Twelve Months of Music, Part 7: A July MixJul 01 '06 (Updated Jul 02 '06) Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Some of the hottest days of the year, along with some of the muggiest nights: here's some music to help us make the best of July. The sweltering heat. The unrelenting humidity. The feeling that there's nothing worth doing except to find some shade and lie down for a while. Right smack in the middle of the year we find July, and with its stifling days and its muggy nights, there's no better time of the year for finding an excuse to put off any work we might have for a while and bury ourselves in the folds of a hammock with a cool glass of lemonade. It's a month of oppression that beats down any sense of hard work that we might have, but at the same time, it's a month of simple lethargy. July may sap our willpower and any regular sense work ethic we might have, but it's a willing surrender on our part. What we lose in fighting spirit, we gain in relaxed, aimless freedom to enjoy the long sunny days. And to set the sweltering, oppressive mood for the month, here's a brand new set of twelve songs ready to hold us down in submission and to open up a world of relaxed idleness for us. Gimmie Shelter by The Rolling Stones The soft, resonant electric guitar licks and the haunting "ooo ooo ooo" vocals that open up the song sneak up on us like the first muggy hints of humidity on a typical July morning. The instruments build up subtly, but by the time Mick Jagger's vocals burst into the mix, we're mired down in full blown rock doom and gloom that we can't escape from, just like the high summer heat that feels like it'll never end. The lyrics may be a bit more apocalyptic that most July days feel, but Mick Jagger's harmonica riffs and Keith Richard's guitar soloing are nevertheless the perfect aural counterpart to the relentless summer sun. ♬ oh, see the fire is sweeping down through the streets today burning like a bright red carpet another fool who lost the way ♬ Float Away by Marah Forget the light excitement of the horn arrangements that start out the song. Float Away is all about the pure, blistering heat of the electric guitar line that takes hold of the song forty seconds in an never lets go again - a heat every bit as searing as an iron park bench that's been sitting out all day in the July sun. The song is a pure sonic assault, and the vocal interplay between David Bielanko and guest vocalist Bruce Springsteen, their lines overlapping in a competition to reach our ears through the aural tumult leave us feeling drained and almost disoriented, like we've spent too time out in the summer heat. ♬ I disappear just as I'm sitting here blame it on nothing to say, boy lovers today only faded away to wake up tomorrow if we wake up tomorrow at all ♬ Steal My Sunshine by Len Alright. Enough with the oppressive musical weight for now. July has its share of levity, too, and Steal My Sunshine wraps itself around the month's moments of flippant irreverence. Between the cheeky guitar and piano loops, the fluffy bounce of the bass line, the nonsensical vocals, and the random spoken interludes all join together to bring back that feeling of juvenile summertime irresponsibility that we all remember from our aimless summers back before we finished school and had to enter the real world. On those inviting July days when the temptation to skip work and cruise down to the beach is too much to resist, there's no better song to listen to on the way. ♬ now the fuzzy stare from not being there on a confusing morning week impaired my tribal lunar speak and of course you can't become if you only say what you would have done so I missed a million miles of fun ♬ Revolution by The Beatles In the United States, there's a inexorable link between the month of July and the idea of independence and revolution. The trouble is, though, that all the patriotic songs linked to the Fourth of July are all too cheesy and/or jingoistic to fit well with July's heat and the indolence that it instills in us. Leave it to the Brits, though, to come up with a revolutionary song fitting for July. We've got those blistering guitar licks like sizzling asphalt on a hot day, we've got those warm and inviting electric piano fills beckoning to us like a cool shade, and we've got those anti-establishment lyrics promoting a cultural revolution that is far easier to relate to these days than any of those old-timey patriotic songs. ♬ you say you want a revolution well, you know, we all want to change the world you tell me that it's evolution well, you know, we all want to change the world but when you talk about destruction don't you know that you can count me out ♬ American Idiot by Green Day While we're on the topic of subversive patriotism, let's make a stop at one of our more recent protest songs. It's easy to think of the Fourth of July as a representation of absolute dedication to the ideal, but it's important to remember that the ideas of the original Forth of July stemmed from a critical questioning of authority. To that end, the dark, subversive sarcasm of American Idiot fit the holiday's original ideals like a glove. The song's breakneck rhythm, the thumping drums and splashy cymbals, the sharp guitar riffs, and the sneering vocals simply enhance the song's July appeal, reflecting that crass irritability that so many feel with the rising thermometer readings. ♬ welcome to a new kind of tension all across the alien nation everything isn't meant to be okay television dreams of tomorrow we're not the one's who are meant to follow well, that's enough to argue ♬ Low by Cracker July may offer us some of the hottest days of the year, and the sweltering feelings of muggy oppression can easily make us feel like we're drowning. Crank up Cracker's Low so that the loud, fuzzy, distorted guitars wash over us, and the feeling increases tenfold. Focus on the song's muted percussion rhythms that sound like they're filtered through a pool of water, on the slow but steady switch from loud to soft and back like salty waves lapping at the beach, or on the desperate pleading tone of David Lowery's vocals, sounding like a castaway despairing of rescue, and you'll find so many other ways that the song reflects that feeling of drowning in the sweltering July heat. ♬ hey, hey, don't you wanna go down like some disgraced cosmonaut a million miles below their feel a million miles, a million miles ♬ Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress by The Hollies That famous guitar riff that opens up the song, punctuated at just the right moments by dual snare drum hits, is there very epitome of summertime heat translated into music. The song's swamp blues ethic plunges us headlong into a hot, sticky summer night, and the lyrics drag us through a gritty crime story that could easily form the opening scene for big budget Jerry Bruckheimer action blockbuster, ready to dominate the summer box office. There's a story of love here, but it's a love born of desperate measures and desperate times - a superb fit for the desperation of the summer heat. ♬ a pair of 45's made me open my eyes my temperature started to rise she was a long cool woman in a black dress just a five-nine beautiful tall with just one look I was a bad mess 'cause that long cool woman had it all ♬ Master Blaster by Stevie Wonder Rock music and July go together like some over-used cliché about two things that go together well, but that doesn't mean that there isn't room for a few other genres in the mix. Equally welcome are the strong bass lines, the brass horn fills, the electric piano riffs, and the backbeat guitar stings that make Master Blaster a memorable reggae groove. Even without the sing-along chorus of "you would be jammin' and jammin' and jammin' jam on," Wonder's song would be a indispensable selection for a late night July block party. (Plus, the song gets bonus points from me for being one of the few tunes ever written that can correctly answer the question "Who runs barter town?") ♬ from the park I hear the rhythms Marley's hot on the box tonight there will be a party on the corner at the end of the block ♬ Rick James by Jude Speaking of other genres outside the rock milieu that capture that July spark, there's no escaping the snap and crackle of funk. Take the tightly wound tremolo in the guitar parts, the insistent drum beats, and fuzzy thump in the bass line for the song Rick James and we can practically feel the acrid summer heat closing in on us. The song is every bit as sinister and ominous as its namesake's public persona with its themes of abuse and obsession, and there are more than enough pop hooks thrown into the mix to make the dark, menacing song every bit as addicting as a hazy July afternoon at the park. ♬ first you went to college, and you got yourself degrees then you got some pretty girls to get down on their knees well you took yourself some pictures, and you showed them to your friends now you're going straight to hell and that's where your story ends ♬ Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood Pure, sensationalistic new wave bombast. That's what Relax is all about. From the insistent electronica vibe in the bass line to the sharp marching beat of the keyboards to the self-indulgent theatrics of the vocals. There's nothing subtle about the song, and there's absolutely no sense of shame to be found here. Picture a certain type of guy in your mind for a moment - that big, meaty slice of beefcake lifting weights on the beach that somehow seemed to find his way into half of the episodes of Miami Vice or Baywatch, glistening with sweat, oblivious to how much of an eyesore he is, both visually and culturally, all superficial style and absolutely no style. That's Relax. ♬ but shoot it in the right direction make making it your intention live thise dreams, scheme those schemes got to hit me, hit me, hit me with those laser beams ♬ Looking at the World from the Bottom of a Well by Mike Doughty If we're not careful, July can easily become a month of over stimulation. Add together the bright sunny days, the backyard barbecues, the games of catch, the trips to the beach, the outdoor concerts, the aimless car rides with the top down, and the month can feel like an avalanche tumbling down on top of us, leaving us feeling helpless. Sonically, Doughty's music offers us that same overwhelming feeling. Densely layered mixes of guitars, keyboards, percussion, and far more esoteric instruments crash over us in a thick rock tidal wave. Doughty's lyrics of ennui and escapism simply heighten the tired feelings that July's hot, muggy days drape over us. ♬ oh, all the days that I have run I sought to lose that cloud that's blacking out the sun my train will come some one day soon and when it comes I'll ride it bound from night to noon ♬ Won't Get Fooled Again by The Who When it comes to the crashing guitar chords, the percussion assaults, and the forceful vocals dripping with testosterone, there are few bands that can compete with The Who when it comes to capturing the raw, overpowering aggression of a swelteringly hot July day. I don't care what kids today might think; The Who define rock and roll, and rock and roll defines July. The balance between the soft electric keyboard passages and the loud full band attacks in Won't Get Fooled Again mirror the lethargic lulls and the periods of frenetic activity that so many of us go through on a warm July day. And Roger Daltry yell that comes seven minutes and forty-five seconds into the song? It's the epitome of summer frustration and release summed up in one primal, guttural scream. ♬ we'll be fighting in the streets withy our children at our feet and the morals that they worship will be gone and the men who spurred us on sit in judgment of all wrong they decide, and the shotgun sings the song ♬ And there we go. With all of July's scorching, sunny days, as well as its hot muggy nights, the month can sometimes feel like it lasts for an eternity. Enjoy it while it lasts, though, because we'll miss all those hot, steamy, aimless days and nights once fall comes creeping around. These July days can sometimes be tough to bear while there here, but hopefully these songs will help to set the right mood to take the best advantage of the month. Why stop here? Be sure to also have a look at: January February March April May June  |
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