The Other Shoe - Old 97s
*
One old brown shoe falls in slow motion,
And the bedsprings hover right above your head,
As bed springs do, when you’re beneath them.
Someone else just climbed into your bed.
By the time she thought you’d probably got to Phoenix,
She’d arranged for your shoes to be filled.
Well you’ve got your pride, and a blue-steel '45,
And you’re waiting for the other shoe to fall.*
Why don’t you love me like you used to do?
How come you treat me like a worn-out shoe?
My hair is still curly, my eyes are still blue,
So why don’t you love me like you used to do?
No need to be ashamed, because from now on whenever I hear that song I will imagine Felicity Huffman dancing on a bar in tight pants and a vest with no shirt (see Desperate Housewives Episode 2.05). I always had a thing for her before that, but damn, can that woman move!
Back on topic, there’s:
“Kick off your high-heeled sneakers, it’s party time.” - FM by Steely Dan
Back to the Swing Era for a peppy numbah from the Bob Pope Orchestra, the toast of Charlotte, North Carolina, recording for Bluebird 78s in the local RCA dealer’s warehouse in 1936.
Breakin’ In a Pair of Shoes
words and music by Dave Franklin
*Got a date with someone I adore
Now I’m late, I’ll bet he’s good ‘n sore
I could cry, Breakin’ In a Pair of Shoes
Some hot band will soon be deliverin’
Givin’ out music that’s Hot
Should I dance, take a chance
Owwwch! my toot-sies*
That’s the song I came here to mention. It’s on that great double album of his from 1970: “Easy Does It”. He co-wrote it with Irwin Levine and Bob Brass.
My friends all say don’t got to pieces
I say that’s fine but if I lose
I want to know who’s in my foot steps
I want to know who wears these shoes
Joe Cocker’s You Can Leave Your Hat On
Baby take off your shoes…I’ll take off your shoes…
and a personal favorite, Eartha Kitt’s Cha Cha Heels
Don’t you mess around with me, I know just what to do I’ll put on my Cha Cha heels And walk all over you
Off topic a little more, I thought this was a great little nod to Sports Night, in which Huffman’s character Dana got the group kicked out of a bar where they were serving big blue drinks for half off (“I’m not promoting the economic upside so much as I am the chance to drink something big and blue.”), and then proceeded to pump the music in their offices and have an impromptu dance party.
Since someone beat me to Kirsty McColl, and since we’re not looking for only great songs, I’ll just throw in for completeness
Bob Dylan’s “Boots of Spanish Leather”