A children's song about the joys of being a 9 year old boy in the summer
Singer songwriter, mostly acoustic folk and folk rock, with some 50's and 60's style rock included.
The band is all me, Famous Patrick, with occassional help from my wife on bass and keys, or an assortment of friends, all of whom are more talented than myself.
Story behind the song
This song was written for the Home Made Hit Show song challenge: to write a song by August 10, 2008 with the theme of "Summer."
I had been meaning to write a song about my 9 year old grandson, and have been trying to get information from him about what he likes to do, who his friends are, etc. However, when I asked him directly, I got a lot of, "I dunno"; I got more info from him by just listening to what he was saying when he was talking about other things.
I started putting the song together, but found I still had gaps in my data, so I called his dad to get the names of his friends as well as any other inside info.
I had one lyric idea that I thought I could build the song around. Something about how a kid's job is having fun and a kid's work is never done. I spent a couple of weeks writing the song around this phrase, but I could never make it fit without sounding like some clever fluff that was tacked on. I guess it sounded too adult, and I was trying to write from the viewpoint of a 9 year old boy. There is a saying in fiction writing; something like, "you have to kill your children." This means that if something isn"t working in your story, you have to cut it, no matter how much you like it. Once I gave up on that line, the song came together pretty quickly.
My idea for recording it was to have it sound like an old skiffle song, ala Lonny Donnegan, or like the Lovin' Spoonful jug band stuff. I think I came as close as I can with the skill and equipment I have at hand. If I had more time, I would have done some more work on the vocals, perhaps some harmony, and changed the lyrics slightly in each chorus. Still, I am happy with the result, and I hope you enjoy listening to it.
Lyrics
SumSumSummertime
Verse 1:
Summertime is too much fun 'cause there's too much to do
There's baseball, soccer, basketball or going to the zoo
There's swimming in the lake or pool or at the water park
Or we can play in my backyard until it gets too dark.
And even if it's raining out there's lots of indoor fun
My friends and I play Yu-Gi-Oh or sometimes Pokemon.
Chorus:
Summertime I ride my bike and find a tree to climb
Kick a ball and ride my scooter with some friends of mine
Brennan, Steve and Nathan know that there's no funner time
Than the sum-sum-summer, summa-rumma-lummer,
Sum-sum-summertime.
Verse 2:
Summer is my favorite time because we don't have school
Today my friends and I are going to the swimming pool
And I'll be pirate captain Maxwell jumping off the ship
I can hold my breath and do an underwater flip
Now I'm a shark and you're the fish and I will catch you all
And just before we leave I'll do a high dive cannonball
Chorus
Verse 3:
This weekend we will camp and swim and fish out on the lake
Last year in the woods I found a dead squirrel and a snake EEEWW!
And dad said we could have a fire tonight when it gets cold
And he said I could build my own if I do what I'm told
Then maybe we can make some s'mores and I can feed the fire
And I don't have to go to sleep until I get too tired
Chorus
Chorus
The sum-sum-summer, summa-rumma-lummer,
Sum-sum-summertime.
The sum-sum-summer, summa-rumma-lummer,
Sum-sum-summertime.
