10 Great Underrated Songs With The Word 'Fool' In The Title

Feature Photo: mari, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

This list is less about finding the ten most famous songs with the word “fool” in the title and more about pointing people toward records they may have missed. The Rolling Stones and The Stone Roses hardly need an introduction, but Garland Jeffreys, Willie Nile, Diane Birch, Billy Falcon, and some of the other artists here deserve to be heard by a much wider audience. That is one of the things we have always tried to do on ClassicRockHistory.com: use a familiar theme as an excuse to send readers toward good music. If one song on this list leads somebody to an artist they did not know before, the article has done its job.

# 10 – Fools – Diane Birch

Diane Birch released “Fools” on her 2009 debut album Bible Belt. Birch wrote the song herself, and Steve Greenberg, Betty Wright, and Michael Mangini produced the album. Her piano playing and gospel-soul phrasing make the track sound like it could have come from a much earlier decade without feeling like an imitation. The performance below comes from Daryl Hall’s Live from Daryl’s House, where Birch gets a chance to stretch the song out with a first-rate band. We have championed Diane Birch on this site because songs like this deserve more attention. We put “Fools” at the start of the list so no one can miss it.

Read More: Top 10 Diane Birch Songs

# 9 – Game Of Fools – Willie Nile

“Game of Fools” appears on Willie Nile’s 2006 album Streets of New York. Nile co-wrote the song with Frankie Lee, and it sits near the beginning of an album filled with New York characters, hard luck, and stubborn optimism. The line about being a beginner in the game of fools is exactly the kind of lyric Nile can make sound both funny and completely sincere. The record is driven by a tough rock band, but the song never loses the street-level storytelling that has always been one of Nile’s strengths. Streets of New York helped begin a remarkably productive second act in his career. Anyone who only knows Nile by reputation should start here and keep going.

Read More: Top 10 Willie Nile Songs

# 8 – Ship Of Fools – Garland Jeffreys

Garland Jeffreys recorded “Ship of Fools” for his 1979 album American Boy & Girl. Jeffreys and Roy Cicala produced the album, with musicians including Anton Fig and Timmy Cappello joining Jeffreys in the studio. The song uses the old “ship of fools” image for people moving through life while making bad choices and trusting the wrong things. Jeffreys delivers it with the mix of rock, soul, blues, and New York attitude that makes his records difficult to file under one label. The arrangement never gets in the way of the lyric, and his vocal has the lived-in quality that gives the song its weight. Jeffreys has made a lot of records worth discovering, and this is a strong place to begin.

Read More: Top 10 Garland Jeffreys Songs

# 7 – I’m Not Your Fool Anymore – Teddy Edwards featuring Tom Waits

“I’m Not Your Fool Anymore” comes from tenor saxophonist Teddy Edwards’ 1991 album Mississippi Lad. Edwards wrote the song and brought in Tom Waits to sing and play guitar on the track. The album was recorded at Sunset Sound in Hollywood with producer Jean-Philippe Allard and a jazz lineup that included Jimmy Cleveland, Nolan Smith, Art Hillery, Leroy Vinnegar, and Billy Higgins. Waits sounds perfectly at home in the blues-heavy setting, singing as a man who has finally had enough of being mistreated. Edwards’ saxophone gives the performance its class while Waits supplies the dirt around the edges. It is a wonderful meeting of two musicians whose careers usually traveled in very different circles.

# 6 – Fools Blues – Jorma Kaukonen

Jorma Kaukonen opened his 1998 album Too Many Years with “Fools Blues,” a song by Texas bluesman Funny Papa Smith. Kaukonen had spent decades bringing country blues into rock through Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna, and his solo work, so the song fits him naturally. His guitar carries the performance, with Michael Falzarano and Pete Sears helping give the album its rootsy, loose feel. Kaukonen and Falzarano co-produced the record, which mixes original material with songs by older blues and folk writers. “Fools Blues” does not need much decoration because the weary lyric and guitar work already tell the story. It is the kind of deep blues cut that explains why Kaukonen has remained such a respected guitarist for so long.

Read More: Top 10 Hot Tuna Songs

# 5 – Just Your Fool – The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones opened their 2016 blues album Blue & Lonesome with “Just Your Fool.” The song began as Buddy Johnson’s 1953 “I’m Just Your Fool” and was later reshaped into a Chicago blues recording by Little Walter, whose version became the immediate model for the Stones. Mick Jagger sings and plays harmonica while Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Charlie Watts, Darryl Jones, and the rest of the group keep the arrangement short and rough. Don Was and the Glimmer Twins produced the recording during the fast British Grove sessions that gave the whole album its live feel. Hearing the Stones return this directly to the blues music that started them was one of the pleasures of Blue & Lonesome. “Just Your Fool” sounds less like a history lesson than five musicians playing a song they have known all their lives.

# 4 – Baby I’m A Fool – Melody Gardot

Melody Gardot wrote “Baby I’m a Fool” for her 2009 album My One and Only Thrill. Larry Klein produced the record, with Vince Mendoza supplying the orchestral arrangements that give the song its elegant, old-fashioned sweep. Gardot has described the lyric as being about two people who are both too coy to admit that they have fallen in love. Her vocal never pushes, and that restraint makes the song feel more intimate than a big romantic ballad. The black-and-white video carries the same sense of style without overwhelming the music. Gardot works comfortably between jazz and popular songwriting, and this remains one of the clearest examples of why her audience became so devoted.

# 3 – Fools Rush In – Billy Falcon

Billy Falcon’s “Fools Rush In” appears on Haunted Guitar, one of the many records that show how much good music he made beyond the songs most listeners know. Falcon writes in the American singer-songwriter tradition, with the directness of heartland rock but enough personality to keep the music from sounding borrowed. Over the years he also became a frequent songwriting collaborator with Jon Bon Jovi, which brought his work to a much larger audience. “Fools Rush In” is a good example of Falcon’s ability to make a personal lyric feel conversational instead of polished to death. We have written about him repeatedly because his catalog rewards anybody willing to dig into it. Fans of Springsteen, Mellencamp, Petty, and Seger should have no trouble finding their way into Billy Falcon’s records.

Read More: 10 Essential Billy Falcon Songs

# 2 – Fools Gold – The Stone Roses

The Stone Roses released “Fools Gold” in November 1989 as a double A-side with “What the World Is Waiting For.” Ian Brown and John Squire wrote the song, and John Leckie produced it during sessions at Sawmills and Battery Studios. Mani’s bass and Reni’s drums turn the track into a dance record as much as a rock record, while Squire’s wah-wah guitar drifts across the groove. The single reached number eight in the United Kingdom, giving the Stone Roses their first top-ten hit. “Fools Gold” became one of the records most closely associated with the Madchester era because it joined an indie-rock band to rhythms coming from funk and dance music without sounding forced. More than thirty-five years later, that groove still sounds dangerous.

Read More: Top 10 Stone Roses Songs

# 1 – Drivin’ Fool – Blackfoot

Blackfoot closed their 1983 album Siogo with the hard-driving “Drivin’ Fool.” Rickey Medlocke and Jakson Spires wrote the song, and Al Nalli produced the album. Siogo marked the arrival of former Uriah Heep member Ken Hensley, who played keyboards throughout the record and slide guitar on this track. Medlocke handles the lead vocal and guitars, with Charlie Hargrett, Greg T. Walker, and Spires supplying the heavy Blackfoot foundation underneath him. The song leans harder into straight hard rock than some of the band’s better-known Southern rock material, which is part of what makes it such a good deep cut. If somebody only knows “Train, Train” and “Highway Song,” “Drivin’ Fool” is a good reason to keep exploring.

Read More: Top 10 Blackfoot Songs