the Kinks wrote an even better song about tea. It's called 'Have a cuppa tea' and it's on the Muswell Hillbillies album. It must be the ultimate song in praise of tea, claiming that it cures hepatitis, chronic insomnia, tonsillitis and water on the knee, ""in fact any ailment or disease.""
The last verse goes
""Whatever the situation
Whatever the race or creed
Tea knows no segregation
No class, nor pedigree
It knows no motivation, no sect or organisation
It knows no one religion
Nor political belief."" – Ray Davies
The chorus goes ""Have a cuppa tea,"" several times. The music is American Country crossed with 1930s British Music Hall.
Also, I was talking nonsense when I said that Americans don't write songs about tea. Blind Melon have the line: ""All I can do, is just pour some tea for two,"" on 'No Rain'. Neo Classical group 'Rachel's' have a pretty piano instrumental called 'Tea Merchants' on their third album 'The Sea & The Bells'.
Also there is a quite good Canadian band called The Tea Party, presumably a reference to Alice in Wonderland.
Other British artists that have paid tribute to tea are Scott Walker, who mentions ""Antique cups of tea,"" on 'Rosemary'.
Tindersticks, whose first album conjures-up images of damp bedsits with peeling nicotine-stained wallpaper, have a creeping organ instrumental called 'Tea-Stain.'
Saint Etienne choose to begin their second album 'So Tough' with a line of dialogue sampled from a film: ""Cigarette, cup of tea, a bun."" Afterwards, though, they make numerous references to coffee, which sort of spoils things.
stein"
