Worst. Summer. Ever.  -author unknown

I wish summer could be all sunshine, popsicles and flip-flops, but we all know the truth.  There are bad days out there.  Sometimes the bad days have our names written all over them.  And yes, sometimes those bad days occur in the middle of summer.  Like when you friends can’t hang out, some kid vomits in the local pool, its scorching hot outside or worse- IT WON”T STOP RAINING!  Then…there’s evil humidity.  Boo.

Leave it to a rebel music icon like Eddie Cochran to write, sing and sum it all up perfectly in the song, “Summertime Blues.”  If they say, “expectation is the root of all heartache (Shakespeare,)” then summer expectations are the worst.  Cochran was a rising star in the late 50s and (depending on sources) co-wrote this Billboard Top 100 song about being broke, working all the time, and life as an overlooked youth.  Ouch!  Still, this upbeat, rockabilly favorite has become a summer anthem for a number of generations.  Originally a B-side single, “Summertime Blues” has been covered countless times and in a variety of musical genres.  Cochran was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 and his song is ranked number 73 in Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.  His untimely death further cemented his legacy as a rock-n-roll legend.

I’m pretty sure I came across the song via pop culture…most likely though the 80s comedy, Caddyshack and especially the biopic, La Bamba (love, love that movie.)  Now it’s a permanent fixture on my summer music playlist.  Cochran’s guitar and the juxtaposition of such a cheery-sounding song with the teen angst expressed in the lyrics…it’s just so relatable.  And you can’t beat that hand clapping!

UP NEXT:  Song 15…”vacation, all I ever wanted….”