Clearance Items

Good day, sunshine! Well it turns out that the little red-headed girl with the blank white eyes was right. The sun actually will come out tomorrow. So with that short burst of condensed Spring (just add water - lots and lots of water) finally behind us, we can now get on with our infernal business. With things (and temperatures) looking up, I thought I’d offer a slightly cheerier soundtrack than my last deluvian-themed one. And with that… let there be more light!

1. Utah Saints, “Sun”
Warming up, the new day dawns with a short intro featuring the chopped-and-screwed voice of Michael Stipe.

2. The Beatles, “Here Comes The Sun / The Inner Light (transition)”
This version is from the “Love” album, and has some of the best lyrics ever written equating change in emotion to change in the seasons.

3. The Main Ingredient, “Summer Breeze”
A soulful version of the lite-rock classic, this features what may be the coolest non-Ferrell-related use of cowbell ever.

4. Sublime feat. The Pharcyde, “Doin’ Time (Marshall Arts remix)”
Kind of obvious, especially coming from me - so I tried to give you a version you may not have heard. And in fact Pharcyde’s lyrics are much more about hot fun in the summertime than the original version.

5. The Polyphonic Spree, “Light & Day (orchestral version)”
Here you go — nobody these days can sing about sun and happiness and lifting you up more effectively than these guys. You want inspiration? I refer you to the thirty people in orange robes right over there…

6. Sly & The Family Stone, “Hot Fun In The Summertime”
There must be some misunderstanding, there must be some kind of mistake… I mean I never knew Phil Collins was part of The Family…

7. Long Beach Dub Allstars, “Sunny Hours”
Before you roll your eyes and accuse these guys of ripping off Sublime, you should be aware that this kinda is Sublime, the post-Bradley years. After losing their singer / songwriter / guitarist, Bud (drummer) and Eric (bassist) kept tooling around with different Long Beach musicians, finally forming this loose association of artists that expanded and contracted to include members of Pharcyde, Black-Eyed Peas and J5, various punk, ska, and reggae greats past and present, but always Bud and Eric. This song was a definite attempt at wresting some of that “What I Got” success back from the 311 / Sugar Ray come-latelies. Unfortunately this never really caught on in the long run, hampered mainly by new lead singer Opie (an unabashed Bradley fan and clone) following in his idol’s footsteps a bit too closely and putting the whole band in jeopardy all over again. Drugs and and creativity may mix well - I’m of two minds on the subject - but drugs and success rarely cohabitate well.

8. Blind Melon, “No Rain (Ripped Away version)”
And finally we have a reminder that we here in New England really just need to have the weather to complain about - otherwise we’d often just have nothing to talk about. So the clouds lift, the sun shines, and after a few days of basking, we’re right onto complaining that we miss the cool rain. Oh well. Other darker songs that didn’t quite make it onto here were Lamb’s “Till The Clouds Clear”, which compares repressed emotion to a gathering storm, and Regina Spektor’s “Summer In The City”, in which she laments how being surrounded by scantily-clad sun worshipers just makes her miss her love even more. Both fine songs but not quite sunny enough for this playlist. Anyway, remember if you don’t like the music just wait five minutes…

Download: Utah Saints, “Sun” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Beatles, “Here Comes The Sun / The Inner Light (transition)” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Main Ingredient, “Summer Breeze” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Sublime feat. The Pharcyde, “Doin’ Time (Marshall Arts remix)” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: The Polyphonic Spree, “Light & Day (orchestral version)” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Sly & The Family Stone, “Hot Fun In The Summertime” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Long Beach Dub Allstars, “Sunny Hours” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)

Download: Blind Melon, “No Rain (Ripped Away version)” (mp3)
(Right-click/control-click link to download)