One of my musical blind spots has always been the “summer single.” I often read end-of-the-year wrap-ups in magazines such as Entertainment Weekly and Rolling Stone and see references to smash hits that inescapably poured out of boomboxes and car windows all summer and I’m at a loss, having never heard a note of any of them.
I’m the guy who’d never heard Black Eyed Peas’ ‘I Gotta Feeling’ until I was called on it earlier this year. Yes, I’m serious.
So to address that gaping hole in my cultural literacy I’ll spend the next two weeks on songs that have already been touted as this year’s big summer singles. I’ve picked these ten songs pretty much at random, culling them from lists of hot summer tunes on various websites and magazines.
This will be a first for the blog… I’m hearing these Songs of the Day for the very first time as I post them. So what you’ll get it my instant reaction to songs that, in many cases, I’ll probably wish I’d never heard.
First up is ‘California Gurls’ by Katy Perry, with a guest spot by Snoop Dogg. This is the song that shows up on every single one of these summer song lists and I suppose if one track is to earn the title of THE summer song of 2010, it will be this one.
I like it well enough. But I can’t shake the feeling that I’ve heard something almost exactly like this song before. From the opening beat to the verses and chorus, all of this sounds naggingly familiar. Is it just that it’s that sort of song, or does it actually crib from some previous hit?
Greetings loved ones
Lets take a journey
[Katy Perry]
I know a place
Where the grass is really greener
Warm, wet and wild
There must be something in the water
Sippin’ gin and juice
Laying underneath the palm trees
The boys
Break their necks
Try’na to creep a little sneak peek
(at us)
You could travel the world
But nothing comes close
To the golden coast
Once you party with us
You’ll be falling in love
Oooooh Oh Oooooh
California girls
We’re unforgettable
Daisy Dukes
Bikinis on top
Sun-kissed skin
So hot
Will melt your popsicle
Oooooh Oh Oooooh
California girls
We’re undeniable
Fine, fresh, fierce
We got it on lock
West coast represent
Now put your hands up
Oooooh Oh Oooooh
Sex on a beach
We get sand in our stilletos
We freak
And we’re cheap
So play the songs on the stereo
You could travel the world
But nothing comes close
To the golden coast
Once you party with us
You’ll be falling in love
Oooooh Oh Oooooh
California girls
We’re unforgettable
Daisy Dukes
Bikinis on top
Sun-kissed skin
So hot
Will melt your popsicle
Oooooh Oh Oooooh
California girls
We’re undeniable
Fine, fresh, fierce
We got it on lock
West coast represent
Now put your hands up
Oooooh Oh Oooooh
[Snoop Dogg]
Tone Tan
Fit and ready
Turn it up cause its gettin’ heavy
Wild wild west coast
These are the girls I love the most
I mean the ones
I mean like shes the one
Kiss her
Touch her
Squeeze her
The girls a freak
She drives a jeep
The men on the beach
I’m okay
I wont play
I love the bait
Just like I love LA
Venice beach
And Palm Springs
Summer time is everything
Come on boys
Hanging out
All that a-s
Hanging out
Bikinis, tankinis, martinis
No weenies
Just to get
In betweeny
Katy my lady
(yeah)
You looking here baby
(uh huh)
Im all up on you
Cause you representing California
(ohhh yeahh)
Meet Me In Montauk 
I got so excited when I saw you were featuring this song, as I thought I would be treated to the video. You disappoint me, my friend. But for those who want to see what I was looking forward to seeing, click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwE-SLnLkqY
I agree that the chorus is familiar. According to a google search, many feel it sounds like Ke$ha’s “Tik-Tok” Here’s the song for comparison:
When I heard Dana and the kids commenting on this video last night, little did I realize that it was Dana who had gone in search of it. I am choosing to listen to the song without the distraction of the video he has kindly supplied. I’ve heard several references to this song this summer, but this is the first time I’m hearing it from start to finish.
I feel terrible that I now think of Katy Perry as Russell Brand’s wife, but I’m going to chalk that up to the fact that I’m a bigger fan of Brand (so I don’t have to stop being a card carrying feminist). Still, I can’t help but imagine the parody song and video he would create for today’s SOTD. I like it well enough, but I tend to prefer songs that BECOME the unexpected song of the summer (or movie of the summer or read of the summer – or spring, fall or winter, for that matter) rather than ones that are unabashedly courting that title.
Everything about this song seems tailored to make it the one that is played on beaches all summer long, but I suppose the fact that it’s successfully doing just that means we’ll be experiencing deja vu summer after summer after summer.
I think in every video of Katy Perry she is weird and she rocks it. That’s her style but she’s also being attractive and I think that’s smart of her to do that because it gets more of the teen group to watch her.