"You Can't Hurry Ribs" and Other Great Food Tunes

Food, drink, tunes. Is anything missing?

Here's a playlist of BBQ, food, drinking, and related tunes for playing while cooking. And yes, I know that all chicken shacks don't serve chicken, and not all hot dogs and buns get mustard. Send me your suggestions. Just click once on a tune to play it.

Truck with pig

The BBQ Song

Here's a great song that does a pretty good job of describing the regional styles of BBQ by Rhett & Link (Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal), a North Carolina-based comedy duo.

Everybody Eats When They Come to My House by Cab Calloway

Have a banana, Hannah,
Try the salami, Tommy,
Give with the gravy, Davy,
Everybody eats when they come to my house!

Try a tomato, Plato,
Here's cacciatore, Dorie,
Taste the baloney, Tony,
Everybody eats when they come to my house!

I fix your favorite dishes,
Hopin' this good food fills ya!
Work my hands to the bone in the kitchen alone,
You better eat if it kills ya!

Pass me a pancake, Mandrake,
Have an hors-d'oeuvre-y, Irvy,
Look in the fendel, Mendel,
Everybody eats when they come to my house!

Hannah! Davy! Tommy! Dora! Mandrake!
Everybody eats when they come to my house!

Pastafazoola, Talullah!
Oh, do have a bagel, Fagel,
Now, don't be so bashful, Nashville,
Everybody eats when they come to my house!

Hey, this is a party, Marty,
Here, you get the cherry, Jerry,
Now, look, don't be so picky, Micky,
'Cause everybody eats when they come to my house!

All of my friends are welcome,
Don't make me coax you, moax you,
Eat the tables, the chairs, the napkins, who cares?
You gotta eat if it chokes you!

Oh, do have a knish, Nishia,
Pass me the latke, Macky,
Chile con carne for Barney,
Everybody eats when they come to my house!

Face! Buster! Chair! Chops! Fump!
Everybody eats when they come to my house!
Everybody eats when they come to my house!

Click here for the good story behind Louis Armstrong's famous "Struttin' with Some Barbecue".

By Meathead
To the tune of
"You Can't Hurry Love"
with apologies to Diana Ross

"You Can't Hurry Ribs", Meathead's theme song, sung by Natalie Longo, should play automatically when you open this page from the playlist at right. If not, click the "listen" buttons below. Feel free to download it, burn it, and play it on the road while you're lookin' for that great little rib shack. It's copyright free!

Click for 2.8mb mp3 (best)

Click for 452kb mp4

Click for 185kb mov

I need ribs, ribs,
To ease my day.
I need to find time,
To cook them right!

My papa said:
You can't hurry ribs!
No, you just got to wait.
He said ribs don't come easy,
It's a game of time and temp.
You can't hurry ribs!
No, you just have to wait.
Just trust in low 'n slow,
No matter how long it takes.

How many boiled slabs must I stand?
Before I find the crunch to let me live again?
Right now the only thing that keeps me hanging on,
Is a mem'ry of smokiness down to the bone.

I remember Papa said:
Can’t hurry ribs!
No you just have to wait.
He said ribs don’t come easy,
It’s a game of time and temp.
How long must I wait?
How much thirst must I slake?
Before succulent slabs
Will cause my taste buds to wake?

No, I can't bear them burnt or boiled.
I grow impatient for meat that falls off the bone.
But when I feel that I, that I can’t go on,
These precious words keep me hanging on,

I remember Papa said:
You can’t hurry ribs!
No, you just have to wait.
He said ribs don’t come easy,
It’s a game of time and temp.
You can’t hurry ribs,
No, you just have to wait.
He said trust in the low 'n slow,
No matter how long it takes!

Now ribs, ribs they don’t come easy.
But I keep on waiting, anticipating.
For that juicy meat
To talk to me at night
For some tender flesh
Hickory smoked just right!
I keep waiting
Until it's done.
But it ain’t easy.
It ain’t easy.

My papa said:
You can’t hurry ribs.
No, you’ll just have to wait.
He said ribs don’t come easy.
It’s a game of time and temp.

You can’t hurry ribs.
No, you just have to wait.
Just trust in low 'n slow,
No matter how long it takes.

Stand By Your Grill

By Meathead
To the tune of
"Stand by Your Grill"
with apologies to Tammy Wynette

Sometimes it's hard to be a grill-man.
In the heat 'n sleet 'n hail 'n rainstorms.
You'll get burned meat,
And you'll get raw meat,
And you'll get grief, you understand.

But if you love eatin,
Stay at your station,
Even though the game's on television.
Just learn some patience,
Stay at your station,
Cause after all, it's art not science.

Stand by your grill!
Watch out for flareups,
And beware of cold spots,
When nights are dark and lonely.

Stand by your grill!
Keep tongs and beer can handy,
Keep drinking all the beer you can,
Stand by your grill!

Stand by your grill!
And tell your wife you love her,
Keep drinking all the beer you can,
Stand by your grill!

Grillin' in the Snow

By Meathead
To the tune of
"Singin' in the Rain"
with apologies to Gene Kelly

I'm grillin' in the snow,
Just grillin' in the snow!
What a glorious feelin',
I'm chillin' doncha know.

I'm laughing at snow
Meltin' in the glow.
The grill is not fazed,
The meat's ready for glaze.

Let the stormy clouds chase
Everyone from the place,
Come on with the flakes,
I've a smile on my face.

I walk out the door,
With a hunger for pork,
Flippin' the meat,
I'm ready to eat.

[Dance:] Grillin' in the snow
Dee-ah dee-ah dee-ah
Dee-ah dee-ah dee-ah
I'm chillin' doncha know!
I'm grillin' and chillin' in the snow!

Other tunes in Meathead's iTunes Library

Ain't Nobody Here but Us Chickens by B.B. King

All That Meat and No Potatoes by Fats Waller

Barbecue by Robert Earl Keen

Blessing of the Pork by Billy Ray Mangham

Burger Man by ZZ Top

Cheeseburger in Paradise by Jimmy Buffett

A Chicken Ain't Nothin' but a Bird by Cab Calloway

Chicken Cordon Blues by Steve Goodman

Chicken Shack Boogie by Lionel Hampton & His Sextet

Chicken Soup with Rice by Carole King

Chocolate by Chenille Sisters

Chocolate Chip by Miles Davis

The Closer to the Bone (The Sweeter Is the Meat) by Louis Prima

Dixie Fried by Kentucky Headhunters

Eating Greens by Michael Tilson Thomas

Eggs and Sausage (In a Cadillac With Susan Michelson) by Tom Waits

Everytime I Eat Vegetables It Makes Me Think of You by Ramones

Food Innuendo Guy by Adam Sandler

Food, Glorious Food (Overture) from Oliver by Lionel Bart

Fried Bananas by Benny Golson

Fried Bananas by Dexter Gordon

Fried Chicken by Ice T

Fried Chicken and Coffee by Nashville Pussy

Fried Chicken and Gasoline by Southern Culture on the Skids

Fried Neck Bones and Some Homefries by Willie Bobo

Frim Fram Sauce by Diana Krall

Hold Tight (Want Some Sea Food Mama) by The Andrews Sisters with Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra

Hot Barbecue by Brother Jack McDuff, Pat Martino & Red Holloway

I Heard the Voice of the Porkchop by Greg & Jere Canote

It's Hard to Kiss the Lips At Night That Chew Your A*s Out All Day Long by The Notorious Cherry Bombs

Lunchbox by Marilyn Manson

Mama Bake a Pie (Daddy Kill a Chicken) by Tom T. Hall

Miss Otis Regrets (She's Unable to Lunch Today) by Ella Fitzgerald

Plant a Radish from the Fantastiks, music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones

Poke Chop Sandwich by ZZ Top

Pork Store by The Booglerizers

Trout Quintet by Franz Schubert

Red Hot Chicken by Wet Willie

Ribs and Hot Sauce by Lionel Hampton & His Sextet

Ribs and Whiskey by Widespread Panic

Saturday Night Fish Fry by B.B. King

Scenes from an Italian Restaurant by Billy Joel

Sing for Your Supper by The Mamas & The Papas

Spaghetti by Shel Silverstein

Strawberry Fields Forever by the Beatles

Struttin' with Some Barbecue by Louis Armstrong

That's Amore by Dean Martin

Vegematic by Steve Goodman

Vegetables by The Beach Boys

Watermelon Man by Jimmy Smith

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About this website

AmazingRibs.com is all about the science of barbecue, grilling, and outdoor cooking, with great BBQ recipes and tips on technique. Learn how to set up your grills and smokers properly, the thermodynamics of what happens when heat hits meat, as well as hundreds of excellent tested recipes including all the classics: Baby back ribs, spareribs, pulled pork, beef brisket, burgers, chicken, smoked turkey, lamb, steaks, barbecue sauces, rubs, and side dishes, with the world's best buying guide to barbecue smokers, grills, and accessories, all edited by Meathead.

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