# Why Aren't There Any Thanksgiving Songs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 19, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-thanksgiving-songs/603462 "2011-11-19T16:31:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-thanksgiving-songs/603462/21 "2011-11-20T00:26:28Z")
Beach Boys: Everybody’s having turkey, across the USA… Sinead O’Connor: Nothing compares 2 Turkey Queen: I want to eat eat my TURKEY LEG, I want to eat my leg… Van Halen: I’m hot for turkey KISS: I, want to watch football all day, and have some turkey tonight Parliament/Funkadelics: One nation under a groove, gettin down just for the turkey meat ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-thanksgiving-songs/603462/22 "2011-11-20T04:06:42Z")
The Ramones: I wanna be tryptophanned ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-thanksgiving-songs/603462/23 "2011-11-20T05:24:59Z")
The traditional Shaker song _ **Simple Gifts** _ (“Tis the gift to be simple, tis the gift to be free…”) is often associated with Thanksgiving, though it isn’t actually about the holiday or anything directly related to the holiday. [Here is a version by Yo-Yo Ma and Alison Kraus.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYi9Vr8bHJY&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-thanksgiving-songs/603462/24 "2011-11-20T14:47:22Z")
Another subject altogether, but there aren’t any Thanksgiving movies of note, either. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-thanksgiving-songs/603462/25 "2011-11-20T15:38:16Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Another subject altogether, but there aren’t any Thanksgiving movies of note, either. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles It’s the set up, tho, and not really the theme. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-thanksgiving-songs/603462/26 "2011-11-20T15:41:36Z")
A quick search on IMDb of the word “Thanksgiving” in the title brings up a lot of made for TV movies, but nothing of note. The only one I actually remembered on the list was the Charlie Brown one. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-thanksgiving-songs/603462/27 "2011-11-20T15:53:21Z")
Maybe _Grandma Got Run Over by a Turkey_? ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-thanksgiving-songs/603462/28 "2011-11-20T16:05:08Z")
Thanksgiving movies - that oldie with Spencer Tracy and Gene Tierney, “Plymouth Adventure”. And for some reason, more times than I can fathom, a 1937 thing with Robert Young and James Stewart, “Navy Blue and Gold”, 1937, naval academy and The Big Game (football). zzzzzzzzzz… ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-thanksgiving-songs/603462/29 "2011-11-20T16:26:04Z")
a couple more movies: **Home for the Holidays** - starring Holly Hunter and Robert Downey, Jr. **Pieces of April** - an indie film with Katie Holmes ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-thanksgiving-songs/603462/30 "2011-11-20T16:59:21Z")
One time I heard a Thanksgiving-themed parody of Linkin Park’s “One Step Closer” (the song that goes, “everything you say to me/takes me one step closer to the edge/'cause I’m about to break.”) The parody went something like, “I just put the stuffing in the bird/and it’s about to bake.” I can’t seem to find any reference to this song on the internet. It was probably a locally-produced thing that was only played on that one radio station. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-thanksgiving-songs/603462/31 "2011-11-20T18:09:36Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Another subject altogether, but there aren’t any Thanksgiving movies of note, either. [Alice’s Restaurant.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice%27s_Restaurant_(film)) ---
**Author:** ![RachelChristine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@RachelChristine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RachelChristine)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-thanksgiving-songs/603462/32 "2011-11-20T18:20:46Z")
We watched a cartoon every year called “Mouse on the Mayflower”. It was cute, at least in my memory! ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-thanksgiving-songs/603462/33 "2011-11-20T19:48:26Z")
The song _Home_, written in 1931 by Peter van Steeden, Harry Clarkson and Geoff Clarkson is a Thanksgiving song. It was introduced that year the night before Thanksgiving on several radio shows by different singers. Geoff Clarkson was only sixteen years old when he helped write this song. It was recorded by Ruth Etting, Louis Armstrong, Mildred Bailey, The Dorsey Brothers and several others. The Andrews Sisters sang it in the 1944 movie musical _Moonlight and Cactus_. I haven’t been able to find a version of this song on-line, but I can send an MP3 of the Ruth Etting recording to anyone who asks. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-thanksgiving-songs/603462/34 "2011-11-20T22:45:32Z")
_It’s the Most Fattening Time of the Year._ "It’s the most fattening time of the year With that pumpkin pie filling and everyone swilling down eggnog and beer It’s the most fattening time of the year It’s the lip smackingest season of all while your shopping you’re cheating impulsively eating that junk at the mall It’s the heav-heaviest season of all There’ll be turkeys for basting and stuffing for tasting and giblets and gravy will flow there’ll be cookies that mom baked and leftover fruit cake from a christmas a long time ago." Etc., etc., etc. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-thanksgiving-songs/603462/35 "2011-11-20T22:59:31Z")
There’s the [Ballad of the Nikey Turkey](http://www.hulu.com/watch/2326/saturday-night-live-nikey-turkey). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-thanksgiving-songs/603462/36 "2011-11-20T23:55:41Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > _It’s the Most Fattening Time of the Year._ > > "It’s the most fattening time of the year > With that pumpkin pie filling > and everyone swilling down eggnog and beer > It’s the most fattening time of the year > > It’s the lip smackingest season of all > while your shopping you’re cheating > impulsively eating that junk at the mall > It’s the heav-heaviest season of all > > There’ll be turkeys for basting > and stuffing for tasting > and giblets and gravy will flow > there’ll be cookies that mom baked > and leftover fruit cake from a christmas a long time ago." > > Etc., etc., etc. I love it! Is this an original **panache45** composition? ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2011, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-thanksgiving-songs/603462/37 "2011-11-21T01:08:23Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Thanksgiving movies - that oldie with Spencer Tracy and Gene Tierney, “Plymouth Adventure”. And for some reason, more times than I can fathom, a 1937 thing with Robert Young and James Stewart, “Navy Blue and Gold”, 1937, naval academy and The Big Game (football). > > zzzzzzzzzz… And Plymouth Adventure is just started on TCM. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2011, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-thanksgiving-songs/603462/38 "2011-11-21T02:10:35Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I love it! Is this an original **panache45** composition? No, my chorus sang it several years ago. [Here](http://artists.letssingit.com/bob-rivers-lyrics-its-the-most-fattening-time-of-the-year-tvj3chd) are all the lyrics. (I think the version we performed had more verses.) ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-thanksgiving-songs/603462/39 "2011-11-21T03:48:28Z")
This morning in church we sang [_Come Ye Thankful People, Come_](http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/c/o/comeytpc.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2011, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-thanksgiving-songs/603462/40 "2011-11-21T05:59:24Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > This morning in church we sang [_Come Ye Thankful People, Come_](http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/c/o/comeytpc.htm). I just love this song. I sang it the other day to **Suburban Plankton** and **Ledzepkid** because they said they didn’t know any Thanksgiving songs. When I was a child we would do a canned food drive at my church and the Sunday morning before TG all the children would walk into the sanctuary singing this song and bringing the food donations to the front of the church. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-thanksgiving-songs/603462.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-there-any-thanksgiving-songs/603462.md?page=3)