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EDITOR’S NOTE: Test Your Knowledge of Summery Songs

Hey, it’s summer and the living is easy. Right?

At least, that’s what I’ve heard.

Despite being a very lazy journalist, according to several of our readers, I’m always busy here at Door County Living/Peninsula Pulse central in beautiful downtown Baileys Harbor. Because of a constant calendar jam, the seasons are something whose virtues we may extol in these pages, but it doesn’t necessarily mean we are experiencing this amazing peninsula as people in the real world might. Sure, we can try, but those experiences are tainted by the fact that tomorrow, it’s business as usual. Back to the old inky grindstone.

But, I guess going back to the grindstone is true for all of us in our own ways.

Work. Work. Work. Vacate a bit. And then work some more. Ugh. I’m starting to bum myself out.

So, without further ado, let’s brighten things up with a test of your knowledge of summery songs. See if you can name either the composer or the group that made the following 18 songs about summer famous (18, of course, for this 18th summer of this fabulous 21st century). Although every song references summer in some way, the lyrics I’ve chosen don’t always reflect that, just to make it a little tougher. So, no cheating!

Jim Lundstrom
Editor

 

  1.    “Oh, your daddy’s rich and your ma is good-lookin’
    So hush, little baby, don’t you cry.”
  1.    “Callin’ out around the world,
    Are you ready for a brand new beat?
    Summer’s here and the time is right…”
  1.    “In the summertime when the weather is hot,
    You can stretch right up and touch the sky.”
  1.    “Well I’m a gonna raise a fuss, I’m gonna raise a holler
    About workin’ all summer just to try an’ earn a dollar.”
  1.    “Well we can’t salute ya
    Can’t find a flag
    If that don’t suit ya
    That’s a drag.”
  1.    “All around, people looking half dead
    Walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head
    But at night it’s a different world
    Go out and find a girl
    Come-on come-on and dance all night
    Despite the heat it’ll be alright.”
  1.    “End of the spring and here she comes back
    Hi Hi Hi Hi there
    Them summer days, those summer days.”
  1.    “I’m walking on sunshine (Wow!)
    And don’t it feel good.”
  1.    “Trees swayin’ in the summer breeze
    Showin’ off their silver leaves.”
  1.    “Sweet days of summer, the jasmine’s in bloom
    July is dressed up and playing her tune.”
  1.    “Chewing out a rhythm on my bubblegum
    The sun is out and I want some.”
  1.    “One summer never ends, one summer never began
    It keeps me standing still, it takes all my will.”
  1.    “This summer I swam in a public place
    And a reservoir, to boot,
    At the latter I was informal
    At the former I wore my suit, I wore my swimming suit.”
  1.    “Dancing days are here again
    As the summer evenings grow.”
  1.    “Hot summer day,
    Carry me along
    To its end where I begin.”
  1.    “We’re gonna lean this ladder up against the water tower
    Climb up to the top, and drink and talk (this summer!)”
  1.    “Sunshine almost always makes me high.”
  2.    “Yeah, it’s almost gone
    Where will we be
    When the summer’s gone?”

Answers

  1. “Summertime” by George Gershwin and DuBose Heyward (lyrics), from the musical Porgy and Bess.
  2. “Dancin’ In the Streets,” Martha and the Vandellas. Extra point if you noted that Marvin Gaye was the co-composer.
  3. “In the Summertime,” Mungo Jerry.
  4. “Summertime Blues,” Eddie Cochran
  5. “School’s Out,” Alice Cooper.
  6. “Summer In the City,” The Lovin’ Spoonful
  7. “Hot Fun in the Summertime,” Sly and the Family Stone
  8. “Walking on Sunshine,” Katrina and the Waves
  9. “A Summer Song,” Chad and Jeremy
  10. “Summer Breeze,” Seals and Crofts
  11. “Rockaway Beach,” The Ramones
  12. “Suddenly Last Summer,” The Motels
  13. “The Swimming Song,” Loudon Wainwright III
  14. “Dancing Days,” Led Zeppelin
  15. “Hot Summer Day,” It’s A Beautiful Day
  16. “Constructive Summer,” The Hold Steady
  17. “Sunshine On My Shoulders,” John Denver
  18. “Summer’s Almost Gone,” The Doors

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