Sing a Song of Summer

Summer has arrived--school's out, there are picnics in the park, sand in your shoes at the beach, perhaps a wedding or two, all sorts of reasons to sing.

And there are many singable summer songs, including "Summer in the City," the Brubecks' "Summer Song," and the best known, "Summertime," from "Porgy and Bess" (which is really a lullaby, but we like the austere reading given by Miles Davis with Gil Evans, and John Coltrane's version, which turns the Gershwin song into a very funky blues).

Our new favorite, however, our choice for this summer, is "Now that the Summer's Here," by clever Michael Franks, composer-singer of such quirky numbers as "Eggplant" and "Popsicle Toes." Franks is a native of La Jolla, but he studied contemporary culture at the University of Montreal, and we wouldn't be surprised to learn that one of his mentors there was Marshall McLuhan.

Here's one verse from "Now that the Summer's Here":

"With my chores I only flirt
Hung in my hammock reading Kurt
Struggling to remain inert
Now that the summer's here."

If you can't find the record, try YouTube, and at least check the lyrics.
Meanwhile, we're going back to struggling to remain inert.