Summer Songs & This Month's Statistics

The time is drawing near: we will soon say our annual goodbyes to summer. Now that we're about to lose it, we get to appreciate it for what it was... and there are songs that help us tell the story.

The end of summer brings back friends that had been separated by their holidays - and they're anxious to tell each other all about it, like in this mega-hit from the 1978 musical "Grease", Summer Nights, sung by Olivia Newton-John, John Travolta, and company:

The end of summer brings back memories of a love that was, as in Simon May's The Summer Of My Life:

Then again, the feelings generated by summer's halcyon days can inspire poetic thoughts, such as those in Summer’s Almost Gone by The Doors:

In order to end, the summer has to begin, right? And there are many songs that express what it's like when a long winter is being defeated by the warm rays of the sun. The best song to welcome the warmest season of the year has to be The Beatles' Here Comes The Sun:

This is a hit cover version by Cockney Rebel, which I like:

Then there are the surfers, who can't wait for June in order to spend countless hours riding the waves. Listen to The Beach Boys talking about it in Surfin' USA:

What about the school students, who are waiting impatiently for their schools to close for the summer? Alice Cooper says it best in School’s Out:

The young people's view is also examined in Summertime, by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince:

Not everybody is happy to have their summer holidays, however. The Sex Pistols trashed the idea in the song Holidays In The Sun:

The Undertones, on the other hand, welcomed the season in their song Here Comes The Summer:

Keith Urban is looking forward to summer because he imagines being together with the girl of his dreams in the song Long Hot Summer:

Cliff Richard is having an ecstatic moment in anticipation of his Summer Holiday:

While the Bay City Rollers dream of a Summerlove Sensation:

Some time summer hits can be classist: "If her daddy's rich take her out for a meal, If her daddy's poor just do what you feel", say Mungo Jerry in their huge hit, In The Summertime:

Beach Baby by First Class is perfect for those who chose the seaside for their holidays:

But not everyone goes on holidays in the summer. The Lovin' Spoonful have the best song about spending Summer In The City:

Eddie Cochran shares his summertime woes in Summertime Blues:

The Who did a great cover of this song in quite possibly the best live rock album ever, Live At Leeds:

Summer can be the source of heartbreak, as Stevie Wonder attests in Never Dreamed You’d Leave In Summer:

Many summer songs are immersed in nostalgia. Don Henley's The Boys Of Summer is one of them:

Bryan Adams' Summer of ’69 is another:

So is The Ataris' Summer '79:

Bananarama's Cruel Summer is a song of loneliness and pain:

Style Council's Long Hot Summer is also a song of pain:

Summer Girl by HAIM is a song of empowerment:

So is Taylor Swift's Cruel Summer:

Perhaps the most famous summer song of all, the Gershwin classic Summertime is a gentle lullaby. There are literally thousands of versions out there. I chose two. The superb duet between Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong:

... And the rock version by the inimitable Janis Joplin:

Chad & Jeremy's A Summer Song combines nostalgia with poetic images:

Summer Breeze perfectly captures the feeling of summer. This is the original by Seals & Crofts:

... And this is a great cover version by The Isley Brothers:

Lee Hazlewood's Summer Wine, a hit that he recorded with his then girlfriend, Nancy Sinatra, uses psychedelic imagery:

Summer is often the subject of films. It seems that somehow it's considered the best time for a teenage boy to lose his virginity to an older woman. Such as the movie Summer of '42. This is the title song by Michel Legrand, as performed by Andy Williams:

Bobby Goldsboro's Summer (The First Time) tells a similar story:

The rural drama of Bobbie Gentry's Ode To Billie Joe takes place in June:

Back to the movies: "A Summer Place" would have been a slightly forgettable romantic drama, if not for its theme, written by the legendary Max Steiner. It wasn't even the main theme. Yet, when Percy Faith arranged and recorded the theme with his orchestra, it became one of the biggest instrumental hits ever:

Another movie, 25 years later, was called "Summer Lovers" and was filmed on the beautiful Greek island of Santorini. On this movie was the #1 hit by Chicago, Hard To Say I’m Sorry:

Finally, here's a very popular boyband that's called 5 Seconds Of Summer. This is their biggest (and best) hit, Youngblood:

Now, it’s time for our statistics. The top 10 stories of the month were the ones concerning George Maharis (with almost four times as many visits as #2), Dave Clark, Mitch Ryder, Simon & Garfunkel, Luther Vandross, Freddie Jackson, Joe Jackson, Peter Allen, Tevin Campbell, and Peter Straker. These stories generally attract a lot of visits. My theory is that perhaps these stories appear on the first or second page of a Google search, being therefore available to more people. It's just a theory...

As far as countries are concerned, France and Greece suffered minor losses, while winners include the United States, the Netherlands, and Brazil. The rest of the major players kept their percentages stable.

Here are this month's Top 10 countries:

1. the United States

2. the United Kingdom

3. Canada

4. Australia

5. Germany

6. Russia

7. France

8. Greece

9. the Netherlands

10. Brazil

Here are the other countries that graced us with their presence since our last statistics (alphabetically): Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Austria, Azerbaijan, the Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Eswatini (Swaziland), Ethiopia, Finland, Georgia, Ghana, Guam, Guatemala, Guernsey, Haiti, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Lithuania, Macau, Malaysia, Malta, Martinique, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, US Virgin Islands, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Happy to have you all!

And here's the all-time Top 10:

1. the United States = 36.2%

2. France = 14.6%

3. the United Kingdom = 11.1%

4. Greece = 6.8%

5. Russia = 3.0%

6. Canada = 2.1%

7. Germany = 2.0%

8. Australia = 1.0%

9. Italy = 0.8%

10. Cyprus = 0.7%

That's all for today, folks. Till the next one!