Top 10: Songs about footwear

10. 'Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes' – Paul Simon
Of all of Paul Simon’s beautiful harmonies, the intro to 'Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes' is among the most exquisite ever created. As always, the lyrical meaning of the song is nice but secondary to the musical elements on display. If you haven’t heard it yet, see his performance for the 2006 BBC acoustic concerts as indefatigable proof of the song’s excellence.

9. 'Drive Thru' – Julian Casablancas, Pharell and Santogold
Written as a promo for Converse trainers (who were doing quite well without this song!), the two coolest guys on the American music scene and a relative unknown teamed up just to make sure Converse remained on their way to world domination. A further scan of this list proves that the trainers are the footwear supreme of any guitarist who matters, even trumping the winkle pickers of Pete Doherty and Johnny Burrell.

8. 'Eleanor put your Boots on' – Franz Ferdinand
Although You could have it so much better was firstly a guitar album, Alex Kapranos threw in a few songs just to show Keane, at that point still a reputable pop band, that they could do what they did, just better. Eleanor’s subject matter of running away harks back to The Beatles' most important album whilst providing the calibre of imagery that could only come from art students.

7. 'Zapatillas' – El Canto del Loco
El Canto del Loco are a Spanish band who are largely successful in their homeland thanks to their rebellious image and guitar hooks. They hit the mainstream sometime in 2005 thanks to this song and an album cover featuring the most worn-out pair of American footwear outside of my wardrobe. Trying to describe the impact of this song among Spanish youths is something akin to Mancunians hearing Wonderwall in London.

6. 'Air Force Ones' - Nelly
Released to popular acclaim in 2003, Nellyville was a somewhat underrated album; as well as being the album that put Justin Timberlake credibly on the hip-hop radar it also features two of its decade's most popular dancefloor fillers, and this gem about one of Nike’s most successful trainer designs. The array of rappers who support Nelly on this song combine with Footlocker’s strong popular appeal at that time to guarantee that the Fubu-wearing amongst us were always going to appreciate this rap gem.

5. 'Fuck me Pumps' – Amy Winehouse
At one point Amy Winehouse was a tabloid whore, but an album earlier she was a bitter, promising, somewhat cult singer with great promise. This song from Frank dismisses the same girls that may well prove to lose Ashley Cole a place in the World Cup. Performed entirely by Ms. Winehouse with supreme authority within the British female scene at the time, 'Fuck Me Pumps' is hilarious, tragic, and fully deserving of an Ivor Novello award.

4. 'A Certain Romance' – Artic Monkeys
Alex Turner’s most poignant song opens with the ultimate definition of Englishness - "although you may wear classic reeboks, or knackered converse, or trackie bottoms tucked in socks". It builds from this, every indie kid’s favourite intro, to some of the most sincere and beautiful lyrics in English guitar music since Razorlight broke the music scene in 2002. If after this you still have a shoe fetish you can always skip to track three on the same album for 'Dancing Shoes', or continue down the list.

3. 'My Adidas' - Run DMC
Featuring the big opening shout that is there in just about every Run DMC song, 'My Adidas' may not be among their most memorable songs, but their propelling of the Berlin-based sportswear designer into fashion has remained so strong that Adidas re-released the Run DMC range in 2007. It remains a favourite among DJs and Robbie Williams to this day.

2. 'These Boots are made for Walking' – Nancy Sinatra
One of the strongest songs to support the cause of girl power, somewhat revived by the first Austin Powers movie and Britain’s love of karaoke, Nancy Sinatra’s best known song before the release of Kill Bill has every element a pop song should have: a catchy chorus, a strong bass line and one of the most formidable female vocals to have emerged in the pop scene.

1. 'Blue Suede Shoes' – Elvis Presley
The supreme blues bass line and ultimate in all that is the '50s still makes dads and granddads smile to this day. Fortunately, I missed the early days of disco fashion but the word on the street is that before the Saturday Night Fever collars and Pete Doherty porcupine hats, the titular foot-warmers were all the rage on both sides of the Atlantic. However, US viewers spent many years staring at Elvis’ footless upper half because he was too sexy for the cameras.

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