We've been having fun

They really used to do this!  "They" being record companies and their star artists, and "this" being releasing songs all about summer. Think about it, and you can't come up with too many any more. There was "All Summer Long" by Kid Rock, and even that hit from the '00s saluted two hit songs of the '70s,  "Werewolves of London" (Warren Zevon), and "Sweet Home Alabama" (Lynyrd Skynyrd).

Well, in 1964, the summer of the British Invasion, when The Beatles were taking over the American pop charts, The Beach Boys kept up their pace with the great "All Summer Long," which you can hear here. Brian Wilson and Mike Love wrote it.

And you can enjoy the words as you listen: 

Sittin' in my car outside your house
(Sittin' in my car outside your house)
'Member when you spilled coke all over your blouse?
T-shirts, cut-offs, and a pair of thongs
(T-shirts, cut-offs, and a pair of thongs)
We've been having fun all summer long
(All summer long you've been with me)
I can't see enough of you
(All summer long we've both been free)
Won't be long til summer time is through
(Summer time is through)
Not for us now
Miniature golf and Hondas in the hills
(Miniature golf and Hondas in the hills)
When we rode the horse we got some thrills
Every now and then we hear our song
(Every now and then we hear our song)
We've been having fun all summer long
Won't be long til summer time is through
(Summer time is through)
Not for us now

Every now and then we hear our song
(Every now and then we hear our song)
We've been having fun all summer long
We've been having fun all summer long
(We've been having fun all summer long)
We've been having fun all summer long
(We've been having fun all summer long)
We've been having fun all summer long

Now, there are some memories for my generation, and yours too, I hope.  I remember being in plenty of cars where plenty of liquids got spilled, and who outside of the North Pole didn't run around in a T-shirt and cutoffs and flip flops?  I don't see kids wearing cutoffs any more, but it used to be the perfect way to get a little more use out of last fall's Back To School Pants that were way past the ankles after that growth spurt.  Cut 'em off and let 'em fray!

Brian on a
Honda

Summer fun.  Miniature golf was fun; I still see people play it near us on Joppa Rd over by the diner. And when Hondas came along, everyone hopped on one to zip around.  Helmets?  What's a helmet?  And there was a riding stable near us where we could hop on a swaybacked old steed whose dreams of winning the Preakness were long since over. 

"Every now and then we hear our song."  Yes, we had the radio on WCAO 24 hours a day and we heard our favorite songs in rotation, and frankly, it was a lot more fun to wait to hear the new one from The Beach Boys or Beatles or Stones than to be able to dial it up on an iPod that's jacked into the car stereo.  

Sitting through the Clearasil commercial because the DJ told you that on the other side of it he was going to play the "Number Wonderful" song on the Big 60 survey was no problem.  We had just lost John Kennedy and some cheery tunes made 1964 bearable, all summer long.