What makes music such a fun experience is that we can sing about almost anything.
Although most lyrics talk about relationships and love, you’ll find everything from Weird Al’s “Amish Paradise” to Kurt Cobain’s “Scoff,” where he yells, “Give me back my alcohol!”
Musicians and composers often use wordplay to generate attention for a title.
When a listener can relate to something vital about themselves in a song, it creates a connection to it that makes them want to hear it again.
Memories and nostalgia are the most common elements infused into songs today, but you’ll also see a growing number of titles with clothing items in the title.
What Are the Best Songs with Clothes in the Title?
Clothing in a song delivers a diverse perspective. It can represent anything from starting a new chapter to losing out on love. People can use the symbology to show how they’re getting over the past or trying to rekindle a past flame.
You’ll discover that the best songs with clothing items in the title tend to incorporate themes of love, kindness, and relationships. A few of them look at grief and sadness.
Here are the ones you’ll want to add to your playlist today. They’re in alphabetical order instead of ranking since every opinionated list is subjective to the author’s opinion.
1. Air Force Ones by Nelly
This song appeared on the album “Nellyville” in 2002. It was written and performed by the artist, featuring St. Lunatics, Ali and Murphy Lee, and Kyjuan.
It’s all about the crew heading to the store about purchasing a new pair of shoes. It rose to #3 on the U.S. charts.
2. Angel in Blue Jeans by Train
With this single from “Bulletproof Picasso,” Pat Monahan sings about falling in love with a girl he just met who is wearing jeans.
It was written with a songwriting and production team based in New York, which is a pairing that wrote the artist’s top hits “Drive By” and “Hey Soul Sister.”
“Angel in Blue Jeans” reached #79 on the U.S. charts and went to #58 in the U.K. in 2014.
3. Balmain Jeans by Kid Kudi
This 2014 song appears on “Satellite Flight: The Journey to the Mother Moon.” Cudi says that he gave it a clothing-based title to throw people off.
It describes an experience that feels electric when you reconnect with a long-lost friend or lover. Raphael Saadiq performs on the song, which is the only guest appearance made on the album.
4. Black Furs by Judie Tzuke
Released in 1981, the artist says that this song is about a girl she used to know that always wore a black fur coat. It appears on the album “I Am the Phoenix.”
5. Black Tie White Noise by David Bowie
This 1993 song reached #36 on the U.K. charts.
Although it has clothing in the title, the lyrics describe the racial tensions found in the United States after the Rodney King beating by four white police officers in Los Angeles.
When Bowie was asked what he meant about the title, he said that it referred to the racial boundaries that societies find acceptable in the “developed” world.
It is a piece meant to challenge how we all think about race.
6. Cheap Sunglasses by ZZ Top
It is arguably one of the band’s most memorable hits. Billy Gibbons, who played guitar for ZZ Top, said that they used to throw sunglasses into the crowd.
When they heard an optometrist telling people not to wear cheap sunglasses from the band because they were terrible for the eyes, they decided to write about the experience.
“When you wake up in the morning and the light is hurtin’ your head, the first thing you do when you get up out of bed is put on cheap sunglasses.”
The song peaked at #89 on the U.S. charts.
7. Devil with a Blue Dress by Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels
Out of all of the songs with clothing items in the title, this composition might be the one everyone knows without realizing who the original artist was.
The story gets complicated because Shorty Long recorded it two years earlier as “Devil With the Blue Dress.” It failed to chart for Motown, which is why Ryder and his band got a crack at it.
It would eventually peak at #4 on the U.S. charts.
8. Famous Blue Raincoat by Leonard Cohen
This song appears on Cohen’s 1971 album called “Songs of Love and Hate.”
When the artist talked about it in 1994, he said that it always felt like someone else was trying to seduce the person he was with at the time.
Was it a figment of his imagination? Could it have been paranoia?
Cohen said that he was never delighted with the way the song came together. It felt like something about the lyrics was left unclear, which is why it tends to be one of his most famous compositions.
9. Hats off to Larry by Del Shannon
In this song, Shannon talks about how he feels broken-hearted after his girl decides to leave him for another guy.
That feeling doesn’t last long after he learns that the now ex-girlfriend already got dumped by that fellow.
This song has one of music’s iconic lines in it. “Hats off to Larry, he broke your heart, just like you broken mine when you said we must part.
He told you lies, now it’s your turn to cry, cry, cry.”
The 1961 hit would eventually chart at #5 in the U.S. and #6 in the United Kingdom.
10. Little Black Dress by Sara Bareilles
The artist told VH1 that this song with clothing in the title helps her communicate the difficulties she faces each day.
It’s often challenging to stay authentic when working in entertainment, and Bareilles says that she often feels the pain of others more than she should.
She describes “Little Black Dress” as a love letter to those who are lost.
The 2013 hit says, “I’ll get my little black dress on, and if I put on my favorite song, I’m gonna dance until you’re all gone.”
11. Man in the Long Black Coat by Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan rarely wrote a terrible song. Although some people might put this one in that category, it’s more accurate to describe it as mysterious.
The listener follows the tale of a man in a long coat who enters a village. A woman catches his attention, but she eventually leaves.
It almost feels like the protagonist is supernatural, but nothing ever says that explicitly.
Dylan said the song was about someone whose body didn’t belong to them. It was an unusual number for the artist because the entire composition happened in the studio.
12. No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems by Kenny Chesney
By the time Chesney recorded this song with clothing in the title, he was on his sixth album. This title track talks about enjoying bottomless drinks on a Mexican beach while enjoying an extended vacation.
Although it reached #28 on the U.S. charts, it would rise to #2 on the country chart in 2002.
It was written by Casey Beathard, who was inspired by the signs in businesses that tell customers they can’t shop without shoes or a shirt.
13. Pyjamarama by Roxy
This song was a non-album single for Roxy when promoting their second title called “For Your Pleasure.”
Even after the piece reached #10 in the United Kingdom, some band members said they should have never put it out.
To make matters worse, the record company representing their work put it on the 1973 Greatest Hits album for the band.
14. Shirt Sleeves by Ed Sheeran
In this song, Sheeran sings about offering his shirt sleeves to wipe away his girlfriend’s tears. Why is she crying? Well, the lyrics say that she’s been cheating on him.
It’s a guitar-driven ballad you can find on 2014’s “X” album.
Sheeran said that the song was ready for about three years. When checking his Twitter feed, the artist tweeted out the lyrics about a month before his debut album was released to the public.
15. Short Skirt Long Jacket by Cake
Although this song only peaked at #63 on the U.K. charts, it gained cult notoriety by getting included in the television series “Chuck.”
It’s an exaggerated piece that talks about what it is like to find the right girl to love.
How many times has someone said that a person was attractive, charming, or handsome, but they didn’t have the right details to make them lovable?
This 2001 song addresses that concept by including elements like a short skirt and a long jacket.
16. Venus in Blue Jeans by Jimmy Clanton and Mark Wynter
Written by Jack Keller and Howard Greenfield, Jimmy Clanton took this song with clothing in the title to #4 in the United States.
Clanton was one of the few Caucasian singers to come from the New Orleans music scene in the 1950s.
The artist was only 21 when he recorded this title. After appearing in a movie and reaching #4 with the song “Just a Dream,” it seemed like Clanton’s career had no upper limit.
“Venus” would be his last top-40 hit.
Mark Wynter released this song in the United Kingdom about the same time it was on American airwaves. It would also reach #4 in that market.
17. You Look Good in My Shirt by Keith Urban
This song takes a lighthearted approach to love, discussing what happens when hooking back up with an ex-girlfriend.
Although it was on 2002’s Golden Road album, it took six years for it to get released as a single.
It would eventually reach #1 on the Hot Country Songs chart four years after its debut, holding the record for the longest time to get to the top spot.
The song would eventually make it to #44 on the overall U.S. charts.
What Are Your Favorite Songs with Clothing Items in the Title?
Several songs on this list charted on the Billboard Top 10. Many of them reached or came close to a #1 position on their genre rankings.
That shows we all connect to compositions that say something about who we are in a unique way.
Whether it’s the shoes you prefer or the hat you put on every day, fashion reflects who you are to the rest of the world.
The songs you listen to each day are another way to communicate something about yourself to others.
What titles from this list are your favorites?
