It charted on January 22, , [ 8 ] and reached No. Subsequently, many cover versions of the song have been released in a range of styles: metal, pop, rock, punk rock, country, dance, and industrial.
The song was written by Lee Hazlewood ; it was inspired by a line spoken by Frank Sinatra in the comedy-western film 4 for Texas : "They tell me them boots ain't built for walkin'. Nancy Sinatra's version of the song was released as a single in December , [ 12 ] as the second song to be taken from her debut album, Boots , and was a follow-up to the minor hit "So Long, Babe".
The song became an instant success and, in late February , it topped the Billboard Hot chart, a move it replicated in similar charts across the world. Billboard described the song as "fine folk-rock material" and praised Sinatra's vocal performance and "the Billy Strange driving dance beat.
In , the recording of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Lee Hazlewood intended to record the song himself, saying that "it's not really a girl's song", but Sinatra talked him out of it, saying that "coming from a guy it was harsh and abusive, but was perfect for a little girl to sing". Hazlewood agreed. In the same year, Sinatra recorded a promotional film, which would later be known as the music video , for the song.
It was produced for Color-Sonics and played on Scopitone video jukeboxes. Dan Quagmire uses the song to make an entrance when meeting Peter and Joe. The song was featured in the film The Mexican. In Pitchfork Media selected it as the th best song of the s.
