Summertime… and the living is easy….
Sung by Ella Fitzgerald
It’s the time of the season when love runs high…
Sung by The Zombies
It’s summer! No matter your age, most of us look forward to this season of sunshine. It’s the time to relax, spend more time outside, and indulge in lots of ice cream.
People have favourite memories of this time of year- picnics, cottages, summer camp, hanging out with friends, and BBQs. Sometimes one singular experience stands out. For me, my enduring memory of summer is the music of decades past. I am old enough to remember the Summer of Love and the music associated with it.
The Summer of Love, 1967, was a social happening centred in San Francisco that expanded throughout North America and parts of the Western world. This was the age of hippies, mini skirts, bell bottoms, flashy shirts and flowers in your hair- often long hair. Times were changing. The peace movement figured prominently. Anti-war protests, a drug culture, and demonstrations for equality and rights including women’s rights and racial equality galvanized generations, pushing the boundaries of anything and everything. It was a turbulent time, but one mixed with the hope that change was possible.
The tumult unfolding before our eyes was a story told compellingly in song. The music acquired an enduring quality that has stayed with me. There were many music festivals and gatherings but perhaps no where was the music celebrated more than at Woodstock in 1969.
It was free love and flower children at Yasgur’s Farm. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lx86B6a3kc
A while back, a radio station released their list of summer songs, and I did not know a single one. I decided to return to my favourites from years gone by. Here are a very few tunes from long ago. The music never gets old.
Stop Children What’s That Sound -Buffalo Springfield https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjSpO2B6G4s
Summer in the City -Lovin’ Spoonful https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YgevxRGXIU
San Francisco –Scott McKenzie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I0vkKy504U
In the Ghetto– Elvis Presley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfypRsWPuVM
Aquarius Let the Sunshine In– Fifth Dimension
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlrQ-bOzpkQ
I heard It Through the Grapevine-Marvin Gaye
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXWHpbpNdHE
Hot Fun in the Summer Time -Sly and the Family Stone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg0tFRea0wA I’d love to know your favourite songs.
It’s the time of the season, so sing out loud. Celebrate summer.
Becoming of Age 
Love this blog! Thanks for bringing those tunes back to mind Audrey!! I’ll have to think back .. which might take some doing!
Audrey, thank you for this joyful post! It’s such fun to think about summers past and all the music we have listened to. Makes me want to get up and dance!