Canadian summer is a season to sing about

Dean Brody ran down the lawn in his bare feet in 2020, with Canadian Summer, name-dropping the Hip, Blue Rodeo, an Iced Capp, Muskoka pines, a loon and a lakeside camp party, all on July 1. It was a followup to his equally into-the-black song from 2012, Canadian Girl, which invoked a character who watched HNIC and Degrassi, and knows how to put on skates. Photo by John White /John White Photography

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It may feel lazy to include Summer of ‘69 and Canadian Summer among the best song choices for long nights on lantern-lit patios.

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But lazy is standard operating procedure from spring to fall. Just ask the James Barker Band, who captured the vibe in 2017s Lawn Chair Lazy: “Watchin that ice disappear peer peer” with a “beer beer beer.” 

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With summer just 72 sweltering hours away, let’s dive into some of the most seasonal CanCon available.

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Dean Brody ran down the lawn in his bare feet in 2020, with Canadian Summer, name-dropping the Hip, Blue Rodeo, an Iced Capp, Muskoka pines, a loon and a lakeside camp party, all on July 1. It was a followup to his equally into-the-black song from 2012, Canadian Girl, which invoked a character who watched HNIC and Degrassi, and knows how to put on skates.

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But can she make lemonade? Because since Patio Lanterns, every Canuck has known nervous girls and nervous boys at coming-of-age parties drink a lot of it. And no Canadian party is really on until you get the Kim Mitchell going: Sounds synonymous with Caesars, s’mores and sitting under the stars.

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In 2004, The Tragically Hip let us in on the travails of touring on In Between Evolution with the upbeat yet morose Summer’s Killing Us, saying “it’s sing, sing, sing all day. “Summer exists in a doorway/Summer exists at the fair/Summer is forever changes/ Summer’s taken me unaware.”

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We had no idea.

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Madeline Merlo of Maple Ridge, B.C. sang about sunny days in Motel Flamingo, another listy twanger from 2017, and can’t help but bring you and nine of your best friends along for a summertime stay at a Canadian staple on its way into antiquity: A “$49.99” room with a lime green pool to cool off in (and a radio for blasting the Hip).

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We finish with an honorary mention. When CBC set out to find Canada’s ultimate summer song in 2019, they used a March Madness-inspired bracket that saw Brian Adam’s smash Summer of ‘69, which turned 41 about a month ago, rise to the top. It left such hot-weather humdingers as Steal My Sunshine by Len and Justin Bieber’s Sorry in the dust.

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Here’s the thing: It’s not about summer, or the dawn of the 1970s.

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“It’s a very simple song about looking back on the summertime and making love,” Adams said according to American Songwriter. “For me, the ’69 was a metaphor for making love, not about the year. I had someone in Spain ask me once why I wrote the first line ‘I had my first real sex dream …’ I had to laugh.”

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