Modern mixtape: Songs about food

The other day, out of the blue, I had a song called "Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy" lodged in my head. It's a song from the 1940s, and I know it because of the hours I spent listening to my parents' Time Life "Your Hit Parade" CDs. The song is just one example of how music changes over 70 years: I don't think much money is made these days by artists singing about baked goods. But as I've discovered, a goodly number of precious little ditties about cakes and home cookin' were popular in the first half of the last century. The sentiment behind them sometimes had to do with men being off in the war and missing the comforts of home, or about the ladyfolk knowing the most efficient route to their men's hearts. But songs about food are also that much more evocative: a strawberry moon, a buttermilk sky. Food can be likened to the finer things or the very basics of life. Food is love in many of these songs, and sometimes it's a euphemism for something a little more dirty. Nevertheless, we can all relate to it. We come together for it. Plus, these songs about food are just fun to sing along with, and it's not so bad if they get stuck in your head every once in awhile.

Here is a sampling of musical treats I managed to scrounge up, mostly from the 1940s and 50s. It's not comprehensive, but it might make you hungry or want to bake a cake. You know, just to have on hand.