It’s August, when West Central Florida’s weather goes from unbearable to “Dear God, no!” The heat and humidity combine to make the walk to your car feel like a death march. Ours is not a dry heat that you barely notice. It is a heavy, sodden heat that can’t be avoided.
Given all this, it may strike some residents as strange, perverse even, that so many songs actually celebrate summer. The list ranges from Nat “King” Cole’s “Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer” to Hüsker Dü’s “Celebrated Summer” with summer lovin’ songs from Sly and the Family Stone, the B-52s, War, the Beach Boys and more along the way.
Cheers to Taylor Swift, then, for her “Cruel Summer,” even though Bananarama beat her to that title by 35 years.
Anyway, the grandaddy of all those summer songs is, without a doubt, “Summertime,” by George Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. It’s from the folk opera (Gershwin’s description) Porgy and Bess and is sung by a mother to her baby, the idyllic lyrics contrasting with the downtrodden lives of the opera’s characters.
Removed from the opera’s context, though, the song becomes a languid ode to easy livin’, lazy days and lazy nights. It’s been sung by, well, lots of people. Fantasia Barrino’s version catapulted her to the win on season three of American Idol. It’s been recorded by Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan and Nina Simone. There’s a magnificent duet by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. And versions by Frank Sinatra, Nat “King” Cole and Sam Cooke. And … on and on.
Janis Joplin’s howling blues-rock version introduced “Summertime” to the Woodstock generation. British invaders The Zombies recorded a swinging, waltz-time version. Lana Del Ray and Scarlett Johansson both went for the slow, sultry approach in their recordings.
Herbie Mann recorded a bossa nova-flavored version which was sampled by Sublime for their tune, “Doin’ Time.” Iggy Pop borrowed the first verse of “Summertime” for the last verse of his song “Girls.” R.E.M. recorded “Summertime” in the early ‘90s for a fan-club only single.
There has been no shortage of present-day performers diving into the catalogs of the Gershwins, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern and others. But “Summertime” was rarely if ever among the standards covered. Instead, it’s been the choice of idiosyncratic artists such as R.E.M., Lana Del Ray and Janis Joplin. Something about “Summertime” demands a more personal approach, one that reveals something about the artist. Maybe it’s the way the mostly carefree lyrics contrast with the subtly ominous melody, suggesting any easy living will come with a cost.
“Summertime,” along with another “Porgy” song, “My Man’s Gone Now,” were praised by Stephen Sondheim as “the best lyrics in the musical theater.” Little more need be said.