Songs About Feet and Footwear Trivia Quiz

Answer: Knick-knack

Remember?
"This Old Man,
He played two,
He played nick-knack
On my shoe
With a nick-knack
Paddy wack,
Give a dog a bone,
This Old Man goes rolling home."

This song comes from a nursery rhyme, apparently British. Like most nursery rhymes, its author is unknown. It can be found on many albums of children's songs. Bob Dylan himself made a recording of "This Old Man" for an album called "For Our Children" - a Disney charity project dedicated to pediatric Aids research. (This information came from the Wikipedia.)

Answer: The Hokey-Pokey

"You put your right hand in,
You take your right hand out,
You put your right hand in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the hokey-pokey
And you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about!"
And so on, until you put "your whole self in".

The "Hokey Pokey", also known as the "Hokey Cokey" is well known throughout the English-speaking world, though the words differ slightly from country to country. In the United States two separate groups of writers hold copyrights to the song, while in Britain, it is considered a traditional song! Popular with servicemen during the Second World War, the Hokey Pokey might have its roots as a Shaker song used during worship.(Information for this question came from the Wikipedia.)

Answer: Clementine

"Light she was, like a fairy,
And her shoes were number nine,
Wearing boxes 'stead of socks,
Sandals were for Clementine".

This American folk-song is usually attributed to Percy Montrose,who wrote it in the 1880's. The song takes places during the 1849 Gold Rush in California, and tells of a miner whose sweetheart drowns to death. "Clementine" is a popular camp-fire and Scouting song.

Answer: "Ain't Misbehavin

The 1978 musical entitled "Ain't Misbehavin" features the songs of Harlem "slide pianist" Fats Waller. One of the songs performed in the show is the Benson-Fisher composition, "Your Feets Too Big".
"From you ankles up I'd say you sure look sweet,
From there down there's just too much feet.
Yes, your feets too big,
Don't want you 'cause your feets too big,
Mad at you 'cause your feets too big".

Answer: Johnny Cash

According to "Rockabilly Legends" authors Jerry Naylor and Steve Halliday, Perkins told Cash about an African-American airman who described his "blue suede" uniform shoes. Cash suggested that Perkins write a song about it. Perkins replied, "I don't know anything about shoes. How can I write a song about shoes?" Well, Perkins did write a song about shoes, and the result was a rock n' roll classic, that has been recorded by such greats as Perkins himself, Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Jimmy Hendrix.
"It's one for the money
Two for the show,
Three to get ready,
Now go, cats, go.
You can do what you want,
But stay off of my blue suede shoes."

Answer: Going Down The Road

Woody Guthrie, the best beloved and most prolific of American folk singers, could write a song about anything. The song "Going Down The Road", features the following verses:
"It takes a ten dollar shoe to fit my feet,
It takes a ten dollar shoe to fit my feet,
It takes a ten dollar shoe to fit my feet, Lord, Lord,
And I ain't going to be treated this away.
Your two dollar shoe hurts my feet,
Your two dollar shoe hurts my feet,
Your two dollar shoe hurts my feet, Lord, Lord,
And I ain't going to be treated this away."

These verses don't look like much when written out - you have to imagine Woody singing and Cisco Houston on the blues harp to get the full effect!

Answer: Phil Ochs

"The pilots playing poker in the cockpit of the plane.
The casualties arriving just like the dropping of rain,
And a mountain of machinery will fall before a man,
When you're white boots marching in a yellow land"

Phil Ochs was born in 1940 in El Paso, Texas. He wrote and performed topical folk-songs during the 'sixties. One of his best known songs is probably "Draft Dodger Rag", covered by Arlo Guthrie. Ochs died in 1976. (Information for this question came from the Phil Ochs homepage.)

Answer: Mr. Bojangles

"I know a man Bojangles and he'll dance for you,
In worn out shoes.
With silver hair, a ragged shirt and baggy pants,
He would do the old soft shoe".

This song was written by Jerry Jeff Walker, and has been covered by many artists. Jerry Jeff Walker based his song on a real itinerant dancer who traveled through the South.

Answer: They're two lovely geranium pots that my mother gave to me.

"Ah, you're drunk, you're drunk you silly old fool,
So drunk you cannot see.
They're two lovely geranium pots,
My mother gave to me.
Now its many days I've traveled,
A hundred miles or more,
But geranium pots with laces,
I've never seen before."

(From Marc Gunn's Irishlyrics.com) This traditional Irish drinking song tells the tale of a drunken, cuckold husband and his clever, cheating wife.

Answer: The Mummers Parade in Philadelphia

The Mummers Parade is held on New Year's Day in Philadelphia, and bills itself as "the most authentic folk festival in the United States". Like the Mardi Gras in New Orleans or the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, participants in the parade spend all year preparing elaborate costumes and floats for the big day. Traditionally an all-male affair, Mummers "strut" north up Broad Street to the tune of an old minstrel song, "Oh, Dem Golden Slippers".
"Oh, Dem Golden Slippers,
Oh, Dem Golden Slippers,
Golden slippers I'm gonna wear 'cause they look so neat.
Oh, Dem Golden Slippers,
Oh, Dem Golden Slippers,
Golden slippers I'm gonna wear, to walk down the golden street".