5 food-themed songs that will make your tummy rumble


Las Ketchup served up one of the most iconic food-themed songs of the 2000s. Photo: Filepic

For some reason, 2020 seems to be the year of food-related songs, what with Harry Styles’ Watermelon Sugar, Blackpink’s collaborative tracks Sour Candy (with Lady Gaga) and Ice Cream (with Selena Gomez) dominating the charts.

Here are five more tracks that will make your stomach growl.

PPAP (Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen) by Pikotaro

This brief track (only 45 seconds long) packs not one but two food items! Japanese comedian Pikotaro, who wrote and performed the song, was inspired by two items that were on his table while he was writing it – the pen he was holding and a can of pineapples.

The apple came from the fact that he hailed from Aomori, Japan’s biggest apple-producing region.

The 2016 song clocked in hundreds of millions of views on YouTube besides making it to the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 77.

PPAP holds the Guinness World Records for being the shortest song to enter the chart.

Ais Kacang

Ais kacang, Ais ais kacang, Bila cuaca panas dan rasa dahaga...

The opening lines of this song may take you back to your primary school days right away.

Often sung during music class in schools all over Malaysia, this simple tune evokes such a sense of nostalgia, as well as a sudden appetite for the local icy dessert. Oh to be a kid again!

The Ketchup Song by Las Ketchup

This list wouldn’t be complete without this wildly popular 2002 hit – The Ketchup Song.

The lyrics of this catchy track – which is made up of quite a bit of gibberish – actually has nothing to do with the savoury sauce at all.

The song is probably named after its band, Las Ketchup, comprising the Munoz sisters from Spain.

Las Ketchup in turn got its name from the girls’ father, a flamenco guitarist known as El Tomate, or Tomato, according to the band’s 2002 interview with The New York Times.

The group’s debut album is also called Hijas Del Tomate, or Daughters Of The Tomato.

Onion by Aska Yang

Most of the food-related songs on this list have a lightness to them. But Onion (Yang Cong), like its title suggests, leaves listeners teary-eyed.

This 2008 Mandarin ballad by Aska Yang speaks about secretly having feelings for someone who barely notices you.

When Yang launches into the chorus, he challenges the person he loves to peel open the layers of his heart, much like an onion, and discover the love he has for her.

Guess I’ll be chopping onions for dinner tonight while playing this song.

Biscuits by Kacey Musgraves

Before country singer Kacey Musgraves struck gold, winning the prestigious Album Of The Year at the 2019 Grammys for Golden Hour, she served up this gem in 2015 – Biscuits.

It’s a fun, toe-tapping track with a very relevant message, especially with our tendencies to dole out nasty comments and judgements on social media these days.

The song reminds us to quit poking our noses into other people’s businesses with this clever line: “Mind your own biscuits and life will be gravy.” Snap!

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