Song of the Day: These Boots Are Made For Walkin’, covered by Jessica Simpson


The other night, I was watching Class of 1984 with a group of friends (including three TSL writers), and I we started discussing what our high schools were known for.  When I was a student there, my high school was probably best known for the fact that Jessica Simpson attended the school in the 90s.  She didn’t graduate because she left Texas for Hollywood but that was still our claim to fame.  It’s interesting because people didn’t care that was my school was also named one of the best high schools in America and that it had an acclaimed drama department.  But they definitely cared that Jessica Simpson dropped out before I was even old enough to attend.

(Is it a good thing when your school is best known for a student who dropped out and went on to become a success with G.E.D.?)

Today’s song of the day was inspired by that conversation.  Here’s Jessica Simpson, covering These Boots Are Made For Walkin’.

(Yes, I know that no cover can compare to Nancy Sinatra’s other but I didn’t go to Nancy Sinatra’s high school.  Plus, I’m a Southern girl with a closet full of boots.  I relate to this version.)

You keep sayin’ you’ve got somethin’ for me
Somethin’ you call love but confess
You’ve been a’messin’ where you shouldn’t ‘ve been a’messin’
And now someone else is getting all your best

These boots are made for walkin’
And that’s just what they’ll do
One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you
Ya

You keep lyin’ when you oughta be truthin’
And you keep losing when you oughta not bet
You keep samin’ when you oughta be a’changin’
Now what’s right is right but you ain’t been right yet

These boots are made for walkin’
And that’s just what they’ll do
One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you

You keep playin’ where you shouldn’t be playin’
And you keep thinkin’ that you’ll never get burnt (ha)
I just found me a brand new box of matches, yeah
And what he knows you ain’t had time to learn

These boots are made for walkin’
And that’s just what they’ll do
One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you

Are you ready, boots? Start walkin’

(Lyrics by Lee Hazlewood)

Music Video of The Day: These Boots Are Made For Walkin’ (1966, dir by ????)


This song seems like a good one for Super Bowl Sunday.  One team is going to win.  The other team is going to have these boots walking all over them.  Actually, I guess football player don’t wear boots.  But maybe they’ll slip into some boots after the game is over.  Who knows?

This song was written be Lee Hazlewood, who was originally planning on singing the song himself.  Apparently, his version was meant to be even more aggressive than the version that was ultimately recorded by Nancy Sinatra.  From Songfacts:

Hazlewood often drew inspiration for his songs from regular people. In a Blender magazine interview, he said he was in a Texas bar when some patrons started razzing an older guy about his younger girlfriend and how she controlled him. The man responded by putting his feet on a barstool and saying, “I know what you think – that she might be the boss. But I am the boss of my house, and these boots will walk all over her the day that I’m not.”

Lee had written the song for himself: “It was a party song I had written two or three years before that. It was a joke to begin with. I had written a beautiful song for her, ‘The City Never Sleeps At Night,’ and she wondered if it would sell. I replied, ‘Three times more than ‘So Long Babe,’ and that did 60,000. We’re building up your career.’ I changed my mind and put it on the back of ‘Boots’ and that sold 6 million.”

Nancy Sinatra recalled in the documentary The Wrecking Crew that Lee Hazlewood was going to record the song himself, but she talked him out of it. Said Sinatra, “When a guy sings it, the song sounds harsh and abusive, but it’s perfect for a little girl.”

Enjoy!

A Quickie With Lisa Marie: These Boots Are Made For Walkin’ (performed by Nancy Sinatra)


These Boots Are Made For Walkin’ is one of my favorite songs, one of those that is perfect for making either an entrance or an exit.  There’s probably not a day that passes without this song playing somewhere in the back of my head.

Written by Lee Hazelwood, this song has been recorded by everyone from Jessica Simpson to Megadeth but I prefer the version that made it famous, Nancy Sinatra’s.

Plus, the video for Nancy’s version cracks me up because, if you look real closely, one the dancers has got a run in her hose. *

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*Actually, as I sit here typing this on my lunch break, so do I.