“Summertime Rolls”
by Jane’s Addiction
from the album Nothing’s Shocking
1988 Warner Bros.
Buy the album on Amazon

Chris gave me the honor of picking this month’s theme on MNP and it couldn’t have come at a worse time.  I’m in NYC on business, I’m way behind on work for my second job, I missed a good party in Austin this week and my shoes are still soaked from a freakish monsoon that hit NYC yesterday.  But this morning the clouds parted and Manhattan was just gorgeous, bathed in sunlight and warm.  I was mulling over  the theme when I had lunch with an old friend who always reminds me of Jane’s addiction. “Summertime Rolls” came to mind and in my mind that’s a perfect summer song.

A summer song doesn’t need summer in the title.  It doesn’t have to be a party anthem or something they play at baseball stadiums.  It’s just a song the makes you feel summer-y.  Maybe it’s a song that was a soundtrack to a great summer break during high school.  Or it was the encore at the best outdoor concert you ever attended.  Or it just sets the mood.

For me, “Summertime Rolls” is a summer song on multiple levels.  It has summer in the title for sure, but the lyrics paint a picture as well.  It reminds me of driving around with my friends late on summer evenings, with the windows down.  Maybe it was a trek home after a movie or just an evening winding down after too much excitement.  Regardless, at some point this song would either come up on shuffle or even better, someone would deliberately cue it up.  And a car full of guys who had probably been talking shit all night would all sing along with every word.

Fell into a sea of grass
And disappeared among
The shady blades
Children all ran over me
Screaming tag
Hey you are the one

He trips her as her sandals fail
She says “Stop I’m a girl
Whose fingernails are made of mother’s pearl”
Yellow buttercup helicopters
Orange buttercat chasing after
The crazy bee mad about somebody

Me and my girlfriend
Don’t wear no shoes
Her nose is painted pepper sunlight
She loves me
I mean it’s serious
As serious can be

She sings a song and
I listen to what it says
Well if you want a friend
Feed any animal
There’s so much space
I cut me a piece
With some fine wine
It brought peace to my mind
In the summertime
And it rolled

Summer
The summertime rolls
Summer
The summertime rolls
Summer
The summertime rolls
Summer
The summertime rolls

Me and my girlfriend
Don’t wear no clothes
You know her nose is painted pepper sunlight
I love her I mean it’s so so serious
A serious can be

A warm breeze coming through a car window  that’s a summer song to me.

Before anyone else says it – I know it’s not technically summer yet but it will be soon.  Let’s build a soundtrack while we have time.