(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please refer down below)
Nancy Sinatra - "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"
Hit Number 1: February 26, 1966
Stay at Number 1: 1 Week
Try to imagine "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" being sung by a dude. It's pretty hard isn't it? Well, that could've been how it played out, since the songwriter for it, Lee Hazlewood, was set on recording the song himself. He didn't even think the song would work for a girl, saying that "it's not really a girl's song". But then Frank Sinatra's daughter, Nancy, talked Hazlewood out of it. She said "coming from a guy it was harsh and abusive, but was perfect for a little girl to sing". Hazlewood was convinced to give her the chance to record the song; a decision he would not regret.
"These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" is a pretty nasty song. It seems to be about a guy who was likely cheating and this girl narrator takes the most subtle yet "in-your-face" approach to get back at this guy. She brings him down easy, yet so hard at the same time. There's lyrics like "you keep losin' when you ought to not bet" and "now what's right is right but you ain't been right yet". But my favorite line of the song is the shortest, yet the most powerful. It's the little "Ha!" Sinatra snaps after singing "You keep thinking that you'll never get burned". She says she's "just found a brand new box of matches", and those "matches" seem to be the boyfriend of the girl this dude has been fooling around with. We don't get to hear how that encounter goes, but it's safe to assume the dude got what he deserved. There's probably a few other ways of interpreting the lyrics, but this is how I see it.
Musically, the song is very laid back and quiet, allowing Sinatra to be the center of attention. She sounds like someone who just got done drinking an entire bottle of wine; like she's in a drunken haze and letting all of her emotions pour down over the dude. At the same time, she sounds like a pure bad-ass, and someone you really shouldn't be messing with. The line "one of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you", can also be interpreted as several things, as I obviously see it as not literally walking on him, but walking OUT on him. There's a walking bass line, which is probably the song's best musical feature, and it's pretty fitting for the song, though the outro is pretty great too. After Sinatra exclaims "Are you ready boots? Start walking!", there's a horn section that wakes up, acting as the narrator "walking". There's not a whole lot else going on in the song, yet there's SO MUCH. It's an approach I like to call "doing more by doing less". That approach is perfect for this song.
This was the record that got Sinatra on the map and propelled her into super-stardom, besides just being Frank's daughter. She'd get into acting, and would release a few other moderate hits, but none reaching the same heights as "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'". She'll appear in this blog again, and that time she'll do it with her father.
GRADE: 9/10
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