Drunk On You Knee Deep with my Toes in the Water floating on my Pontoon

Summer has officially arrived! Though it seems to have been around a while, what with all the gorgeous (and sometimes hot) weather we’ve been having here. But don’t tell anyone, we want to make sure everyone thinks it rains all  the time in Seattle. It’s what we’re known for.

Yesterday was kind of a trifecta – Father’s Day, First day of Summer, and longest day of the year. Someone on the radio joked about it either not being fair that Father’s Day happened to be the longest day of the year, or completely appropriate. Heh.

This week’s theme is “music with water in the title or about it (it’s the first day of Summer after all!)” – there are so many great songs with water in the title or about water, so it was a little tough trying to keep it down to a minimum, but I managed.

Let’s start off with a song that was this artist’s fifth #1, and was the cornerstone for the album it appeared on. It’s a fitting song with the lyrics:

“Let’s slip on out where it’s a little bit darker / And when it gets a little bit hotter / We’ll take it off on out in the water”

and the chorus:

“I’m a little drunk on you, and high on summertime.”

The artist said the song is about a girl that this guy is just head over heels about. It’s on of the songs that his audience always participates in and sing along to.

Give a listen to Luke Bryan with “Drunk On You”:

Next up is a track from this next group’s second major-label studio album. It also has a guest artist along for the ride, the collaboration happened as a result of a chance meeting in 2009 when they met on a camping trip and hung around a campfire. Pretty cool, no? Well, you’ll see.

They may or may not have been vacationing in Margaritaville, if you know what I mean.

The song stemmed from one of the band members’ break up where he felt he needed to just get away and find water somewhere – which initiated the first verse and melody. The music video is whacky, filmed on a private beach and includes actress Juliette Lewis as one of the characters.

I love this song with its island vibe – I’m sure you will too. Here’s Zac Brown Band featuring Jimmy Buffett with “Knee Deep”:

And because these guys have another island vibe song, they get another feature. This song was written from inspiration by one of the band members who had gone to Key West for his 30th birthday – 4 friends for 4 days and on the third day he turned to them and said:

“I’ve got my toes in the water, ass in the sand, not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand. Life is good today, life is good today.”

Even though it was the middle of the night, he decided he needed to call Zac Brown to let him know they need to write a song about it. They wrote it in pieces over a period of time, and everything fit together melodically – which obviously worked, since this particular song topped Hot Country Songs and was their second #1 in three attempts.

Without further ado, here’s Zac Brown Band (again) with “Toes”:

Next up is one of my all-time favorite artists with a song that deals with a love affair with water that began with an inflatable pool as a young boy and grew to bigger bodies of water, and eventually all the things that you can do around water that you can’t get away with anywhere else. His songs are influenced by how he sees the world through other sets of eyes as well as his own.

While he was writing this song, the artist received some advice from his wife (who I also love) to change a line to make it more ‘relatable’ – the line “grab someone who looks good in a bathing suit” was changed to “go and grab someone you want to see in a bathing suit”.

The artist has said that it’s a very good example of listening to your spouse when you’re a songwriter – his wife had told him “I like everything but that line. None of us, there isn’t a woman alive that thinks she looks good in a bathing suit.” He married a wise woman. And he’s very smart that he listens to her.

Give a listen to the inimitable Brad Paisley with “Water”:

Last but not least, you know I have to share this song again, even though I’ve done so several times. This is pretty much my water / summer dream song. And I’m really jonesin’ to get a pontoon boat since we’re back in the Pacific Northwest with plenty of bodies of water to play in. And motorboat in.

Fun Fact: At the 2013 ACM Awards, Little Big Town was asked if they were concerned about the title. They weren’t, until they went to London and realized the people there really had no idea what a pontoon is. For the members of the band, they grew up on pontoons and on the lake, so they didn’t think about the fact that pontoons aren’t everywhere.

Here’s my favorite summertime / water song, Little Big Town with “Pontoon”:

 

That’s a wrap for this week – have a great Monday!

Now on to the particulars of Monday’s Music Move’s Me:

I have the supreme honor and privilege of being a co-host with the inimitable Xmas Dolly and our musical cohorts, Callie from JAmericanSpice, and Naila Moon from Just the Stuff Ya Know.

Want to join in the fun? It’s easy – just find a tune that rocks your boat, post it and link up – don’t forget to grab Xmas Dolly…er, um, I mean her button…over at her place here. Check out Xmas Dolly’s sidebar for the random themes we sport each week – and you can always ask for a specific theme of music you like, too. Check out the other music lovahs and let’s jam!