Hello my favorite Monday peeps! We here in the Pacific Northwest are in the middle of a heat wave. I know, I know, it’s supposed to rain here all the time, but it really doesn’t. But here we are, another Monday – and Monday means music! This week’s theme is simply “Mid Summer”. Alrighty then! Let’s get this mid summer party started!
Let’s start with a song that definitely fits in – I’d love to buy a boat and be out on the water to escape the heat! It’s a laid-back humorous lament about his lack of cash and the practical notion that while we all know it can’t buy true happiness, it can buy a boat.
The video features the artist crooning along in his extra-deep register and strumming on an acoustic from a makeshift stage (a YETI cooler), surrounded by friends who share the same sentiment, as he explains that money can, of course, change how people see you (in his case, “redneck” and “blue collar”), and would that be such a bad thing?
It was the artist’s fourth single release overall and the lead single from his debut studio album of the same name. The song was certified Gold by the RIAA on August 14, 2015, and Platinum on December 10, 2015.
Give a listen to Chris Janson with “Buy Me A Boat”:
Next up, is a blast from the past (80s) with a song from this English girl group. Released in 1983, it was initially a stand-alone single but was subsequently included on their self-titled second album a year later. The song reached number eight on the UK Singles Chart in 1983, and after its inclusion in the 1984 film The Karate Kid, it reached number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100. One of the singers said:
“[The song] played on the darker side (of summer songs): it looked at the oppressive heat, the misery of wanting to be with someone as the summer ticked by. We’ve all been there!”
The music video was shot primarily in the Dumbo section of New York City’s Brooklyn borough in mid-1983 during a heatwave. It opens with a shot of Manhattan in the background, including the decade-old World Trade Center.
“[It] was just an excuse to get us to the fabled city of New York for the first time. It was August, over one hundred degrees. Our HQ was a tavern under the Brooklyn Bridge, which had a ladies’ room with a chipped mirror where we had to do our makeup.”
After an exhausting morning shooting in the city in brutal August heat, the band returned to the tavern for lunch. They made the acquaintance of some local dockworkers, who, upon learning of their situation, shared vials of cocaine with them (they had never tried the drug before).
“That was our lunch. When you watch that video, we look really tired and miserable in the scenes we shot before lunch, and then the after-lunch shots are all euphoric and manic.”
Give a listen to Bananarama with “Cruel Summer”:
Next up is a song that’s perfect during this midsummer heat we’re currently having! This favorite country superstar keeps the dark clouds and anxiety far out of reach in the video for his song from 2020, filmed during his annual Crash My Playa festival in Mexico. His mom and wife both make an appearince in the video. The artist said his mom almost backed out of the video at the last minute:
“My mom calls me that morning and she’s like, ‘Oh, I’m under the weather. I’m tired. I don’t want to come down here and do the video.’ She shows up and when the lights, camera, action — when the cameras roll—she’s dancing on barstools, table tops, getting on people’s shoulders. She knows how to turn on the charm.”
Apparently people have taken to sending him three margaritas and a shot of tequila if they see him at a restaurant—because of this song:
“I’m like, ‘Guys, I appreciate the sentiment and the gesture, but I don’t really need to black out here at me and my wife’s go-to restaurant.’ People expect me to just down three margaritas and take a shot of tequila and just hop in the car and start ramming cars as I fly out of the parking lot.”
Get ready to dance, here’s Luke Bryan with “One Margarita”:
Last but certainly not least, this is the time of year when the fact that life is short becomes all too palpable for parents. People all over the country are looking at their graduates as they head off to college and ask, “How did it go by so fast?” This award-winning Christian singer/songwriter wrestles with those emotions in his poignant new song.
“It’s like a prayer for family. Don’t stop praying for your family. Don’t stop praying for your kids. It’s not written in the form of a prayer. It’s more written in a form of just that aching feeling you get as time flies by before your eyes, and you wish you could get it back. It’s about making most of the time you get with them.”
About the inspiration for this song, he said:
“I talk a lot about the power of story, but this song is literally written in real time in the exact chapter of the story that our family is in right now. It’s graduation time. My oldest daughter is getting ready to graduate from high school, and my wife and I are both just in our feelings about that.
We’re dealing with all the heart feelings and emotions of, like, ‘Wow! How fast did it go? This is unbelievable.’ We just had her graduation party last night. We’re cleaning up after the party today — I can’t believe how fast it’s gone.”
A conversation inspired the song’s title with another father as they were musing about the passing of time.
“When you measure time in different forms, it can highlight the brevity of life,” he says. “I was having a conversation with another dad, and he said, ‘Yeah, I heard it said once that we only have 18 summers. When you think about it, not as 18 years, but 18 summers, it all of a sudden it feels so much smaller and so finite.
I thought ’18 Summers’ was a great title for a song. So as I was thinking about my daughter getting close to graduation, that title kept popping up to me. Right now is the perfect time for me to write that message, because that’s what I’m living.”
Get ready for major goosebumps – and you might want to have some tissues ready while you’re at it – here’s Matthew West with “18 Summers”:
That’s a wrap for this week – have a great Monday! See you on the dance floor!
Now, onto the particulars of Monday’s Music Moves Me: 
I have the supreme honor and privilege of being a co-host with the inimitable Xmas Dolly and our musical cohort, the awesome Cathy from Curious as a CAThy, and Alana of Ramblin’ with AM!
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!
The heat waves are pretty much world-wide, at least in the Northern Hemisphere. Our A/C is working overtime these days. 🥵 Thanks for the “cool” summer tunes. Bananarama was a blast from the past and Luke Bryan is always fun! 🙂 Thanks for co-hosting the 4M party and have a great week. 🍹
Summer is really flying by!
Oh yeah, what a flash back to the 80s with Bananarama! Great song pick!! I can relate to Matthew West’s lyrics, like you and most of your readers. The passage of time truly is like blink of the eye. My babies have babies of their own. How wild is that? Have a boogietastic week, darlin’ Stacy. xo
Good tunes this week!
Two favorites here – Cruel Summer, which I haven’t heard in a long time, and 18 Summers, which was new to me. What an emotional song and it’s so, so true.
You have some great tunes and I like how you always talk about what inspired you to use them.