Saucy, cheesy, quick and delicious, pizza is the perfect party food, easy takeout meal, casual dining choice and leftover lunch pick. Whether you prefer pepperoni, plain, mushroom, sausage, Hawaiian or another unique variety, you can choose pizza’s convenience and delicious flavor for almost any occasion, find it almost anywhere and count on everyone being satisfied — because who doesn’t like pizza?
There’s no doubt about it — this flavorful Italian-American dish is one of the country’s favorites. From birthday parties, bar mitzvahs, events and ceremonies to family reunions, Friday nights, stay-in dates and Sunday lunches, pizza permeates every aspect of our lives. In fact, pizza is so popular that one in eight Americans picks pizza as a meal on any given day, and we consume as many as 3 million pizzas per year. That’s definitely a lot of dough!
Pizza is such an American classic that it permeates every aspect of culture — even music. Through comical, cultural or kid-friendly premises, many musicians have expressed their love of pizza through song. Don’t believe us? From the 1950s to today, here’s a lineup of spoofy and serious songs with lyrics about pizza.
“Pizza Boy USA” — Lou Monte
Written in 1958 by Lou Monte, an Italian-American musician with a crooning style, “Pizza Boy USA” is one of the first songs to pay tribute to the Sicilian staple dish of Italian neighborhoods and its growing popularity as a national food sensation after World War II. Throwing in a handful of pop culture references, the song positions pizza as a new American sensation captivating crowds and bringing Italian culture to the masses.
“He is the new sensation in the nation,” Monte sings, personifying pizza by making a universal “pizza boy” the subject of his song, “He is the flying saucer innovation — Pizza Boy USA.” This pizza song describes pizza with a novelty and visual admiration, narrating how the pizza boy “flips that dough,” explaining how the crowd watches him “toss a pizza, roll a pizza up and all around.” Paying tribute to pizza’s Italian heritage by mentioning how “from Italy to Lady Liberty we have a big dream” and “we come from the spaghetti land,” “Pizza Boy USA” introduces this beloved dish to the nation with style.
“Pizza Pie” — Norman Fox and the Rob Roys
Pizza doesn’t just have hearty Italian roots and a strong cultural influence on America as a food phenomenon — it also makes a personal impression that can shape people’s lives, and some people love it so much they shape their lives around it. Take “Pizza Pie” by Norman Fox and the Rob Roys, for example. As a pizza song that tells a story, the 1959 tune narrates the life of a pizza-lover whose obsession with the delicious dish defines him.
The song begins with the narrator and his friends looking for something to do in town and finding a “swell” pizza place on the corner to stop in and order a pizza pie. In the second verse, Fox sings about a woman he loves and how he’ll make her his wife, and when people ask why he chose her, he’ll tell them it’s “’cause she stands in the kitchen and makes me all those great, big pizza pies.” Next, the singer brags about how his sons are so tall, strong and healthy because they’ve been “born and bred and always fed on great, big pizza pie.” Even at the end of the song when the narrator describes his time to die, his final request is that “when they put me six feet under, I’m taking a great, big pizza pie.” Talk about a pizza obsession!
“That’s Amore” — Dean Martin
For some, pizza is life. For others, it’s love. In his 1953 hit song, “That’s Amore,” crooner Dean Martin sings all about the blissful feeling of “amore” and how it’s defined by feelings similar to those you experience when preparing for an amazing, mouthwatering meal and the flavors it has in store. The first food on the list? You guessed it — pizza.
The song narrates the heady, intoxicating feeling of falling in love, saying “bells will ring,” “hearts will play” and you’ll “dance down the street with a cloud at your feet,” all the while feeling like “you walk in a dream but you know you’re not dreaming” — that’s love. And the first line in the song, which repeats as an introductory phrase to set the stage for all the delicious feeling in the song, says it all begins “when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie.” When it comes to using pizza as a metaphor for romance, you know that’s amore.
“Pizza Party” — L’Homme Run
Sometimes pizza is all full moons and marriages and national treasures, and other times it’s the only thing holding you together and keeping spirits high. In “Pizza Party,” L’Homme Run demonstrates how sometimes pizza brings the party all on its own when everything else is less than ideal. While it contains some references to smoking to pass the time, the song focuses mostly on the intricacies of pizza tastes and toppings and how sampling the delicious dish is a better use of any evening than any other activity could be.
“Pizza Party” keeps its focus on describing traditional pizza toppings and how they make a better choice than any fancy, foreign, unusual toppings people are beginning to prefer on pizza. “Where’d you get that fresh pepperoni?” the first verse sings, describing how the “toppings are ill” and the “cheese is holey” — a classic cheese and pepperoni pizza is always the most delicious. In France, the song ponders, people judge their pizzas based on fancy flavor and delicate toppings, but “I don’t eat my pizza with brie or escargot or duck confit.”
Good, old-fashioned flavor and tradition is the key in this song, with “a hot slice in my hands, no cutlery, at the P-I-Z-Z-A party.” No matter what the world is like around you, there’s nothing to lift you up like when friends “get together for some good pizza eatin’,” is there?
“The Blue Light” — Frank Zappa
‘There’s no time like the ’80’s for some authentic pizza appreciation, and Frank Zappa’s “The Blue Light” shows how pizza is always a key part of living life — even when life is lonely and casts a metaphorical blue light on everything you experience. The song talks about hopelessness, helplessness and how the subject wanders from place to place at night, looking for meaning.
When you’re blue, Zappa narrates, sometimes you go to bars or doughnut shops to search for answers, and sometimes “you’ll go to a pizza place” and order that “American kind of pizza that has the ugly yellow, waxy, fake yellow kind of cheese on top.” Maybe, says the narrator, you’ll go to “Straw Hat Pizza to get all those artificial ingredients that never belonged on a pizza in the first place.” No wonder this song is so blue — what’s sadder than missing out on an authentic pizza with fresh toppings?
“Pizza Day” — The Aquabats
Sometimes pizza makes such a big impression that one slice or style of pie can stick with us forever — especially if it’s linked to an important childhood memory. In The Aquabats’ quirky, high-speed song “Pizza Day,” the narrator reminisces over public school memories and how pizza made his otherwise unfortunate educational experience exciting and enjoyable.
On his first day of school, the singer says, he was so scared of getting beaten up, and at his first recess, he did — “pegged in the head by a big red ball, it stung and my head hung back to class with a bloody nose.” What could have made him hate school forever, however, turned around quickly because “soon it was lunchtime.” When he picked up the lunch schedule, the narrator says, he saw every Friday was “Pizza Day, the best day of the week,” and “all the kids would line up super early just to eat.” Now, he looks back on his elementary days remembering and missing Pizza Day — just leave it to the power of pizza to turn any situation positive.
“Don’t Take the Pizza” — The Fall
As we’ve already pointed out, sometimes pizza is the only thing that makes sense in a crazy world. The ’90’s song “Don’t Take the Pizza” definitely demonstrates that. As a song that ponders the pressures of modern society and all its intricacies, the mention of pizza seems to be the only safe harbor in a sea of confusion.
The song begins by pointing out how everything is gone, shredded by modern technology and new ideas — the glass ceiling is shaking and expanding, and the city makes no sense, “but don’t take the pizza off me.” The lyrics continue to make references that are difficult to interpret and show how confusing life can be, like how “your brain splits each day from information anxiety,” but through it all, the one constant is pizza and the narrator’s entreaty — “don’t take the pizza off me.” What could be a better comfort to cling to than the constancy and delicious taste of pizza?
“Pizza Girl” — The Jonas Brothers
Across decades and age groups, pizza never fails to bring people together — and as a light, optimistic tribute to the power of pizza, the pop-culture song “Pizza Girl” by the 2000s-era boy band The Jonas Brothers shows just how sweet the savory food sensation can be. Packed with pizza puns and clever references, the song paints romance from a pizza-influenced perspective.
“Love showed up at my door yesterday,” the boys claim, and “it might sound cheesy, but I wanted her to stay.” Pizza pun number one starts off the song with some flavor, propelling the tune into its simple, pizza-themed chorus about falling in love with the girl who delivers the pizza. Before they discovered that cheesy goodness, they were “stuck in a box for so long,” but now they’re more than happy to accept that pizza box on the daily. What can they say? One of them “fell in love with the pizza girl,” and “now I eat pizza every day” — presumably because he wants to see the delivery girl, but we know the real reason. Who can resist a saucy slice?
The Pizza Underground Demo
What could be more of a tribute to the tastiness and temptation of pizza than an entire parody band dedicated to transforming classic rock lyrics into comical, clever lyrics about pizza? We don’t think anything could be as perfect as this entire album packed with pizza songs. Founded in 2013 by Macaulay Culkin and friends, The Pizza Underground pays tribute to both The Velvet Underground and the timelessness of pizza by reworking and rewording each classic tune into a parody pizza song with lyrics all about cheese, delivery and the toppings of the day. Who says pizza can’t be poetry?
Culkin’s pizza tribute demo album includes a variety of tracks about the intricacies of everyone’s favorite tasty treat, including “Papa John Says,” “I’m Beginning to Eat the Slice,” “Pizza Rolls,” “I’m Waiting for Delivery Man,” “Cheese Days,” “Pizza Day,” “All the Pizza Parties,” “Pizza Gal,” “Pizza Morning,” “Who Loves Pizza” and “Take a Bite of the Wild Slice” — to name a few — each a unique medley or reimagination of original Velvet Underground lyrics.
As a parody of The Velvet Underground’s “Stephanie Says,” The Pizza Underground’s “Papa John Says” is a comical compilation of complaints about getting the wrong pizza toppings. Cheese and pepperoni are classic, but “I didn’t want anchovies, the people called and they said no mushrooms.” Now “the pie’s cold and there’s mushrooms — get them off my pie.” In “I’m Beginning to Eat the Slice,” a pizza-themed reworking of “I’m Beginning to See the Light,” the singer launches into lyrics about everyone’s inherent differences in tastes when it comes to types of pizzas and toppings. But “Cheese Days” makes it clear that sometimes no topping is the best topping, describing how “I don’t do much toppings these days…I seem to order cheese and don’t say please, then I walk away.”
What could be better than eating pizza leftovers for breakfast when you wake up? In “Pizza Morning,” a parody of both “Sunday Morning” and “Run Run Run,” Culkin and the band describe the delight of digging into leftover slices — how “most of it’s gone into my mouth, I was so hungry” but “now I am full” and “I only ate the part with cheese.” But watch out — there’s always someone trying to steal your pizza. “Pizza Gal” warns to “lock your door or just order more,” because that beautiful woman might just double as an elusive pizza thief. With every track packed with humor and an authentic love for every aspect of pizza, The Pizza Underground might be the best musical pizza effort yet.
Grab a Slice From Giordano’s
After listening to all those saucy music choices, you might be craving a slice for yourself. When you want the freshest, most delicious stuffed and deep-dish Chicago pizza for dine-in, carry-out or delivery straight to your door, Giordano’s is waiting to make your night. With family roots and a passion for pizza unlike any other, we make it our mission to deliver the best pie you’ve ever tasted. Show off your pizza love by visiting one of our locations or ordering online today and serenading your supper with your favorite pizza song!