It was a seemingly normal afternoon at Scoops Westside. Me: writing at the counter. Customers: buying ice cream. Owner Matthew Kang: scooping and playing an eclectic mix of music. That’s when blues legend Bessie Smith started belting out a song that I’d never heard before, a song that was so suited to my interests that it stopped me cold: “Gimme A Pigfoot And A Bottle Of Beer.” Apparently “At the break of day, 
you can hear ol’ Hannah say
, Gimme a pigfoot and a bottle of beer.” I like Hannah’s style.

Bessie Smith’s song got me thinking about the possibilities. How many songwriters have found inspiration in the noble pig? Who else has had the foresight to sing about that magical animal’s bacon, ham, ribs and more? Through the magic of Twitter and Facebook, we learned a lot about the world of porcine music.

Chuck Taggart and Matthew Kang seconded the Bessie Smith suggestion. Diana Davis shared an entire list Yahoo! List featuring 40 Songs About Pigs. Mitch Durette shared a video for Nine Inch Nails “March of the Pigs.” Ozzy Osborne famously sang about “War Pigs.”

Eric Ernst suggested Sparklehorse’s “Pig.” Tannaz Sassooni likes the Beatles song “Piggies.” Daniel Djang “Charles Mingus – Goodbye Pork Pie Hat (aka “Theme for Lester Young”). Miles Clements suggested The Kinks “I’m A Hog For You Baby.” Jim Thurman added “Canned Ham” by Norman Greenbaum and “Bacon Fat” by the Sir Douglas Quintet.

Adam Pingel added Primus’ album “Pork Soda.” I like that the band was willing to build an entire album around pork. That shows good commitment.

Kylee Van Dillen took the conversation in a different direction, writing, “”Bacon? Its BACON!! Bacon, bacon, bacon!! (Either kibbles and bits and bits and bits…or snausages, snausages! Can’t rememeber but its sung by a handsome golden retriever) and “I want my baby back baby back baby back chilis..baby back ribs. Yummmmmm” sung by the chilis commercial guy.”

Michael Weisberg reminded me that Pink Floyd features a massive inflatable pig at their live shows, which apparently started to appear after the animal appeared on the cover of their fifth album, Animals. Clearly pork and music mix.

If you know of any other pig or pork related songs, please suggest in the Comments section below.

Dose of Vitamin P normally spotlights my favorite pork dish from the previous week, and that’s what it will do net week.