There’s plenty of apple-related expressions in our language. “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”, “she’s the apple of his eye”… all of these plus many more provide rich material for songwriters.
Apples themselves always make for good imagery, with their striking color and distinctive taste. That’s why there’s more songs about apples than you might think.
Intrigued? Take a bite of the apple and join us for 10 of our favourite songs about this popular fruit.
Top Songs About Apples
“The Apple Tree” – Nina Nesbitt
This 2012 track, released when Nesbitt was just 17, tells the story of two lovers heading for disaster. The track describes the pair as being “naïve as Adam and Eve”, linking the ‘apples’ to the idea of forbidden fruit and waking up to an uncomfortable truth.
Nina wrote and recorded the track at producer Jack Gosling’s recording facility, Sticky Studios, which overlooks an apple orchard in Surrey. According to Gosling, Nina conceptualised the track whilst staring out of the window at the view.
“Applejack” – Dolly Parton
Parton describes a kindly old apple picker who she befriended as a child in this upbeat folk song. She tells of the way that Applejack would play the banjo and she would sing, and also lets the listener know that she inherited his banjo after he died. It’s a sweet, uplifting tune in which Parton encourages everyone to sing along with her.
“Applejack” appeared on Parton’s eighteenth studio album, New Harvest…First Gathering. It features many well-known country stars singing backing vocals including Roy Acuff, Kitty Wells, Johnny Wright, Chet Atkins and Minnie Pearl.
“Don’t Sit Under The Apple Tree (With Anyone Else But Me)” – The Andrews Sisters
The Andrews Sisters assume the voice of an insecure lover, who begs their sweetheart not to go on romantic strolls or sit “under the apple tree” with anyone else for as long as they are away. The original song, which appeared in the 1939 Broadway musical Yokel Boy, was tweaked slightly after the US entered World War II, to reference the lover “marching home”. The song has had several recordings, but it’s the Andrews Sisters’ version that was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
“Apple Pie” – Lizzy McAlpine
The smell of a fresh-baked apple pie is hard not to associate with home comforts. McAlpine uses this image to convey a feeling of being at home with someone, comparing their relationship to “apple pie baked just right”. Their relationship gives her a sense of security that she hasn’t found anywhere else. McAlpine, who rose to prominence on the video-sharing app TikTok, included the track as part of her debut album, Give Me A Minute.
“Apple Pie À La Mode” – Destiny’s Child
The girls of Destiny’s Child spy a boy they’d like to get to know in this playful track and call him all kinds of flattering names. In particular, he’s a “chocolate-covered strawberry, apple pie à la mode”. The track opens with the girls whispering to each other after one of them spots the boy in question, before they launch into a musical conversation with him.
“Apple Suckling Tree” – Bob Dylan & The Band
Dylan sings to an unknown person about how only the two of them will sit under “that apple suckling tree”, backed by Canadian-American rock band, the Band. The majority of the lyrics are made up by that same refrain, with just a few references to other events in the town. The track comes from Dylan’s 1975 album The Basement Tapes, made in collaboration with the Band.
“Apples and Oranges” – Pink Floyd
A man catches sight of a woman in the supermarket and is instantly smitten in this Pink Floyd track. The track flips between fast-paced verses as the woman walks around the store gathering everything she needs – including apples and oranges – and dreamy verses as the protagonist fantasises about falling in love with her.
Although the track was generally well-received, it failed to chart in the UK. Band member Roger Waters would later claim that he felt as if the song had been “destroyed by the production”.
“Bad Apple” – Billie Marten
Marten struggles to make sense of the hurt people inflict on others in this gentle, stripped back track. She remembers a lesson that her teacher taught her – some fruit can get a dropped and trampled, which can cause it to bruise and rot.
It doesn’t mean that all apples aren’t wholesome and good as they grow. Marten uses this lesson to express that she doesn’t feel it’s up to her to judge others for the harm they cause or explain their behaviour when she still has so much learning to do.
“Applesauce” – Animal Collective
Ripe fruit represents youth in this track from experimental pop band Animal Collective. Unfortunately, apples don’t stay ripe forever, and the protagonist soon discovers that the youth he took for granted is slowly slipping away from him. He tries to ignore it and focus on the sweetness of the fruit he is eating, but as the track continues the feeling slowly overwhelms him.
Songwriter Dave ‘Avery Tare’ Portner has explained that he initially set out to write a track celebrating the simplistic goodness of nature, taking fruit as a representation of that. The personal details that slowly slipped into his work were at first unintentional.
“Apples” – Lily Allen
Allen laments a breakup with the father of her children, likening it to the divorce of her parents. “I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” she repeats in the outro. However, Allen also knows that it was the right decision to end the relationship. She speaks frankly to her partner and explains her reasons for moving on, even though it’s exactly what she didn’t want to do.
Final thoughts
From the comforting scent of apple pie to the disconcerting image of rotting fruit, apples can convey a huge number of ideas and emotions. Just look at the range of songs on this list. No matter what you’re going through, there’s probably an apple metaphor that applies – maybe have a go at turning it into a song.
Caitlin Devlin is a music, entertainment and lifestyle writer based in London. When she’s not creating playlists for Repeat Replay, she’s reviewing gigs and interviewing artists for Ticketmaster UK and thinking about what her Spotify Wrapped will look like this year.