Friday on My Mind: Songs to Ring in Spring!

The Morning Show w/ John Richards
03/22/2013
John Richards
The Flaming Lips not only "Can't Stop the Spring", they welcome it!
photo by Jim Bennett

It’s time again for Friday on My Mind, our weekly blog post where we look at videos centered around one common theme. This is a collaborative effort between KEXP and King 5 News. At 7:02AM this past Wednesday, Spring officially arrived, so this week we’re looking at songs to ring in the Spring season.

Nothing says Spring like torrential rain and blustering wind, which is exactly what Seattle experienced the very first day of Spring this year. Besides Seattle’s rain and wind, other cities around the country have seen as much as 16 inches of snow within recent days and weather experts all around are reporting that Winter conditions are far from over.

So here are a few songs that will hopefully help conjure up some Spring weather for those of us who are desperately in need...

Elvis Presley - Spring Fever

Get your surf board out and get your Spring break partying on in Elvis style. The 1965, Elvis beach caper Girl Happy includes the song “Spring Fever” sung by Elvis and Shelley Fabares as they drive along beach side to Fort Lauderdale for Spring Break with their party animal friends. Come on! As Elvis says, “Get up, get out spring is everywhere”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqhdQXDGU4Y

George Harrison - Here Comes the Sun

While Spring isn’t in the lyrics or title, the George Harrison penned “Here Comes the Sun” perfectly embodies, the relief and joy of the first days of Spring after the long cold days of Winter. It’s said that Harrison wrote the song, featured on The Beatles' Abbey Road, while in Eric Clapton’s garden during a Spring day. This rendition was performed and recorded by Harrison during the Concert for Bangladesh which took place at Madison Square Garden in 1971, after the breakup of the Beatles in 1970.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWwrhUX3iTM

Simon and Garfunkel - The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)

From their 1966 album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)” is an earlier song from Simon & Garfunkel’s catalog and displays the duo at their most pop in sound. While again the lyrics don’t directly reference Spring, the feelings that are evoked from such lines as “I’ve come to watch your flowers growin’” and “Let the morning time drop all it’s petals on me”, are as Spring as it gets. Here are the they are performing the song during The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBQxG0Z72qM

Honorable Mentions:

Donna Summer - Spring Affair (performed on Soul Train)

The Queen of disco gave props to all the seasons of the year back in 1976 with the release of her concept album, Four Seasons of Love. “Spring Affair” uses Spring as a metaphor for the start of new love. And as for this video, nothing says Spring like electric blue disco pants and Soul Train.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv-dHoLgYw8

The Flaming Lips - Can’t Stop the Spring

Going back to 1987 for this one. God bless the Flaming Lips. They found a way to work images of a toilet and Pee Wee Herman into a video about the Spring.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjqNEtalhQA

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