Hot Fun In The Summertime Lyrics

Culture Shock: Singin' about the heat

It’s the midpoint of summer and I’m sensing an overwhelming theme for June and July, and most likely August. Hot. Very, very hot.

But what’s a theme without a theme song?

Sitcoms have them. So do newscasts. So why can’t this summer have a theme song too, something to loosely connect the past month and a half with the remaining weeks to come?

To better articulate the scorching nature of the Summer of 2011 — especially this week — I offer a few song suggestions, along with a numerical rating between 1 and 10, with 10 being the perfect theme song for this, our summer of discontent.

“Hot, Hot, Hot,” by Buster Poindexter. A fun 1980s party tune by David Johansen of glam and protopunk band the New York Dolls reinventing himself with 1980s loungesinger shtick. “How you feeling?” he screams to the anonymous listeners. “Hot, hot, hot!” is the chorus reply. Yeah, that kinda sums it up for me too. Give this an 8.

“The Heat is On.” Eagles fans, I feel you wincing at Glenn Frey’s cheap, painful commercial cashin with this pop hit single from the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack. Don’t blame Eddie Murphy for this misfire. This is Frey’s debacle all the way. He made the money from it. He should suffer the shame of it as well. Score this a 7 for relevancy to our summer, but dock it 3 points for being, well, cheesy. Final score: 4.

“Hot Fun in the Summertime.” I do love me some Sly & the Family Stone. The problem is this song is a fond remembrance of summer: “that’s when I had most of my fun.” Given the record-setting heat and dry spell, I’m not sure how gloriously this time will be recalled by anyone who has to pay an electric bill. Love the song, but it scores a 5.

“Summer in the City.” I feel the same way about this Lovin’ Spoonful classic hit as the above Sly & the Family Stone song. 5.

“Summertime Blues.” I’m going with the Who’s version of this classic, since it’s the best known. The track’s title is particularly appropriate for our ongoing heat woes, though the song’s lyrics about restless and unemployed youth and their eternal struggle against the Man have nothing to do with our present plight with the heat wave. Give it an 8.

“Cruel Summer.” It’s like Bananarama built a time machine in 1984, a year before they released this song, and journeyed forward to now and wrote the pop hit about us. OK, the tune is really about a broken relationship and not broken thermometers and air conditioning, but if you stick to the chorus of “It’s a cruel, cruel summer” it resonates. 9.

The Beach Boys :: Hot Fun in The Summertime Lyrics | Hot Lyric

Lyrics author: The Beach Boys and The Beach Boys :: Hot Fun in The Summertime Lyrics

The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962. The band's early music gained popularity across the United States for its close vocal harmonies and lyrics reflecting a Southern California youth culture of surfing, cars, and romance. By the mid 1960s, Brian Wilson's growing creative ambition and songwriting ability would dominate the group's musical direction. The primarily Wilson-composed Pet Sounds album and "Good Vibrations" single (both released in 1966) featured a complex, intricate and multi-layered sound that was a far cry from the simple surf rock of The Beach Boys' early years.

However, Wilson would soon lose control of the band because of mental-health and substance-abuse issues. Subsequently, although it released a number of popular albums (in various musical styles, with different line-ups) in ensuing years, the group never managed to reclaim its mid-'60s peak when The Beach Boys briefly challenged The Beatles both in terms of commercial and critical appeal. Since the 1980s, there has been much legal-wrangling among the group members over royalties, songwriting credits, and use of the band's name. While The Beach Boys released their last studio album in 1996, a number of versions of the band, each fronted by a surviving member of the original quintet (Dennis and Carl Wilson died in 1983 and 1998, respectively), continue to tour.

The Beach Boys have often been called "America's Band", and Allmusic has stated that "the band's unerring ability... made them America's first, best rock band." The group has had 36 United States Top 40 hits (the most by an American rock band) and 56 Hot 100 hits, including four number-one singles.Rolling Stone magazine listed The Beach Boys at number 12 on their 2004 list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". The core quintet of the three Wilsons, Love and Jardine was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.

Billboard

There's a riot goin' on

Rock, the rough guide

Space Between the Stars, My Journey to an Open Heart

Vibe