Ever, ever so long ago, IndigoAlison tagged me for theSeven Songs of Summer Meme. But I had so much to tell you about my travels and then I was doing summer things and then I was trying to decide whether this song or that song and then the post got buried and forgotten and . . .
But summer’s not over yet, so here are some tunes for you. These are not necessarily representative of what I’m listening to this summer, but they all evoke summer for me, many of them summers long past. (And now I’ve gone back and re-read the meme rules at Alison’s site, I see I’ve got it all wrong as these should be songs I am listening to this summer, but it’s too late now!)
For instance, this used to play on my parents’ radio station when we’d be playing in the backyard, running under the sprinkler perhaps, having watermelon or ice cream or hot dogs.
Nat King Cole’s Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer
And later during my teen years, this joyful little ditty by Mungo Jerry, In the Summertime, which I’ve recently re-discovered through a great cover by Fatal Mambo.
This song carries me back to the summer I was 14, bean-and-berry-picking to earn some cash: The Cyrkle and Red Rubber Ball (which I’ve only just learned was actually written by Paul Simon — he and Garfunkle recorded it, but not until after The Cyrkle turned it into a trans-Atlantic hit). So hot, dusty, sunburnt days, but there was a crush so it’s not all bad.
This next song, Rhumba Girl, sung by Nicolette, is one I especially remember from dropping in at my parents’ house with my little ones in the late 1970s and watching my little sisters, then in their early-to-mid-teens, dancing ’round and singing (while I felt oh-so-much-older all of a sudden)
Some fado, which I am listening to this summer, after our recent visit to Portugal. Here, Mariza sings lyrics derived from a poem by Pessoa.
And when I checked in with my son-in-law for what he thought should be included in Songs of Summer, he said for sure something à la Mellencamp, maybe Jack and Diane. Can’t help but agree, so here it is.
And now, maybe we should all stir ourselves up a nice little G&T, put on our favourite summer-ubiquitous Morcheeba, and get ready for the weekend.
Yeah I got here first. Thanks for that. Rules are always best broken. Impressed you can embed!
I too used to love that Mungo Jerry song until over here they stuck it on a do not drink and drive advert. Forever, I now just see a car wrapped round a tree!
Ooh, I hate it when MY songs get co-opted, even for good purposes — it’s too hard then to untangle the association.
Funny that you’re impressed by the embedding — I was impressed with myself as well, but then realized that the more cool kids are just bringing in the MP3 stuff which is probably easier to download, etc. — my kids are all home this weekend so perhaps they’ll take pity on mom and teach me 😉
I think the best summer songs do not specifically mention summer, they just ARE summer, like Nelly’s “Hot in Herre” or the Pointer Sister’s “Should I Do It”:
youtube.com/watch?v=qEsSPaa24WI
Yes, duchesse, you’re probably right although I think the Mungo Jerry tune manages to do both. Only two of mine specifically mention summer, some are what I’m listening to this summer, almost any Morcheeba always seems summertime to me as does the Mellencamp. And the others recall summers past for me. Again, I should point out that I’ve transgressed the original spirit of the meme — click on the link I’ve given to Alison’s Seven Songs to see the rules.
And maybe give it a whirl yourself, just for fun!
After all these years, that is the first time i've seen the clip which accompanies 'Jack & Dianne'. That was lovely (there really was a time that music video's weren't full of naked people)
cybill: and it wasn’t really that long ago, at least it certainly doesn’t seem like it to me. Only twenty years or so, the blink of an eye 😉