Sunday, March 7, 2010
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tuneage:

Beat Happening - “Indian Summer”

Let’s set aside for a moment all the baggage and connotations of the term “twee” and just listen to “Indian Summer”. Musically, the song consists of a simple drumbeat, a few guitar notes and Calvin’s distinctive booming voice. This kind of pop earnestness is a hallmark of twee’s anyone-can-play ethos. The song is about the final days of a perfect pastoral summer. The lyrics play a highlight reel of idyllic delights—motorbike to cemetery, picnic on wild berries, French toast with molasses—but it’s advanced nostalgia. “We’ll come back for Indian Summer,” Calvin confidently pronounces, echoing a million unfulfilled summer-camp pacts.

The simple, unfussy instruments and Calvin’s affecting vocals perfectly suit the song—and perhaps it’s personal: What’s at stake in the song is not a place-and-time but innocence itself as the summer gives way to the cold complexities and the work and worry of the Real World. That “Indian Summer” is twee’s greatest hit is no surprise; it dramatizes the genre’s greatest anxiety: The moment when the earnest musical escape ends and we have to grow up and go our separate ways.

BTW I’m presently counting down the top songs of the 80’s on my regular music tumblr, and this is number 17.

98 notes Reblogged from tuneage

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  1. imitateacatpuking reblogged this from iloveelvisiloooveelvis
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  3. limbsdisjointed reblogged this from iloveelvisiloooveelvis and added:
    Indian Summer // Beat Happening
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  13. hexproof reblogged this from veeka and added:
    beat happening - indian summer great song
  14. blondesnotbombs reblogged this from matthewedwards and added:
    Re-blog Beat Happening? Always. veeka:postpunk:
  15. matthewedwards reblogged this from veeka and added:
    Not enough Beat Haps on tumblr.
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