More than any other season, summer seems to require a musical soundtrack. Summer’s songs are of a special type: they must be reminiscent of summers past, emotionally laden and carry a slight sense of urgency—after all, summer’s almost over.
Whether painting pictures of beachfront sunsets; long, lazy afternoons and even longer nights; or a road trip with the windows rolled down, these are songs the Journal has put together for our own summer 2007 playlist, made for drumming on dashboards and humming along.
Five Man Electrical Band—Signs
Available on Goodbyes and Butterflies
The classic song “Signs”, by Ottawa’s Five Man Electrical Band, perfectly symbolized the summer of 2007 here on the Queen’s campus.
The song, an anthem of various protest movements since its 1970 release, features deep lyrics questioning the need for signs and rules in society. It takes on new meaning this summer in Kingston, with massive construction projects tearing up University Avenue and Union Street, a colossal hole in the ground surrounded by fencing at the Queen’s Centre site, and Kingston Field blockaded for reseeding. Every day, there were “signs, signs, everywhere a sign / Blocking out the scenery, breaking my mind,” for the students who had to find new ways to get to their classes or jobs. Attempts to navigate the campus could be met with a constant chorus of “Do this, don’t do that / Can’t you read the sign?” from construction workers.
—Andrew Bucholtz
Danny Michel—Elgin Avenue
Available on Welcome Home
There’s nothing quite like rain to cut through the oppressive, humid heat of summer. Rainy weather may be sad and grey but the wet can offer relief and, as “Elgin Avenue” demonstrates, add the right amount of pathetic fallacy for moody summer blues. Michel’s voice languidly describes in a raspy whisper a downtown with all the usual eccentric characters who are caught in the rain and making their way in the world. The laid-back strumming and warped children’s singsong (“Rain, rain don’t go away / I’m glad you came and I hope you stay”) make a comfortable soundtrack to accompany thunderstorms.
—Adèle Barclay
Lucky Soul—One Kiss Don’t Make a Summer
Available on The Great Unwanted
Listening to this song feels a little bit like watching a sadder, less sexually charged version of Baby’s summer vacation in the film Dirty Dancing. Maybe it’s their sound—like a sexually-liberated Motown girl group with a better back-up band or maybe it’s the urgency in the lyrics (after all, these feelings expire on Labour Day) or maybe it’s the sheer nobody-in-the-corner danceability of the song. The twangy guitar makes it the perfect “doo-wop on the boardwalk” song, and the tickle of the güiro instantly associates it with the Drifters’ summer classic “Under the Boardwalk.” Lead singer Ali Howard’s breathy vocals ache with the fear of falling leaves that signal the season’s end and the unfulfilled desire that is a summer fling.
—Meghan Sheffield
Lynyrd Skynyrd—Simple Man
Available on Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd
There are few songs in the great canon of rock music that are so transcendental and sound so goddamn good in the summer as “Simple Man” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. The glowing sounds of Rossington’s Les Paul melding with the buttery tone of Van Zant’s voice allow for both contemplation and revelation. Whether blasting from a T-Top Trans Am, plucked on a slightly out of tune acoustic guitar, dockside, beer at the ready, or casually reflected on in the pale bar light of a hands-on-hips embrace, the power and beauty of “Simple Man” is unmistakable in the summer and at the very least, is better than “Free Bird.”
—Jordon Beenen
The B-52’s—Rock Lobster
Available on The B-52’s
The B-52’s first hit, released in 1978, is an atypical combination of sounds: no bass, mainly instrumental; just a baritone guitar, an organ and drums. What vocals there are, are equally unpredictable.
While backing beehive ladies Cindy Wilson and Katie Pierson harmonize oohs and ahhs and provide occasional sound effects, frontman Fred Schneider raps his way through a series of sexy summer vignettes, telling the story of summer love at pool parties and setting a beachfront scene. The “boys in bikinis and girls on surfboards” are utterly endearing—this song is about what it’s like to be young and silly. “Rock Lobster” is heavily influenced by the summer hits of the ’60s, but has the edge of a decade’s distance and should be danced to accordingly.
—Meghan Sheffield
Vampire Weekend—Boston
Available on Walcott
Never has a song made me want to get naked more than this spiky number. When I try and pinpoint a reason for this, this inexplicable desire to shed my clothing and run bare cheeked through the summer streets, I fail. Maybe it’s the fact that it sounds like Sublime fronted by Paul Simon? Or, maybe I’m just discovering some hidden exhibitionist tendencies? For the good of the world, pray it isn’t the latter. Damn good song in any case.
—Nathan Page
Sexsmith and Kerr—Lemonade Stand
Available on Destination Unknown
You know, there is, as Ron Sexsmith so wistfully sings, “something about a lemonade stand that stands the test of time.” It stands out as a symbol of summer and childhood. And although these days, we might hear stories about kids being charged for not having a license to set up their lemonade stand or something equally ludicrous, Sexsmith conjures up memories of a simpler, more carefree time.
It’s a song for a lazy, sunny day spent reminiscing about times past. The slow melody of this song—and the rest of the album—is the perfect soundtrack for lying on the grass, daydreaming and watching clouds go by (with a glass of lemonade in hand, of course).
—Lisa Jemison
Joni Mitchell—Cactus Tree
Available on Songs to a Seagull
Mitchell paints a summer of love letters from men on mountaintops, but her calm voice is enough to dispel any feelings of guilt you might have at indulging in what have now become hopeless clichés. Covering everything from fear of eternity to poor penmanship, she convinces you none of it matters as long as you’re “somewhere being free.” From the side of the record entitled “Out of the City and Down to the Seaside,” this song makes it impossible not to be swept up by the wildness and romance of a season unfettered by the demands, be they real or imagined, of the world at large.
—Erin Flegg
Deerhunter—Hazel St.
Available on Cryptograms
Deerhunter wrote this song about hazelstreet.com, a website for a drug rehabilitation centre for adolescent boys in Texas. However appropriate it may seem for such a dazed and psychedelic song to have this sort of subject matter as an influence of sorts, it’s pretty inconsequential. Bradford Cox mumbles, while the multiple guitar noodlings overlap in a way that sounds messy at first, but better every time I hear it.
Whatever the case, “Hazel St.” is undeniably optimistic-sounding. It’s the soundtrack to that really awesome dream you had about frolicking in lush valleys with your friends. And it’s the summer and you don’t care about anything except having a good time.
—Lauren Raham
Jason Collett—Hangover Days
Available on Idols of Exile
With every steamy summer fling, there comes a time when you realize it wasn’t meant to be more.
Enter Emily Haines, of Metric fame, and Jason Collett, singing a folksy duet about a relationship gone wrong. When your fling is winding down, put on this track and be consoled by the tempestuous summertime breakups of others. And then sit outside, say goodbye to summer, have a beer and give yourself a couple of your own hangover days.
—Katherine Laidlaw
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