Twelve Months of Music Part 6: A June Mix
Jun 01 '06
The Bottom Line School is ending, summer is coming, and it's time to get another musical mix for a new month.
When we're young, June doesn't mark the mid-point of the year, but rather the end. After nine long months of school, children all over the country are returned to the wild, free to sleep in and to frolic in the open air for the next ten weeks. It's not until the age of twenty-five or so that most of us fall into the traditional cycle of starting the year in January and ending it in December. Until then, we live on a September through June rhythm with a formless void of unscheduled freedom in between.
Working as a teacher, I still fall into that September through June rhythm of life, but no one fully escapes that childhood rhythm of life, not even those who've fully immersed themselves into the most rigid of corporate worlds. Something deep down within us, though, will always consider June to be the end of that responsible part of the year and the start of a time to relax and head outdoors to do absolutely nothing at all. Just as a cat that's lived indoors for years will still turn into an instinctual hunting machine when a mouse runs past, every one of us who grew up on a September through June schedule turns into a carefree kid again, at least for a little while, when June makes its annual arrival.
That being said, here's a mix of twelve songs to get us in the mood for that carefree freedom from responsibility that takes hold of us every year at this time.
School's Out by Alice Cooper
It opens up with one of the quintessentially recognizable hard rock guitar riff of the seventies and takes us back to a time when shock rock could still be witty and clever. School's Out is probably a little too rough and jagged around it's edges to capture the smooth, relaxing, carefree vibe that dominates the month of June, but does a fantastic job of selling the month's feeling of freedom with a militant fervor. If ever there were a song about casting off the shackles of oppression that all grade school kids can relate to, this is it.
♬ well we got no class
and we got no principles
and we got no innocence
we can't even think of a word that rhymes ♬
Deadbeat Club by The B-52's
Put together the tightly wound, resonant guitar licks that ring out almost like bells, the power chord harmonies in the vocals between Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson, the insistent, unstoppable snare drum beat, and Fred Schneider's offbeat charm, and we get a sound that captures the bright, sun-soaked days that define June. Add in the song's lyrical paean to carefree lifestyle free from any sort of responsibility, and Deadbeat Club turns out to be a perfect laid back anthem for the lazy days of summer that now stretch out ahead of us.
♬ let's go crash that party
down in Normaltown tonight
then we'll go skinny dipping
in the moonlight
we're wild girls walkin' down the street
wild girls and boy goin' out for a big time ♬
Girl on the Roof by David Mead
The opening lyrics to Mead's Girl on the Roof are awfully simple: " ooo ooo ooo, ooo ooo ooo, ooo ooo ooo ooo!" We can't get much simpler than that, but neither can we get much more purely exuberant than the way that Mead delivers the line. Giddy bubblegum pop energy mingles with layered rock production to inspire us to true, carefree daydreaming in a place where love at first sight still exists. No matter where we are in life, June is a perfect excuse to take a break for such daydreaming.
♬ I can see her, I believe her
is she asking for proof?
love is in the air
girl on the roof ♬
Rock This Town by The Stray Cats
Never mind that the slap bass rhythm lines and the reverb-drenched guitar riffs were a retro gimmick thirty years out of place when Rock This Town was first recorded. The song remains a timeless classic. Something about rockabilly screams summertime fun and mischievous freedom, and The Stray Cats give us a fine excuse to drop everything and head out for some irresponsible excitement, whether we're celebrating the end of another school year, or just an evening away from the office.
well we're having a ball just bopin' on the big dance floor
well there's a real square cat, he looks a 1974
well he looked at me once, looked at me twice
look at me again and there's gonna be a fight
we're gonna rock this town
we're gonna rip this place apart ♬
Good Day Sunshine by The Beatles
The military lock-step vibe in the snare drum might at first seem a little at odds with the typical feelings of relaxed freedom and independence that come along with June, but the playful honky-tonk piano riffs, the sparkling harmonies, and the cheeky wink in Paul McCartney's vocals all keep the song firmly rooted in lighthearted territory. June weekend give us some of the best chances of the year to get outside and realize just how exciting it is to be alive. Good Day Sunshine distills that very feeling and serves it up in a refreshingly chilled glass with a few clinking ice cubes and one of those little paper umbrellas. It's pure musical bliss.
♬ I need to laugh, and when the sun is out
I've got something I can laugh about
I feel good in a special way
I'm in love and it's a sunny day ♬
Pulling Mussels (from the Shell) by Squeeze
Once June rolls around, vacation season gets going in full swing and simply cannot be stopped by any means. I can't quite explain why, but Pulling Mussels (from the Shell) has always seemed to me the perfect song to encourage a quick weekend getaway - a chance to escape the everyday and to re-invent ourselves for a day or two. I don't think it's the rock solid single note guitar solo, the jazzy piano bridge, or even the lyrics - they're far too British-centric for anyone American to fully relate too - but something about the song yells out "weekend at the beach house."
♬ but behind the chalet
my holiday's complete
and I feel like William Tell
Maid Marion on her tiptoes feet
pulling mussels from the shell ♬
Endicott by Kid Creole and the Coconuts
Equal parts new wave funk and calypso charm, Endicott beams out of the speakers like sunshine. The sax and trumpet arrangements come straight from the Caribbean, as does the bouncy marimba line, but the funky bass riffs and splashy cymbals are pure early eighties disco night club. The real selling point of the song, though, are August Darnell's vocals. His smooth, charming vocal tales of philandering are pure roguish mischief and charisma, and it's a perfect mirror for the charmingly irresponsible misbehavior that June inspires.
♬ maybe I need me someone
someone who isn't undone
maybe an older woman will tolerate me
maybe that certain someone
older and wiser woman
maybe the perfect someone to satisfy me ♬
Sunshine Tonight by The Shazam
Any group of teenage kids can scrape up enough cash for a few guitars and amps, learn a few loud, crunchy power chords, and rock out as the undisputed masters of their parents' garage. It takes something a little more special for a group to embrace all that frenetic garage rock enthusiasm and still manage to craft an amazing crisp timeless pop classic. And that's exactly what The Shazam do here. Hans Rotenberry and his band take a page from the likes of Cheap Trick and Big Star to play this ode to bright, sunny weather as if they were on fire and they couldn't be more excited about it.
♬ put on you Malibu sunglasses
everybody's fallin' on their asses
come on, 'cuz it's a gas gas gas gas
it's twenty megatons of fun
sunshine tonight ♬
Utopia Parkway by Fountains of Wayne
The simple joys of driving around aimlessly was one of the first iconic themes in rock music, but too often the songs come off as cheesy and cloying. Not Utopia Parkway, though. The relaxed, downtempo piano riffs, the dreamily detached vibe of the vocals, the languid half-melted quality of the guitar solos, and the soft "aaah" harmonies behind the chorus capture just how exhilarating it can be to let go, to be absolutely lazy, and to drive around aimlessly with absolutely no destination. There's no better time to do that than June, with all the aimless freedom it offers.
♬ well I've been saving for a custom van
and I've been playing in a cover band
and my baby doesn't understand
why I never turned from boy to man ♬
Zero Friction by The Presidents of the United States
Go ahead and call The Presidents of the United States "dumb rock." I'm sure they won't mind. After all, they wrote songs like Peaches and Lump. The band will certainly agree with you. There are times, though, when dumb rock music is the only thing that suit our mood properly. Zero Friction is nothing more than jangly power chords, splashy cymbals, and geeked out vocals whipped up into a light, airy confection, like some sort of electrified cotton candy. The song has absolutely no substance to it, taking up the slack with an overabundance of formless energy, just like so many of the most memorable June days.
♬ massive gorilla
put down that chew toy and take a break
and think about the cages
at the zoo where you spend your whole life eating steak
you've been unstoppable since prehistoric times...
I've got zero friction in my life ♬
Mother, We Just Can't Get Enough by The New Radicals
There's plenty of snap to the tight guitar licks and more than a hint of gospel in the rich piano arrangements. Add in the falsetto vocal bridges, the bongo drum rhythms, and the dense, layered production values for the whole song, and we get something that positively wallows in all the best elements of mid-seventies soul and late-nineties pop. The whole song is a celebration of life itself, exploding from the speakers like the brightest, most carefree of June days.
♬ there's something about you
tears me inside out whenever you're around
there's something about you
speeding thru my veins until we hit the ground
and there's something about this rush
take it away
it made me feel so good ♬
Good Vibrations by The Beach Boys
The echoey sounds of the electric piano. The mysterious hum of the theremin. The symphonic movements from musical theme to musical theme. None of these really scream out "summer." But when those harmonies kick in, nothing else in the world matters. It pure sunshine and smiles, waves crashing on the beach and sunbeams streaming down on us. No matter deeply we may be buried by paperwork and red tape at the office, Good Vibrations takes us away for the perfect tropical vacation that every June promises us. Every year, more and more artists write songs to capitalize on the summer vibe, even though it's mathematically impossible to surpass this summer anthem that The Beach Boys recorded nearly forty years ago.
♬ I, I love the colorful clothes she wears
and the way the sunlight plays upon her hair
I hear the sound of a gentle word
on the wind that lifts her perfume through the air ♬
Alas, June and all the carefree fun and excitement it tempts us with is far too good for last. Even though summer is just beginning, no other time in the season offers us so much possibility to indulge in such mindless bliss. June may not last, but every years, it's powerful enough to energize us until the next June rolls around.
Why stop here? Be sure to also have a look at:
January
February
March
April
May
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