At the end of last year, Courant rock critic Eric Danton gave me a copy of his 2009 Listen Dammit compilation. On it was perhaps one of the most entertaining songs I’ve ever heard: Das Racist’s “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell,” an ode to the fast-food chains that share store facades.
It’s a hilarious game of “who’s on first” (or rather, “where you at, dog?”) Yet in some ways this simple, amusing ditty is a social commentary on bad fast-food and its adverse health effects (sample lyrics: “I’m at the combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell…wait a minute, I’ve got that taco smell” and “I’m at the Pizza Hut, I’ve got that pizza gut, I’ve got that pizza butt…”
Then there’s “Chicken and Meat,” where the rapid-fire rhymes reference, among a tidal wave of pop-culture name-drops: “people eating bacon all across the nation.” In the video, the rap duo Himanshu Suri and Victor Vazquez wander the streets gnawing on fried chicken.
“Harold and Kumar” fans will like “Rainbow in the Dark,” which begins with the lyrics “…I’m at the White Castle, tiny-ass hamburgers, tiny-ass cheeseburgers, tiny-ass chicken sandwiches, it’s outlandish, kid…” The song goes on to name-check pizza, Big Macs, Gruyere, Roquefort and ‘cave-aged cheese.’
Das Racist plays its alma mater, Wesleyan University, next Fri., Feb. 12 and then again at Yale University on Feb. 27.
Leeanne Griffin is a freelance writer and food enthusiast.