# Is this song a Summer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 21, 2004, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-song-a-summer/251454 "2004-06-21T15:29:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/35a633/32.png) [@sofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sofia)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-song-a-summer/251454/1 "2004-06-21T15:29:03Z")
Here’s the premise: because of personal experiences/memories, certain songs will always remind us of certain seasons. I’m not talking about “Jingle Bells” and winter. No. Or even connecting the Beach Boys with summer. I’m talking about the fact that every time I hear “Amie” from Pure Prairie League I think of summer. Maybe it’s because it came out during the summer when I was a kid (I’ve never checked it out–don’t really want to ruin the mystique)…maybe it’s because it brings back memories of my older sister putting on her cut-offs and tank top in preparation for a hot date…I don’t know. Am I nuts? Any songs just _feel_ like a specific season to you? ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-song-a-summer/251454/2 "2004-06-21T16:23:36Z")
Yes, mostly because of the season in which they hit the Top 40. Hall & Oates’ “Out of Touch” and Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You” are indelibly associated with that warm, muggy October of 1984 in my mind; Prince’s “When Doves Cry” and Bananarama’s “Cruel Summer” with two months earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Kings\_Gambit1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dc4da7/32.png) [@Kings\_Gambit1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kings_Gambit1)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-song-a-summer/251454/3 "2004-06-21T16:41:23Z")
Summer **The Police** - _Canary in a Coal Mine_ Winter **Gordon Lightfoot** - _Sundown_ Why?- I have no idea, they just do. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-song-a-summer/251454/4 "2004-06-21T16:54:03Z")
Weezer’s “Island in the Sun” always makes me think of summer. I think it’s cause it was released in the summer, but it also has that “feel” to it, ya know? Also, it has the word sun, and that’s associated with summer. “The Zephyr Song” by Red Hot Chili Peppers is the same way for me. Makes me think of summer, just cause that’s how the song feels. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-song-a-summer/251454/5 "2004-06-21T17:01:56Z")
**Bette Davis Eyes** by Kim Carnes will always remind me of summer 1981, during my first summer working in Yellowstone,. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-song-a-summer/251454/6 "2004-06-21T17:07:12Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > **Bette Davis Eyes** by Kim Carnes will always remind me of summer 1981, during my first summer working in Yellowstone,. For some reason, this reminds me of winter. But it was on the charts so long, it could have been a carryover, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Mal\_Adroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-song-a-summer/251454/7 "2004-06-21T17:22:14Z")
Folk/country/blues songs in general have a “summer” feel to me. The rural, earthy feel of the acoustic guitars, etc. “Amie” is a perfect example. “Night Moves” by Bob Seger also comes to mind. . . though I think that song’s _about_ summer, so maybe that’s cheating. As a footnote, if I had to nominate one artist/group whose entire canon just breathes summer, it’d be CCR. ---
**Author:** ![sofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/35a633/32.png) [@sofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sofia)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-song-a-summer/251454/8 "2004-06-21T17:40:16Z")
> [@Moody Bastard](#): > > Folk/country/blues songs in general have a “summer” feel to me. The rural, earthy feel of the acoustic guitars, etc. “Amie” is a perfect example. Very astute. 🙂 Although a big chunk of James Taylor music reminds me of winter… I’m glad to know that other people have the same “feeling” about certain songs. Oh…I’ve got another one…“Here Comes the Sun” will always be spring to me. Just the chilly rainy weather out here mixed with that “feeling” that warmer weather is coming… ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2004, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-song-a-summer/251454/9 "2004-06-21T18:09:31Z")
I don’t associate songs with seasons, generally, but I do have Painting Class Songs, Pruning Crew Songs, and Base Stables Songs. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-song-a-summer/251454/10 "2004-06-22T04:32:47Z")
Reggae is summer music. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-song-a-summer/251454/11 "2004-06-22T05:14:48Z")
Chad and Jeremy’s “A Summer Song,” mostly because it’s about having to break up in fall. I lived that song in 1972. And who needs LSD for those kind of flashbacks? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-song-a-summer/251454/12 "2004-06-22T13:11:14Z")
For some reason Boston’s first album reminds me of summer and also Super Tramp’s Breakfast in America. ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-song-a-summer/251454/13 "2004-06-22T13:59:15Z")
> [@Neidhart](#): > > Yes, mostly because of the season in which they hit the Top 40. Hall & Oates’ “Out of Touch” and Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You” are indelibly associated with that warm, muggy October of 1984 in my mind; Prince’s “When Doves Cry” and Bananarama’s “Cruel Summer” with two months earlier. Just this weekend, I was listening to Hall and Oates’ greatest hits CD and when “Out of Touch” came on, it really screamed ‘October 1984’ to me, too. I saw them in Lake Placid that month and the song had just come out not too long before the concert. The following are just off the top of my head–the strongest “season feeling” 1. songs". Summer songs: 1. “I Love You” by the Climax Blues Band 2. “Little Jeanie” by Elton John 3. the entire Blow Monkeys album and I agree with **Khadaji** –_Breakfast in America_ reminds me of summer, too. Fall: 1. “Valotte” by Julian Lennon 2. “Never Let Me Down Again” by Depeche Mode Winter: Meh–who wants to remember winter? Nothing’s pinging for me there. Spring: “Dear God” by XTC (also reminds me of my grandmother’s death around that time) “April Fool” by Chalk Circle ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-song-a-summer/251454/14 "2004-06-22T14:07:08Z")
> [@Nutty Bunny](#): > > 1. songs". ::sigh:: Please ignore the “1.” above. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![sofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/35a633/32.png) [@sofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sofia)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-song-a-summer/251454/15 "2004-06-22T14:18:05Z")
A big chunk of classic 70s music reminds me of summer…sitting in the old Pontiac behind the barn…pretending to drive…listening to the radio…running down the battery. Don’t tell my dad. Man was he mad when the “damned car” didn’t start. 😃 I got Valotte for my birthday, so it will always remind me of spring. My son, who (bless his heart) will search for old tunes for me online, wants to make a cd of “seasonal” music. But we argue because I say “Boys of Summer” is a winter song… ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-song-a-summer/251454/16 "2004-06-22T14:30:04Z")
> [@sofia](#): > > A big chunk of classic 70s music reminds me of summer…sitting in the old Pontiac behind the barn…pretending to drive…listening to the radio…running down the battery. > > My son, who (bless his heart) will search for old tunes for me online, wants to make a cd of “seasonal” music. But we argue because I say “Boys of Summer” is a winter song… I agree with you on the 70s stuff being “summer” music, and on “Amie” being a “summer” song, but “Boys Of Summer” is most definitely an “autumn” song. ---
**Author:** ![sofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/35a633/32.png) [@sofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sofia)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-song-a-summer/251454/17 "2004-06-22T14:33:50Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > but “Boys Of Summer” is most definitely an “autumn” song. Well, I’ll give you that one. I remember having the one-and-only Thanksgiving dinner in a restauant and listening to my brother explaining the relevance of a “deadhead sticker on a Cadillac.” Now, if I could only remember long division with such clarity… ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-song-a-summer/251454/18 "2004-06-22T14:40:53Z")
> [@sofia](#): > > Now, if I could only remember long division with such clarity… 😃 Boy, no kidding. When I listen to my local 70s and 80s station, and sing along, I always wonder why I can remember all the words to songs that old (and can remember where I was when it was really popular), but I can’t remember crap like long division… ---
**Author:** ![sofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/35a633/32.png) [@sofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sofia)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-song-a-summer/251454/19 "2004-06-22T15:41:38Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > 😃 I always wonder why I can remember all the words to songs that old (and can remember where I was when it was really popular), but I can’t remember crap like long division… 🙂 And do you know why? We’re word people…and because music makes us _happy_. 🙂 …so, why did I marry a math wizard? That’s right…to do the long division _for me._ ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-song-a-summer/251454/20 "2004-06-22T16:08:09Z")
Great thread idea, **sofia**. For me, _Rubber Soul_ = Winter. That flute part in the beginning of Canned Heat’s _Goin’ Up the Country_ = Summer and, [thinks back] er… Summer stuff. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-song-a-summer/251454.md?page=2)