Surfin Usa Lyrics

Songs of Summer

Though it is not official, since when is summer ever official in Arizona? I have lived here in Tucson all my life and I have seen summer start in early May. Here is what I know, kids are out of school, public pools are open, my electric bill is going up because I am running the air conditioner and it seems like it sure is summer to me. I was in line at the Dairy Queen the other night ready to get my small cone to cool off and while in the car I heard an old song about summer and it got me thinking…

 There are some great songs about summer from our past. I love some of these songs. I think if I had a favorite it would be Summer in the City by Lovin’ Spoonful, I love the beat, the piano, the lyrics, and the first lines describe that feeling of summer Hot town, summer in the city, Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty.

 Speaking of summer songs and great beats, Hot Fun in the Summertime by Sly & the Family Stone was a song that I loved to listen to this song. It was a lazy sounding song with a smooth beat. It was what I called the ultimate hammock summer song. Now this was the sort of song you listened to as it cools down at night, laying in your hammock, and yes I have a hammock, sipping on limeade and waiting for the moon to come up.

 Summertime Blues by Eddie Cochran was a  song about rebellion. I loved this song so much I played in most the bands I played in. There is a twang and a truth to it.  Kids don’t want to work in the summer, I get they want to goof off, or in my last story, stare at people and text, still, you bet they want to make a fuss and want to make a holler about working all summer to earn a dollar.

 Of course what would summer be without the Beach Boys who made it summer all year long. Their songs did not have to be about summer and it felt summer. Come on with song names like Surfin’ Safari, All Summer Long, California Girls, Surfin’ USA, and Surf’s Up. How could we not think of summer?

 It doesn’t have to be summer for us to recall the song Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini. It was a silly song and for some women it was a national anthem. Indeed it meant it was time to starve yourself so you could wear your bikini to the beach. What is summer without water and bikinis?  

 I simply cannot imagine summer without hearing Mungo Jerry In the Summertime. I mean really! This is the ultimate summer song and after you hear it, it invades your head like a virus and you can’t get rid of it. This was simply a happy song period. It was hard to be sad and sing this song. This is a classic summertime song that I still sing in the shower!

Steve Core Surf: Surfin' USA - Where did the lyrics really come from?

The original 1963 pressing of the record gave credit of the lyrics to Brian Wilson. But in a secret deal, struck behind the band member’s backs, Brian’s father Murray – who was manager of the The Beach Boys at the time, after a lawsuit was raised, inked a deal that relinquished the credit and some royalties to Chuck Berry. Ever since, Berry has had sole or shared credit for composing the song. Damion also raised the question why they threw in a mention to Australia’s Narrabeen into the song specifically titled ‘Surfn’ USA’. Good question. Don’t know really. International sales maybe? Global presence? For the final logical answer, one day I guess we’d have to ask the exquisite Mr Surf Music guru, Brian Wilson his self. In an odd twist of poetic license, the lyric for Narrabeen in the song is pronounced by The Beach Boys as Narra-BINE, and not Narra-BEEN. Definitely indicating they were not locals, or had even visited, as that would be frowned on in Sydney’s Northern beaches. The reason they enunciated BINE instead of BEEN?

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