BACKSTORY: Four Thanksgiving (sort of) Songs

Q: How do you dance the 'mashed potato'?

A: If you really want to, it's kinda like the Twist. Take one step slightly backward with the heel pointed inward; swivel the heel of your starting foot back & forth like you're grinding a potato into the ground and repeat the same process with the other foot for as long as you want. Songs that were about this dance include MASHED POTATOES by Nat Kendrick (#84, 1960), MASHED POTATO TIME by Dee Dee Sharp (#2, 1962), MASHED POTATOES USA by James Brown, also known as "(Do The) Mashed Potatoes" (#82, 1962) and MASHED POTATOES by Steve Alaimo (#81, 1962). There were many others, including “Mashed Potato Limbo” (Chubby Checker), “Mashed Potato Party” (Link Wray) “Mashed Potato Twist” (B.B. King) and “Mashed Potatoes” by The Swans. Bobby 'Boris' Pickett's song MONSTER MASH was based on Dee Dee Sharp's MASHED POTATO TIME.

Q: I recently heard a song called “Pumpkin Soup”...please tell me who did it.

A: PUMPKIN SOUP is by Kate Nash and can be found on her 2007 album “Made Of Bricks.” About the song, Nash said "It's called “Pumpkin Soup” but it's not about soup, it's about kissing boys. It's about when you're with someone and they're really rubbish but you make up in your head that they're better than they are." Another song that mention 'pumpkin' in the title is APPLES, PEACHES, PUMPKIN PIE by Jay & The Techniques (#6, 1967).

Q: Which Beatle song is it where John Lennon says “I buried Paul”?

A: The song you have in mind is STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER (#8, 1967), where at the end of the song, Lennon actually says “cranberry sauce” which has been misheard over the years as “I buried Paul.” Others have thought he was saying “I'm very bored.”

Q: How about songs about gravy. Ha ha.

A: “Ha-ha” yourself. Here are ten titles: “Beans, Bacon & Gravy” (The Rockin' Solidarity Labor Chorus), “Gravy” (Spencer Shakur Bond), GRAVY (FOR MY MASHED POTATOES) (Dee Dee Sharp, #9, 1962), “Gravy Train” (Mark Knopfler), GRAVY WALTZ (Steve Allen, #64, 1963), “Love Gravy” (Rick James), the Frank Zappa album “Lumpy Gravy” (#159, 1967), “Biscuits & Gravy,” “Bread & Gravy” and “Rice & Gravy.” That makes ten.