"Summer in the City" by The Lovin' Spoonful

I must admit that I have always been a bit puzzled by the imagery associated with summer. From calendars to songs to commercials summer is portrayed as a time for picnics, frolicking on the beach, playing baseball, swimming, and other fun activities. The overall picture painted of summer is a time when the weather is pleasant and, to quote  a George Gershwin song about the season, "the livin' is easy." At least for me the truth about summer is very different. It is a time of extreme heat and humidity, when it is really too hot to go outside for a picnic, much less frolic on the beach or play baseball. It is a time when it is too hot to do much of anything but stay inside in the air conditioning. I mean, here it was 91 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity was around 60% (which is actually low for what it can be here)--hardly a time for picnics and parties! To say summer is my least favourite time of the year would be an understatement.

It is because I dislike summer so much that my favourite song about the season is "Summer in the City" by The Lovin' Spoonful. The song was written by John Sebastian, Mark Sebastian, and  Steve Boone, and together they capture much of how I feel about summer. It describes people walking around "half dead" and the sidewalk has being "hotter than a match head." Now the song does portray summer nights a bit more positively, but over all I have to say that I think "Summer in the City" is more truthful with regards to summer than many of the songs that treat it as if it was as pleasant as spring....

Anyhow, here is "Summer in the City" by The Lovin' Spoonful