21 February 1966
Everyone’s favourite Batman is the ’60s TV show, not the recent-day notiony auteur films, right? I mention it here because I fear ‘These Boots Are Made For Walkin”, like classic Batman, is dismissed as camp, whimsical Austin Powers fancy-dress fodder, when in fact it’s smart, funny, slyly subversive, and far more enduring and endearing than I think it gets credit for.
I also wonder if Nancy Sinatra isn’t getting the credit she deserves. Think of her ’60s catalogue: the best James Bond title song; a thrilling and distinctive partnership with Lee Hazlewood; this indelible Hazlewood-written hit. ‘These Boots Are Made For Walkin” features a strong, confident female protagonist putting some no-good fella back in his box with first-degree burns. That twangy walking bass, the witty neologisms of “truthin'” and “samin'”, Sinatra’s triumphant “Ha!” – it’s full of brilliant pop moments served with flair and brio. Hand on heart, I’d take ‘These Boots Are Made For Walkin” and the Batman TV theme over anything by Bob Dylan as valuable ’60s pop-cultural artefacts, and over anything by notiony auteurs like Radiohead as essential music.
