Tastes Like Chicken

Continuing with our exploration of the FIVE SENSES, today we will consider the sense of TASTE.  Everything has a flavor.  Some flavors are unforgettable.  Some are sweet. Some are bittersweet.  Most songs mentioning the word taste are not referring to gustatory sensations of sweet, salty, sour, bitter or creamy, but are using it metaphorically, like the Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Taste the Pain" or Lenny Kravitz' "You're My Flavor".  Despite the cornucopia of exotic flavors to please the palate, in music the word flavor is used to describe "The Flavor of the Week" (by Obscure), "Flavor of the Weak" (by American Hi-Fi), or "Flavor of the Month" (by Black Sheep).  Clearly, Tori Amos was not savoring pizza when she composed her song "Flavor".

Love tastes sweet.  June Carter new that when she wrote the famous lines in Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" stating "...the taste of love is sweet, when hearts like ours meet".  Herb Alpert compared love to the "Taste of Honey". Johnny Lang was "Back for a Taste of Your Love". Because taste is sensual, it is often used to describe the lustful side of love, as in Rick James' "Taste", INXS' "Taste It", or the exotic "Taste of India" by Aerosmith.  The extraordinary band Jesus & Mary Chain liked taste so much that they put it in 2 songs on their album Psychocandy, "Taste of Cindy" and "Taste the Floor".  That's a lot of tasting going on.  Usually, as The Cramps point out, it's in "Good Taste".  Rarely, as in the song by the Kooks, it leaves a "Bad Taste in My Mouth".

If you are wondering whether any songs really refer to the actual Sense of Taste, there is the Austin Lounge Lizards' "Taste Like Chicken"  and another exceptionally great one by They Might Be Giants called "John Lee Supertaster".  Here's how it goes:

"(Spoken Part) When I was 39 years old, I heard a story. I found out that there [are] people walking among us who have superpowers. These people are called Supertasters. To a Supertaster, bitter fruits taste far more bitter, and sweets far more sweet. Then, just a few months ago, I had the chance to meet a real, live Supertaster named John Lee.  And this is his true story:

(Sung Part) Nothing tastes the same (nothing tastes the same)
To a Supertaster (Supertaster)
When he tastes a pear (tastes a pear)
It's like a hundred pears (it's like a million pears)

He's got superpowers (superpowers)
He is a Supertaster (Supertaster)
Every flavor explodes (explodes and explodes)
Explodes and explodes

John Lee Supertaster
Tastes more than we do
Everything has a flavor
Some flavors are too much

Can't shut his mouth (can't shut his mouth)
'Cause he's a Supertaster (Supertaster)
Though he looks like a man (talks like a man)
He is a Supertaster (Supertaster)

Can't drink coffee or beer (coffee or beer)
'Cause he's a Supertaster (Supertaster)
Loves ice cream and pie (ice cream and pie)
He is a Supertaster

John Lee Supertaster
Tastes more than we know
Everything has a flavor
Some flavors must go"

Now savor this super-tasty video by the Magik Markers for their epic tune "Taste"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrYS9FW73EA
 
Life is sweet.  Let's eat.