Nancy Sinatra's 10 best songs, ranked

1 August 2025, 14:14

By Mayer Nissim

Nancy Sinatra took a while to break through, but once she did the hits kept on coming.

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Having a pop legend for a parent might seem like an easy ticket to success, but while a famous name may help you get your foot in the door of a recording studio, it certainly doesn't guarantee any hit records.

With her dad Frank in her corner Nancy Sinatra was never going to have any trouble getting her music in the shops but it was her own talent and drive that earned her the chart smashes that followed fair and square.

That's not to say she didn't have a helping hand or two along the way: some of Nancy's biggest and best records were collaborations with other artists - be it her famous father, or other talents like Morrissey and Lee Hazlewood.

But when it came down to it, only Nancy could have made these incredible records what they were

Below, we've rounded up Nancy Sinatra's 10 greatest songs and ranked them all the way up to the very best.

So Long Babe

Nancy Sinatra - So Long Babe (1965)

Starting with 1961's 'Cuff Links and a Tie Clip', Nancy Sinatra had released about a dozen flop records before she hooked up with singer/songwriter/producer Lee Hazlewood, apparently at the request of her dad Frank.
Lee wrote and produced 'So Long Babe' and Nancy had her first hit. Well, her first charting record, anyway, with this slick bit of country pop scraping into the Hot 100 at number 86. It was a start.
Sugar Town

NANCY SINATRA - Sugar Town 1967

Another Lee Hazlewood-written number that he produced for Nancy, this gentle bit of psychedelic folk was supposedly an allusion to the sugarcubes on which trippers would drop their LSD, even though Lee didn't partake himself.
"You had to make the lyric dingy enough where the kids knew what you were talking about – and they did," Lee told Billboard.
"Double entendre. But not much more if you wanted to get it played on the radio. We used to have lotsa trouble with lyrics, but I think it’s fun to keep it hidden a little bit."
Somethin' Stupid

Frank and Nancy Sinatra - Somethin' Stupid (1967)

The first father-daughter duet to top the Billboard Hot 100 was written by C Carson Parks and was originally recorded by Parks and his wife Gaile Foote under the name Carson and Gaile in 1966.
Truthfully, the lyrics make more sense for a husband/wife duet than a father/daughter one
"Some people call that the Incest Song, which I think is, well, very sweet!" she sarcastically told The Guardian in 2008.
But when it comes to the production (courtesy Lee Hazlewood) and the vocal delivery (Frank's croon and Nancy's country twang), you can't really argue with how great it sounds.
"He asked me, 'Do you like it?' and I said, 'I love it, and if you don't sing it with Nancy, I will'," Lee later revealed Frank had told him.
The song was credited to "Nancy Sinatra and Frank Sinatra" and went to number one on both sides of the Atlantic.
Let Me Kiss You

Nancy Sinatra - Let Me Kiss You

After years in the wilderness, former Smiths frontman Morrissey had a stunning comeback in 2004 with his You Are The Quarry album.
Its third single and one of its many standouts was 'Let Me Kiss You', written by Moz with guitarist Alan Whyte.
The delicate original was great. Even better was this Nancy Sinatra cover, which featured Morrissey on backing vocals.
You Only Live Twice

Nancy Sinatra - You Only Live Twice (HQ)

Did you know that Roald Dahl wrote the script for You Only Live Twice? Well now you do.
We're sure you knew that Nancy Sinatra sung its soaring theme, written by Leslie Bricusse and Bond veteran John Barry.
A later charting single version was produced by Lee Hazlewood and added on some guitar.
The vocals are on point (obviously), but its the strings that have endured, with Robbie Williams borrowing heavily for his own 'Millennium' years later.
Some Velvet Morning

Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood - Some Velvet Morning (Official Music Video)

One of the all-time great pop duets, 'Some Velvet Morning' feels less like a collaboration and more like an all-out war.
Lee Hazlewood's menacing drawl comes in and out, while Nancy's own lilting vocals float in between the gaps, shuffling for supremacy.
It's lent itself to countless covers, too, with Primal Scream's radical reworking with Kate Moss worthy of mention.
Jackson

Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra:Jackson.

Written in 1963 by Billy Edd Wheeler and Jerry Leiber, the most enduring cover of 'Jackson' was arguably another single from 1967: Johnny Cash and June Carter's storming country version.
The poppier take by Nancy and Lee was arguably a smidge less classy, but there's a fair argument that it better captures the wry, sarcastic cynicism of the words. It's a total riot.
Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)

Nancy Sinatra - Bang Bang

Written by Sonny Bono, Cher's original version of 'Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)' was an absolutely MASSIVE hit.
It went to number three in the UK. It went one better in the US, too, with only The Righteous Brothers' keeping it off the top spot with their '(You're My) Soul and Inspiration'.
Nancy's strange, reverberating, stripped back version wasn't massively well-known on its release, gently nestling on her 1966 How Does That Grab You? album as an amazing showcase for her arranger Billy Strange's tremolo guitar.
But when crate-digger Quentin Tarantino used it to open Kill Bill Volume 1 in 2003, it got the audience it deserved. An absolute masterpiece of re-imagination. A couple of years later it was heavily sampled for Audio Bully's 'Shot You Down'
Summer Wine

Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood "Summer Wine" on The Ed Sullivan Show

Lee Hazlewood originally performed his song 'Summer Wine' with Suzi Jane Hokom, but it's his 1967 version with Nancy Sinatra that has rightly endured.
Their version originally featured on the Nancy in London album and later popped up on the 'Sugar Town' single as a B-side, but soon became a hit in its own rights.
It's that old story: Cowboy meets girl. Cowboy spends the night. Cowboy gets his silver spurs and money nicked. Cowboy has very few regrets.
These Boots Are Made for Walkin'

Nancy Sinatra - These Boots Are Made For Walkin' (Official Music Video)

Did you know Lee Hazlewood actually riffed on a Frank Sinatra movie line when writing '...Boots...'?
"They tell me them boots ain't built for walkin'," Frank crawled in 1963 comedy-western 4 for Texas.
As the follow-up to just-about-a-hit 'So Long Babe', we're not sure what the expectations would have been for 'These Boots Are Made for Walkin'', but surely all would have known in the studio that they'd just made something special.
As a statement of (impending) independence against a cheating lover, it's a stomping bit of country-pop-folk that sounds every bit as fresh today as it did on its release.
Now seen as something of a feminist anthem, Lee Hazlewood originally intended to sing the song himself ("it's not really a girl's song") but, maybe knowing what she could bring to the table, Nancy talked him round ("coming from a guy it was harsh and abusive, but was perfect for a little girl to sing").
It went to number one in the UK and the US, and as well as being covered by everyone from Jessica Simpson to Megadeth, the original has featured in countless movies and TV shows, with Full Metal Jacket, Austin Powers and The Mexican all worth a shout.