That’s What SHE Said: The Soundtrack for Summer, 2012—

The other night we ran out of something that we needed desperately for some valuable reason I can’t recall (and don’t ask me what it was—maybe it was milk or butter…or motor oil?  D batteries, perhaps?  I don’t know…) and as my husband reached for his keys, I practically tackled him to the floor to get out the door first. 

As I crawled across his limp body, I was all “Hey honey, sorry about that—don’t trouble yourself, sweetheart!  Let me get this one for you. You just stay here and relax…with the kids.” 

I was halfway down the driveway before he had pulled himself up enough to salute my generosity with the extension of his middle finger as our daughters leapt upon his back, regaling him with stories from their day and pleas for play time.  An image of insects devouring their paralyzed prey flashed in my head. 

Please don’t misunderstand me.  I adore my children.  I would lay my life down for them in an instant, without hesitation.  They are perfect, precious—extraordinary in every way.  But sometimes, mommy needs a minute of solitude for the sake of her sanity, you know?  I decided to drown out the guilty voices inside my head by cranking the radio.

It was one of those lovely, late summer, purply-pink-pre-twilight times, where slices of sunlight still streaked the western sky, melting the day into the night; at about 83 degrees, it was cool enough to put the windows down and blast the tune that slid through the speakers—Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer”. 

In that moment, as my hair whipped against my cheeks and my left arm found the beat against the exterior of the driver’s side door, I wasn’t a mom or a wife or a homeowner with bills and health care concerns and fifteen pounds that just would not go away (no matter how much I reduced my chicken McNugget intake)—I was transformed.  I was just a kid, hearing this song for the very first time on a similar summer night a lifetime ago—looking forward to back-to-school clothes shopping, seeing which friends were going to be in my classes, lusting after new crushes…just a kid with nothing to lose and everything before her.

It. Was. Awesome. 

I returned home—with my milk or my butter or my batteries or whatever it was—a new woman. 

Refreshed. 

There’s just something about an amazing summer song, isn’t there?  Summer songs represent change—they mark the transitions in life: Elementary to middle.  Middle to high.  High to college.  First love to next love.  Best friends to new friends.  Agony to ecstasy—and back again.  More than birthdays, more than New Year’s Eve celebrations…for me, it is the memories of summers spent that I pull out of the recollection box of my mind—accompanied by their incredible soundtracks—that became the indelible benchmarks for the significant stages of my life. 

To paraphrase the timeless wisdom of LFO’s “Summer Girls” (please tell me that you do see the tongue, firmly planted in the cheek, right???): “Summer songs come and summer songs go—some are worthwhile and some are so-so.” 

Sometimes the value of a great summer song lies in nothing more than a catchy hook (take Shaggy’s ridiculous “It Wasn’t Me”, Will Smith’s infectious “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It”, Haddaway’s absurd “What is Love”, Deana Carter’s irritating “Strawberry Wine”, Ginuwine’s mortifying “Pony”…or any number of the countless blissfully ignorant throwaway tunes from virtually everyone’s summer experiences) but sometimes, there is so much more to a great summer song than you may even realize until you are old and running away and hiding from your family at dinnertime to purchase items you cannot even recall just to have a second to yourself. 

Summer songs, regardless of genre, are about three things only: fun, love, or loss.  Fun songs are as easy to find as they are to lose—they are not forgettable, but after a time, you find yourself rolling your eyes and changing the station as quickly as possible when they come on. The ones that stand the test of time usually require a direct hit to your head or to your heart—but these are more difficult to define because your response to them depends wholly upon who you are and where you’re from.  This got me to thinking about my soundtrack for the summer of 2012—according to the Mayans, our final year together on the planet.  Now at the final chapter of this season, I am left to ponder: Were the songs that dominated our sun-soaked attention spans built to last?  Maybe.  Here are a baker’s dozen that I think measured up—or will at least keep the summertime memories alive until the comet or zombie apocalypse wipes us out on December 21^st. 

In no particular order:

1)    fun., feat. Janelle Monae—“We are Young”:  Stop trying to escape this song.  Don’t run from it; give in to its hypnotic charms.  At some point, we all thought we were invincible and that we would live forever.  This infinitely sing-able testament to the delusional impregnability of youth is not whining—it is calling out to those living in that moment, hearkening them to hang on to it with everything they have.  As for the rest of us, it’s a bittersweet reminder that Mellencamp was right—we should have held on to sixteen for as long as we could; those changes that made us women and men came around a hell of a lot sooner than many of us expected, didn’t they? 

(Runner up, for all the very same reasons: Adam Lambert—“Never Close Our Eyes”)

2)    AIR—“Cosmic Trip”/ “Sonic Armada”:  Okay, so if you don’t think French new wave electronica might be your thing…perhaps you should stop being such a normal person and tap into your inner pretentious ass, hmmm?  No, seriously.  They’re amazing—always have been.  You’ve heard their music countless times (I discovered them in that 1999 Heath Ledger gem, “10 Things I Hate About You”, which led me to AIR’s sublime album, “Moon Safari”), and while their new album is more conceptual and not as divine, sometimes the summer just calls for a great piece of moody music that is sexy, mindless, goodness (e.g. Enigma, Dirty Vegas, Portishead, Basement Jaxx).  I don’t speak French, so they could honestly be singing about toilet paper and athlete’s foot, but I’d still chill to their sound—they’re just that good. 

Let me put it to you this way: if you like the entrancing rhythms and dulcet tones of Ellie Goulding’s “Lights”, you’re already halfway there.  It’s time for you to step away from Nicki Minaj’s starship (which you and I both know is infinitely inferior to her transcendent 2011 single, “Super Bass”, anyway) and get some fresh AIR.  (ßSee what I did there?)

Don't worry; no rockstars were harmed.

3)    Linkin Park—“Burn it Down”:  Why is this song on my list?  Because they’re Linkin-effin’-Park, people.  Don’t make me explain this one—they’re the sole survivors of a dying genre and this new single does not disappoint.  Don’t get me started on what the hell happened to contemporary/ alternative rock or what malevolent force was behind its genocide; suffice it to say, we should celebrate its survivors—especially when they still produce excellent music.  Every summer soundtrack needs a fist pumping, head banger—this is as close as you can get anymore.

(My honorable mention in this category goes to my beloved band, The Black Keys, for their superb new song, “Gold on the Ceiling”.  I gave this one to Linkin Park only because I’ve heard it about a hundred more times, so it’s embedded in my brain.  I’m sure The Black Keys will catch up in no time.)

4)    Mac Miller—“Missed Calls”:  So, I’m probably going to take a lot of heat for this one, but bear with me.  The Pennsylvania native is about the hardest working, self-promoting kid I’ve ever seen.  He didn’t have the backing of Bieber or the Disney machine to create his identity for him.  Mac Miller has been making mixtapes of his laid-back raps about the simple joys of youth—you know, the deep stuff, like Kool-Aid, pizza, and purple kush—since he was fifteen years old.  Fifteen.  [Do you want to know what I was doing at fifteen years old?  Writing “Mrs. Anthony Rippy” on my geometry folder with a sparkly glitter pen and thinking about going to the mall to check out the new selection of “Guess” jeans.] This kid is a beast. 



This kid has got to hate old people like me
who find him completely adorable.

The last couple of years have found the scrappy little rapper quietly growing in popularity and maturity (his adorable doo-woppy ode to the lovability of young people, “Knock, Knock”, was one of my very favorite songs last year)—though he is probably best known for his rhymes about the king of the comb-over, Donald Trump.  While Miller is often compared to a young Eminem, I don’t see it.  He doesn’t seethe and his rhymes aren’t that tight; however, now, at twenty, I see a baby Beastie Boy experimenting with his skills and cultivating his talents under the tutelage of a host of quality hip-hop influences like Wiz, Pharrell, and Weezy.  I’m keeping my eye on him and inviting you to do the same.

In Mac’s honor, I bestow my second place award upon: Gym Class Heroes, feat. Ryan Tedder—“The Fighter” (which, coincidentally, I thought was rapped by Mac Miller the first time that I heard the song.)

5)    The Killers—“Runaways”:  I’ll admit—I’m new to The Killers.  I completely missed their 2008 album (might have had something to do with my creating and birthing and nurturing a new baby or some other such nonsense), so I am dutifully kicking my own ass for arriving so late to this celebration.  But now that I’m here, let me start by placing the nearest lampshade on my head, getting hammered, and dancing on a tabletop—I will be the life of the party.  This new single in particular, is excellent—it brings to mind all the elements of early U2, quality rock and romance that you just don’t hear enough of anymore.  I said the best summer songs involved love or loss—this song commemorates both.



We get it, Alex.  You're just not that into us anymore.

6)    Alex Clare—“Too Close”: Yeah, yeah, the Microsoft commercial song.  Screw that.  Look, let’s be frank.  We’ve all been out driving around and noted that the vehicle beside us was vibrating, pulsating, with music stressing the limits of its speakers, its driver, blissfully unaware of our embarrassed observations as they belt out some tune with childish abandon, right?  Well…if it was this summer, it was probably this song.  (And, YES.  It was probably me.)

In the absence of new work from my favorite trip-hop band of all time—Massive Attack—Alex Clare’s ambitious amalgam of blues, funk, and electronica have made this British soul man my go-to guy all summer.  Every song off his 2011 album “The Lateness of the Hour” is beyond delicious; its prize jewel, “Too Close”, is no emo-heartbreak-crybaby crap.  Clare is clear—it’s not him, it’s you—and he’s just fine with that, thank you very much.  Perfectly satisfied being the anti-hero, every beat of this infinitely listenable song punctuates a step he takes in the opposite direction from the one who made the mistake of loving him.  You know, everyone deserves a fabulous, ass-kicking breakup/ burn song at least once in their lifetime—if this is you, this is that song.

7)    Kenny Chesney—“Come Over”:  If you know me, you know modern country is not really my thing.  So much so, that I’ll admit that I’ve analogized it with beating bags of sick cats against broken glass walls.  Author and comedian Michael Ian Black recently observed: “Every mentally handicapped person I have ever known prefers country music.”  He stressed, “I’m not saying you have to be mentally handicapped to enjoy country music, just that it helps.”  To be clear, HIS words, not mine; don’t kill the messenger. 

My point?  Oh, yeah—don’t you ever say that I can’t be open-minded and fair, because here I am, throwing you a bone.  While Chesney’s “Come Over” doesn’t touch Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now”, I will admit that this song (despite the limitations of its genre) is actually catchy, breezily romantic, and hopeful.  And if we’re going to be honest, what more could I ask of a summer song? (But you still better love me for reaching so far outside of my comfort zone for this one.  You owe me.)

2^nd Place: Eric Church—“Springsteen” (To quote the woefully underrated  cinematic masterpiece, “Showgirls”: “It doesn’t suck.”)

8)    Gotye, feat. Kimbra—“Somebody That I Used to Know”: Breakups make for such powerful summer song fodder, don’t they?  The epic “he-said/ she-said” agonizing over who-done-who-wrong has massive universal appeal—and this absolutely unavoidable song (seriously, just try to run from it—it WILL find you, wherever you hide) perfectly captures every human being’s neurotic compulsion to be perceived as the “wronged” party at the end of a relationship.  All the elements are here— the soothing syncopated rhythm, the haunting refrains of Gotye’s grief (his voice, lilting like an pre-solo career Sting), Kimbra’s gorgeous, measured response to his brooding self-absorption—for the perfect summer song (that is substantially superior to Katy Perry’s “Wide Awake”).  I only wish I found the rest of Gotye’s catalogue as appealing as this song—but if it does end up being a one-off, I won’t whine about it.  I’ll always be grateful for the memory.  It’s not like I’ll pen a ditty called “A Song That I Used to Know” or anything like that. 

9)    GROUPLOVE—“Tongue Tied”:  In spite of the shouty-capitals in their band name, this song is pleasingly adorable and surprisingly effervescent.  I love an indie-band that doesn’t take itself too seriously—and in the case of GROUPLOVE, it would be good if they didn’t, because I predict that they will be completely forgotten in approximately five years (seriously, if you remember the name of this band in the year 2017, you come find me and I will pay you five dollars.  I have a notary standing by as witness), but then again, who cares?  We need stuff to dance to in our flip flops and cocoa butter.  “Tongue Tied” is about as nutritive and filling as a spoonful of sherbet, but on a hot summer day, what could be better?

Michael debuts his "Blue Steel". 
"Magnum" is still in the works.

10)  George Michael—“White Light”:  To understand this selection, you must know something about my love for all that is George Michael—from his exuberant days as the sexy half of Wham!, to his mind-blowing (and hormone-exploiting) album, “Faith”, to his devastatingly resplendent album, “Older”, (which, to this day, if I had to select only ten albums to listen to for the rest of my life would definitely make the cut) this fabulously talented man has created gorgeous musical snapshots for every stage of my life, from the irresponsible ecstasy of adolescence to the heavier reflections of an aging heart.

“White Light” is no exception.  Yes, I’ll admit that when I first heard this song, I shared with a friend that it sounded like a dubstep redux of a mid-nineties Depeche Mode track.  But then I listened again.  And again.  And again.  That is George Michael’s gift…he gets under your skin and in no time at all, his music is running through your blood and living in your heart.  At its very least, “White Light” is a simple summer club banger—but at its best, it is a testimonial to survival, by someone who’s lived hard enough to tell the tale with a measure of authenticity.

11)  Phil Philips—“Home”:  Yes, I know, haters gon’ hate, especially if you’re one of the millions of poo-poo-ers who resent the American Idol machine (you know, the system that rewards the red necked, the white skinned, or the bluesy-acoustic guitar)—but gosh-darn-it, don’t take it out on the kids!  I never read Phil’s “awww, shucks” lopsided grin as insincere or contrived—in fact, I believe that, in time, he may turn out to be the real thing.  While many disparage him for his limited range, comparing him to a discount Dave Matthews or a baby Bob Seger—I think his performance on “Home” hints at a contemporary Simon and Garfunkel. 

Look. I can still feel you fuming at me as you read this, believing it blasphemous for me to make the American Idol winner the only indie-folk rock selection on my summer list, so I’ll just smile bashfully, shuffle my feet, and stare at the floor as I remind you that you have the rest of your lives to listen to Mumford & Sons, Fleet Foxes, and Bon Iver—why not give a few of your summer days to a sweetly endearing love song?  They’re rarer than you may realize.

Not just another pretty voice.
MoZella's hot, too.

12)  MoZella—“Change”:  I discovered MoZella quite by accident.  I’m not embarrassed to admit it: she was a recommended selection from my Adele station on Pandora—but one song was all it took to snag my heart and make it hers.  I’ve been gushing about her for weeks, trying to get anyone and everyone to listen to this sweetly smoky-voiced, retro chanteuse.  If Adele, Dusty Springfield, Duffy (what ever happened to Duffy?), and Christina Perri had a love child, MoZella would be their holy progeny. “Change”, her most recent song, is that perfect, late-summer brand of sentimental reflection on the ever changing nature of our existence—a bittersweet farewell with the tiny twist of hope.

[P.S. Listen, I’m not a demanding person, but considering that Adele is off making her wonder-baby, Dusty Springfield is leading the choir in heaven, Duffy is apparently missing in action, and Christina Perri has settled for being a two-hit (at least, for now) wonder, how’s about we all get this woman into a studio and making some amazing new music, shall we?]

So, the definition of a “baker’s dozen” implies a thirteenth something, right?  A freebie to reward your loyal patronage?  Any guesses about your bonus summer song?  I’m sure you noted how many radio edit top-40’s I blew off, right?  What will it be…what will it be?  Pitbull’s “Back in Time”?  Maroon 5’s “Payphone”?  Pink’s “Blow Me (One Last Kiss)”?  Usher’s “Scream”?  Oh, come on—it’s too easy:

13)  Carly Rae Jepsen—“Call Me Maybe”:  Manifest.  Pervasive.  Infectious.  Three words given more often to blood-borne pathogens than candy-coated pop confectionary, but if the bio-hazardous descriptors fit…

Not since Billy Ray Cyrus (you remember, Miley’s mulletted daddy?) served up his 1992 mega-hit “Achy Breaky Heart” have I seen a song so completely devour the collective consciousness of a society quite the way that “Call Me Maybe” has consumed ours.  Thousands of spoofs—including politicians, Olympians, artists—and countless memes have proven that you cannot escape the tractor-beam pull of a Death Star of this proportion.  

In fact, I’d venture to posit that the complete range of this song’s influence has yet to be measured.  There is no limit to what the marketing machine will make from our (apparently) voracious appetite for this perky piece of pop culture. Though (thankfully) I won’t likely be around to see it, I can almost guarantee that they’ll revive the song 40 years from now to promote “Call Me Maybe”-themed Depend© undergarments or that Carly Rae Jepsen will be on a reality-television celebrity dating game with Snooki, Kristen Stewart, and Bret Michaels’ head, preserved in a jar of formaldehyde.   

Love it or hate it, you can’t deny that 2012 was the year for the cute crush song with the awkward grammar.  It will be a part of your cultural DNA long after you stopped smiling when you heard it.  You will roll your eyes and you will deny you ever sang it.  You will try to forget it—but you will never forget the summer where it took over your world.

(But can I see it absolutely making your day when you’re sneaking away from your noisy kids for a minute of “me-time” and it comes on the radio twenty years from now???  Actually, yes.  Yes I can.  You’ll see.)

Of course, this is only HALF the story. 

For MORE on this subject, you’ve got to see what HE said @ Suburban Acrobat ...