Happy International Coffee Day! This special day was launched by the International Coffee Organization in 2015 at the World Expo in Milan, Italy. Every year since, countries from around the world have come together to “celebrate coffee and recognize the millions of people across the globe – from farmers, to roasters, baristas, coffee shop owners and more – who work hard to create and serve the beverage we all love,” according to the ICO’s site.
To commemorate the occasion, we here at 360°Sound have brewed up a list of our favorite songs about java. A wide variety of genres are represented, from rock and pop to R&B and hip-hop. The following 25 tunes are in chronological order, beginning way back in 1940 with The Ink Spots’ ode to coffee and ending with current song-of-the-summer candidate “Espresso” by pop star Sabrina Carpenter. So, pour a cuppa joe and enjoy these damn fine songs.
The Ink Spots – “Java Jive”
Songwriters: Ben Oakland and Milton Drake
Genre: Pop
Release date: 1940
Fresh-brewed lyrics: I love coffee, I love tea/I love the java jive and it loves me
Peggy Lee – “Black Coffee”
Songwriters: Sonny Burke and Paul Francis Webster
Genre: Jazz
Release date: Published in 1948; Lee’s version released in 1953 on LP of the same name
Fresh-brewed lyrics: I walk the floor and watch the door/And in between I drink black coffee/Love’s a hand-me-down brew
Ella Mae Morse – “40 Cups of Coffee”
Songwriter: Danny Overbea
Genre: Rock/pop
Release date: 1953
Fresh-brewed lyrics: Pace the floor, stop and stare/I drink a cup of coffee and start pulling out my hair/I’m drinkin’ forty cups of coffee
Lefty Frizzell – “Cigarettes and Coffee Blues”
Songwriter: Marty Robbins
Genre: Country
Release date: 1958
Fresh-brewed lyrics: Listenin’ while the jukebox plays the songs that make me blue/Another cup of coffee and a cigarette or two
Frank Sinatra – “The Coffee Song”
Songwriters: Bob Hilliard and Dick Miles
Genre: Swing
Release date: 1946, re-recorded in 1960 for LP Ring-a-Ding-Ding!
Fresh-brewed lyrics: Way down among Brazilians/Coffee beans grow by the billions/So they’ve got to find those extra cups to fill
Bob Marley – “One Cup of Coffee”
Songwriter: Bob Marley
Genre: Ska
Release date: 1962
Fresh-brewed lyrics: Make my coffee sweet and warm/Just the way you used to lie in my arms
Mississippi John Hurt – “Coffee Blues”
Songwriter: Mississippi John Hurt
Genre: Blues
Release date: 1966
Fresh-brewed lyrics: If I can get me just a spoonful of Maxwell’s House/Do me much good as two or three cups this other coffee
Otis Redding – “Cigarettes and Coffee”
Songwriters: Jerry Butler, Eddie Thomas and Jay Walker
Genre: Soul
Release date: 1966
Fresh-brewed lyrics: But it seemed so natural, darlin’/That you and I are here/Just talkin’ over cigarettes and drinkin’ coffee
Johnny Cash – “A Cup of Coffee”
Songwriter: Ramblin’ Jack Elliot
Genre: Country
Release date: 1966
Fresh-brewed lyrics: I been drivin,’ haulin’ load of grain all day long/Got about three more hundred miles to go/And well I just dropped in to have a cup of coffee, friend
Bob Dylan – “One More Cup of Coffee”
Songwriter: Bob Dylan
Genre: Folk rock
Release date: 1976
Fresh-brewed lyrics: One more cup of coffee for the road/One more cup of coffee ‘fore I go/To the valley below
Kate Bush – “Coffee Homeground”
Songwriter: Kate Bush
Genre: Art rock/baroque pop
Release date: 1978
Fresh-brewed lyrics: Well, you won’t get me with your Belladonna in the coffee/And you won’t get me with your arsenic in the pot of tea
Spandau Ballet – “Coffee Club”
Songwriter: Gary Kemp
Genre: New wave
Release date: 1982
Fresh-brewed lyrics: No Coffee Club will have the rub/When product is your answer
Squeeze – “Black Coffee in Bed”
Songwriters: Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook
Genre: New wave
Release date: 1982
Fresh-brewed lyrics: There’s a stain on my notebook/Where your coffee cup was/And there’s ash in the pages/Now I’ve got myself lost
Black Flag – “Black Coffee”
Songwriter: Greg Ginn
Genre: Hardcore punk
Release date: 1984
Fresh-brewed lyrics: Drinkin’ black coffee, black coffee/Drinkin’ black coffee, starin’ at the wall
Prince – “Starfish and Coffee”
Songwriter: Prince and Susannah Melvoin
Genre: Funk/soul
Release date: 1987
Fresh-brewed lyrics: Starfish and coffee/Maple syrup and jam/Butterscotch clouds, a tangerine/And a side order of ham
Heavy D & The Boyz – “Black Coffee”
Songwriters: Dwight Meyers, Osten Harvey and Peter Phillips
Genre: Hip-hop
Release date: 1994
Fresh-brewed lyrics: Black coffee, no sugar, no cream/That’s the kind of girl I need down with my team
Descendents – “Coffee Mug”
Songwriter: Bill Stevenson
Genre: Punk rock
Release date: 1996
Fresh-brewed lyrics: Coffee mug/Gonna clear away the haze/Liquid proof/That I can win this race
Blur – “Coffee and TV”
Songwriter: Graham Coxon
Genre: Britpop
Release date: 1999
Fresh-brewed lyrics: So give me coffee and TV, peacefully/I’ve seen so much, I’m going blind
Garbage – “Cup of Coffee”
Songwriter: Garbage
Genre: Alternative rock
Release date: 2001
Fresh-brewed lyrics: It took a cup of coffee/To prove that you don’t love me
Yung Joc [feat. Gorilla Zoe] – “Coffee Shop”
Songwriters: Alonzo Mathis, Terius Nash, Darnell Richard, Yung Joc and Hosea Williams
Genre: Hip-hop
Release date: 2007
Fresh-brewed lyrics: First, I take they order like the coffee shop/Then I steam it up and cook it like the coffee shop
Sylvan Esso – “Coffee”
Songwriter: Amelia Meath, Nick Sanborn, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich
Genre: Electropop
Release date: 2014
Fresh-brewed lyrics: Wild winter, warm coffee/Mind’s gone, do you love me?
Miguel – “Coffee”
Songwriters: Ulysses Nardin, Keshia Campbell Jackson, Miguel Pimentel and Olubowale Akintimehin
Genre: R&B
Release date: 2015
Fresh-brewed lyrics: Pillow talk turns into sweet dreams/Sweet dreams turns into coffee in the morning
Travis Scott – “Coffee Bean”
Songwriters: Jacques Webster, Cydel Young, Anthony Jefferies, Timothy Suby and Michael Dean
Genre: Hip-hop
Release date: 2018
Fresh-brewed lyrics: But I’m back on the coffee bean/Anything in between
Kelly Rowland –“Coffee”
Songwriters: Kelly Rowland, Marcos “Kosine” Palacious, Nick Green and Syd the Kid
Genre: R&B
Release date: 2020
Fresh-brewed lyrics: Coffee and sex in the mornin’/ Breakfast in bed, got me moanin’
Sabrina Carpenter – “Espresso”
Songwriters: Sabrina Carpenter, Amy Allen, Julian Bunetta and Steph Jones
Genre: Pop
Release date: 2024
Fresh-brewed lyrics: That morning coffee, brewed it for ya (yes)/One touch and I brand-newed it for ya
We hope you enjoyed our list of 25 coffee songs spanning 80 years. While we don’t recommend 40 cups of coffee as Ella Mae does, why not have one more cuppa ‘fore you go, and check out our lists of the best ice cream songs and beer songs.
Now stick & stay for some other great food & beverage-themed lists…
Top 10 Chocolate Songs
Six-Pack of Beer Songs
Ice Cream Songs You Need To Hear
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