Summer Wilco

[kidsmoke]

I was thinking about this last night as we had a summer BBQ and maybe annoyed the neighbors (a little) with a bitty stash of leftover fireworks...not super-noisy types...on a gorgeous summer night.

 

What Wilco songs seem the most summery to you? Which tunes evoke the cloaking heat, the lazy buzz of insects, the scents and colors of ripening fruits and vegetables, the lazy I-can-get-to-it-a-bit-later attitude that goes with comfortable lawn furniture or a hammock? Or the cheerful abandon of long, late summer nights at a club?

 

Maybe the most obvious is "Heavy Metal Drummer". When I hear the line "On the Landing, in the summer" I flash to my 2011 cross-country trip with my son Brennan. We were on our way to Solid Sound 2. Halfway across the country, we were in St. Louis and so we make a little Wilco pilgrimage to Laclede's Landing, which is the landing referred to in HMD.

 

That was a flood year on the Mississippi and the water still lapped far up onto the lowest roadway.

 

I'll probably always have a headful of these memories whenever I hear that song. What Wilco song evokes summer for you?

 

[Robby]

Muzzle of Bees, but it actually feels like a late summer, early autumn feel.

[dagwave]

although the memories are somewhat...shallow....I immediately thought of Joe's Field Rain/ Joe's Field Heat, and Cooperstown camping at the brewery. Oh my.

refreshing.

[sonicshoulder]

Mountain Bed...

[kidsmoke]

Ooh, good call on Mt. Bed! The sort of story that only happens in warm weather! "Muzzle of Bees is pure summer too. Makes me think of a roadtrip.

 

Dagwave, Joe's Field does seem to draw the extremes of weather, doesn't it?!

[jbray]

Side With the Seeds always reminds me of summer. An unpopular one would be Sonny Feeling but that could be because they used in in those Solid Sound videos back in the beginning and I associate SS with summer the most.

[Yaz Rock]

The Boys Are Back In Town, for perfect summer nights

 

Either Way, for rainy-ish days like Cooperstown

[chuckrh]

Impossible Germany has a nice summer vibe during the guitar meltdown. Kind of a retro feel with the 3 guitars trading licks until the inevitable bowing to Nels.

[worldrecordplayer]

The Boys Are Back In Town, for perfect summer nights

 

Guaranteed to put a smile on my face every time I listen. Could not have been a better tune to open this all request show.  Being on Joe's Field when they came out with this will be one of those concert memories I will always have. 

It's not particularly a "summer" song, but I find myself listening to Summer Teeth frequently during the summer.  Especially on vacation.

[Papillon Parade]

Sky Blue Sky for me...reminds me of summer parades in the small town I grew up in.  Complete with the ricocheting drunks!

[kidsmoke]

I love Sky Blue Sky! Great choice for Summer!

[TCP]

I know it's a little obvious but Summerteeth. Especially the poppier songs, with their synthesizers and catchy melodies. Plus, you know, the name. 

[froggie]

dont know why, but i'd say 'I thought I held you'

[The Inside of Outside]

Another vote for Sky Blue Sky - the song and the whole record. Really got into that record in the summer of '07, when I saw them play at the Shelburne Museum in VT.

[kidsmoke]

I'm calling it first...."If I Ever Was a Child" sounds like pure summer glory and clouds piled high against a too-bright blue sky. 

 

Come to think of it, Star Wars was a summer gift, as Schmilco will apparently be too! 

[the_neil]

Heavy Metal Drummer

[rwrkb]

"I'm Always in Love" was the first one that came to mind.

[kidsmoke]

Good calls! We ought to burn this collection to disc sometime..."Summer Wilco"

[lost highway]

This is a sidestep, and terribly on the nose, but I remember they were leaking an mp3 a week for the Tweedy album the summer my wife and I moved. I was making a lot of extra trips in my car and I probably played "Summer Noon" about a million times. It brings me back to that moment in a great way every time I hear it.

 

In fact, I think driving is a huge part of my association for these songs and albums.  Probably because it's the thing I do where I hear the most music (other than playing music).

 

YHF, Summerteeth and SBS are all winter to me. Don't know why, they just remind me of wanting to tuck myself into a pair of headphones and a good book, or the smell of the heater core in my various aging automobiles over the years.

The Whole Love and AGIB are totally fall. Orange and yellow leaves passing over the windshield.

 

Being There is a summer album for sure. I took a road trip to it once with an old girlfriend through Wyoming and Montana. We both only wanted to hear it for a while (it was new to me at that point, though it was years old), we probably listened to that cassette dub of it about 20 times.

[mus2009]

I Must Be High or Hotel Arizona. Cold beer in the backyard on a hot Saturday with the volume up! Then California Stars on a summer night

[froggie]

When you wake up feeling old