I haven’t written one of these in SUCH a long time, but here goes…
I have probably been aware of this track since at least 1984, if not since its release in 1982. It has been a long favourite.
That unmistakable guitar riff of Charlie’s, and those amazingly picturesque and romantic lyrics of Jim’s, combined with those choral key notes of Mick MacNeil’s. I am stunned it didn’t chart better than it did, being the third single off New Gold Dream. It should have charted better than Glittering Prize. I love Glittering Prize, but SSIS is a stronger track. Whosever decision it was on the track listing for NGD must have agreed as it was the album’s opener.
And speaking of opening…usually when performed live, it is started with Charlie’s intro solo that you hear on the extended version of the song (the 12″ single version, not the album version). My partner and I tend to have a giggle at this due to the crowd’s reaction. We recognise it from the solo. It never usually receives a spoken introduction from Jim…the first signal is Charlie’s solo…but the crowd never seem ready for it. Perhaps it is one of two things: a) The crowd KNOW what it is but want to hear Charlie’s solo, or: b) What me and the OH have a giggle over…that they are genuinely clueless (surely not???!!) and that’s why the cheers and applause start AFTER Charlie’s solo.
The OH and I find much mirth in watching live performances.
Queue Charlie’s solo: the OH and I take up roles as two fans in the crowd “Hmmm. What’s this song? I don’t recognise it! What do you think it is?”
“I don’t know, but Charlie sounds great. I’m not sure I’ve heard it before.”
Song goes into main guitar riff: (us in unison) “OH MY GOD! It’s this one!! Duh!!! Lol”
Lol. We do this nearly every time. We even shared a wry look to each other at Cambridge. Our silly little running “in joke” between us.
It has always been a very visual song for me. I have seen this “cinematic” effect to this song for YEARS.
Simple Minds, last year, in May (if memory serves) announced a search for a visual artist/movie maker/director to storyboard a concept for a video for SSIS. Despite it being New Gold Dream’s third single, a video for it was never made.They were, at last, going to make one, and have it tie in with the release of the NGD box set that was set for release last July.
I looked into it. I wanted to submit my ideas and perhaps storyboard it and see how far I got. But you needed to be subscribed and be a member of this Creative Commons site and it cost money to subscribe (about £10 a month). I really considered it but decided I’d probably not get anywhere and waste my money. My OH is a videographer and ran her own business for 15 years. I helped her in the latter years, being an editor, but neither of us had any directorial experience. It all felt very “pie in the sky”.
There was a £2,500 budget on offer. We could have done a lot with that.
Anyway, I knocked the idea on the head quickly, thinking there’d be experienced people submitting ideas…but perhaps no one did…because nothing came of it. The idea seemed to be shelved. I was looking forward to seeing what was going to be made, and if it would match the storyboard I’ve had in my head for at least the past 25 years…if not longer.
It’s these lines I could visualise most:
Stay
I’m burning slow
With me in the rain
Walking in the soft rain
Calling out my name
See me burning slow.”
They are just some of the most beautiful lines in a song. Ever. And I have thought that since LONG before being an uber Minds fan…and LONG before wishing to be the subject of those lines and actually picturing Jim with them.
Those lines speak “stay with me, be by my side, I adore you…let’s smoulder in the rain together!”
Jim Kerr – you romantic bugger! It’s Wordsworth! It’s Shelley!
And then there are lines that almost juxtapose that sentiment. Love is yet to be found…
“Somewhere there is some place that one million eyes can’t see.
And somewhere there is someone who can see what I can see.
Someone
Somewhere
In summertime.”
But there is something all inclusive in those lines. It’s no longer just a couple…lovers…it’s… “You’re not alone, because I see what you see. You’ll never be alone because there is at least one person who sees the same as you.”
Isn’t that the most beautiful thing you’re ever heard?!
I almost can’t talk of the musicality of the song, but I will try my best. (It’s almost like there’s too much poetry to it. It is too lyrically stunning…the music for this song almost becomes a byproduct.) Seeing as the melody and music usually starts first with any SM song, there was obviously poetry that Jim heard in the musical structure of it.
Jim rarely wrote like that then, with a poetic structure to the lyrics. His lyrics were so fragmented and never really followed strict verse and chorus structures. It’s partly what makes him as a lyricist SSOO fascinating.
Oh, yeah…I was meant to be talking about its musicality. Shit. Lol.
What can I say? A Burchill/MacNeil gem. Complimentary to each other, as usual…they intersect in such a lush way. They sound like they’re playing several instruments, not just guitar and keyboards. Layers. An aural palette of endless colour combinations. Adding to the richness of the colour I see in my storyboard.
But…it’s those lyrics. Always those lyrics. And the beautiful imagery that comes with them.
And that is why I love…Someone Somewhere In Summertime.
Details of image used here – http://pin.it/6EoixMd
The image I used is not a direct image I have in my head…what I visualise…but it’s some way there.
https://youtu.be/dVQgwpfgx34