need to take control of their lives and make changes; they need to cook for themselves, in a sense. You can’t wait for someone else to change your life or bring love to you. The protagonist can “no longer stand and wonder.”
Related: Need to make changes? Go to the best songs about new beginnings.
Toast – Streetband
Beat poetry was a relatively new concept when this rhythmically versed song was released. It talks about enjoying the simple pleasure of a quick piece of toast, particularly when life gets overwhelming and disappointing all at once. Sometimes the simple things in life can put everything else into perspective and bring peace to one’s life.
More songs about cooking:
- Birthday Cake – Cibo Matto
- Custard Pie – Led Zeppelin
- Candy Shop – 50 Cent
- Banana Pancakes – Jack Johnson
- Fresh Strawberries – Franz Ferdinand
- Pea – Red Hot Chili Peppers
- American Pie – Don McLean
- The Onion Song – Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
- Junk Food Junkie – Larry Groce
- Lemon Song – Led Zeppelin
