The Seasons

[Gary Sisco]

Alright, what kind are you?

I used to be a stone summer guy. Past few years, I can't get with it. Seems like there's always a high humidity, now. Last year, even after a thunderstorm, it would be as hot and humid as it was before. Might be a combination of factors like age and manual labor but I just can't dig it much anymore. It beats winter but only barely.

I've always hated winter.

Guess I'm a transitional guy, now, as I find myself digging spring and fall the most, by far.

[claude]

I'm with you Gary. Taken on it's own merits, fall is by far my favourite season but there is always the knowledge that winter is coming that taints it. Spring is always nice with the feeling of re-birth but it's quite often messy with spring runoff etc. So overall, fall is my favourite season.

[Tom Storer]

It all depends on where you live, since seasons don't feel the same everywhere. I still prefer summer, since in Paris it's rarely too hot and humid (although there are occasional extremes). Spring is very unpredictable--usually, though, it disappoints, with relatively few days you could call fine. In the fall it turns grim and gray and wet, worsening gradually into winter so that I lump the two seasons together. Winter isn't very cold: if it goes below freezing everyone is alarmed. But it's still wet and grey and miserable. So give me summertime in Paris.

[Brian Olewnick]

When I was up in Poughkeepsie, my favorite month was October. Eighty miles south, the best "month" in the last half of October/first half of November. Crisp and clear with a stiff breeze, baby.

[Gentle Giant]

Autumn, definitely. Best-smelling season, foliage, and football!

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.
Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee
With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade
And went on in sunlight...


°°°°°°°°°°°°


I like it hot, summer is my favorite. If I never see a real winter again it will be too soon.

[Doc Martin]

How like a winter hath my absence been
From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year!
What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen!
What old December's bareness everywhere!
And yet this time removed was summer's time;
The teeming autumn, big with rich increase,
Bearing the wanton burden of the prime,
Like widow'd wombs after their lords' decease:
Yet this abundant issue seem'd to me
But hope of orphans, and unfather'd fruit;
For summer and his pleasures wait on thee,
And, thou away, the very birds are mute:
Or, if they sing, 'tis with so dull a cheer,
That leaves look pale, dreading the winter's near.

[Chris D]

May is the best month for me. The apple and cherry blossoms, the possibility of spring, no mosquitoes yet, daylight savings time, school winding down, everybody a little happier in their step.

[clinthopson]

Summer f'rsure.

I like to travel in the fall because the weather is usually pretty good everywhere.

Of course, we always have perfect weather in Southern California.

[Al in NYC]

I love the autumn. From Labor Day up to the time that Brian describes (which is usually sublime). For much of my life I, and whoever wants to come with me, have taken a mid-October trip up to the Berkshires, which is always one of the highlights of my year.

I also have an abiding affection for the winter, although I much prefer the snowy, often pure sharp cold, winters of my Michigan youth to the sort of coldish soggy mess of rain in the mid-30s that we too often get here in NYC.

Spring weather can be really nice, but I'm too damn allergic to it. And after my usual June trip up to Maine it's all downhill from there. Summer in NYC is an annual torture that I just barely manage to survive.

[Dr Dave]

End of the spring and here she comes back
Hi Hi Hi Hi there
Them summer days
Those summer days

That's when I had most of my fun, back
high high high high there
Them summer days
Those summer days

I "cloud nine" when I want to
Out of school, yeah
County fair in the country sun
And everything, it's true, ooh yeah

Hot fun in the summertime
Hot fun in the summertime
Hot fun in the summertime
Hot fun in the summertime

[John P. Cooper]

Spring Isn't Everything





Written for: Summer Holiday (1948)

Sung by Walter Huston


Lyric: Ralph Blane

Music: Harry Warren

Year: 1947

Original publisher: Harry Warren Music, Inc.

---

Chorus:




Spring isn't ev'rything, it's true,

There's a lot to be said for summer,

Summer has beauty, too.

With the world full out of its shell,

You'll be caught in its sunny spell;

Oh, spring isn't ev'rything.

Spring isn't ev'rything, it's true,

There's a lot to be said for autumn,


Autumn has beauty, too.

Though the breeze may chill with its blow,

You'll be caught in its golden glow;

Oh, spring isn't ev'rything.

There's a lot to be said when winter brings

The snow to hide the heather;

Don't worry your head with what winter brings;

It's only the weather.

Spring isn't ev'rything, it's true,


Though a lot can be said when summer,

And autumn and winter sing,

If you're together, life is a golden ring;

Oh, spring isn't ev'rything.

[sonic1]

Can't believe I am saying this. But summer is my favorite. Or to be more specific, Monsoon season, which you all lack. Violent storms, torrential rain coming down in buckets, lightning shows that would put all yous to shame, thunder that cracks windows, and the desert just exploding with foliage, large insects, birds, and life in general. Any other season anywhere else is boring in comparison. Though I do miss those NE falls. And in the NW early summer is really nice.

[clinthopson]

Best season songs:

Indian Summer
Early Autumn
Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most
Summertime (Donna's favorite)
Autumn in New York

[Noj]

I love to snowboard, so it's winter for me.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with summer at the beach.

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Callin' out around the world
Are you ready for a brand new beat?
Summer's here and the time is right
For dancin' in the streets
They're dancin' in Chicago
Down in New Orleans
Up in New York City

All we need is music, sweet music
There'll be music everywhere
There'll be swingin', swayin' and records playin'
And dancin' in the streets

Oh, it doesn't matter what you wear
Just as long as you are there
So come on, every guy grab a girl
Everywhere around the world
There'll be dancin'
They're dancin' in the street

This is an invitation
Across the nation
A chance for the folks to meet
There'll be laughin' and singin' and music swingin'
And dancin' in the streets

Philadelphia, P.A. (Philadelphia, P.A.)
Baltimore and DC now (Baltimore and DC now)
Yeah don't forget the Motor City (can't forget the Motor City)

[Tom Storer]

Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most
Lyrics: Fran Landesman


Once I was a sentimental thing,
Threw my heart away each Spring;
Now a Spring romance hasn't got a chance
Promised my first dance to Winter;
All I've got to show's a splinter for my little fling!

Spring this year has got me feeling like a horse that never left the post;
I lie in my room, staring up at the ceiling,
Spring can really hang you up the most.

Morning's kiss wakes trees and flowers,
And to them I'd like to drink a toast;
I walk in the park just to kill lonely hours,
Spring can really hang you up the most.

All afternoon those birds twitter twit,
I know the tune, "This is love, this is it!"
Heard it before and I know the score,
And I've decided that Spring is a bore!

Love seemed sure around the New Year,
Now it's April, love is just a ghost;
Spring arrived on time, only what became of you, dear?
Spring can really hang you up the most.
Spring can really hang you up the most.

Spring is here, there's no mistaking
Robins building nests from coast to coast;
My heart tries to sing so they won't hear it breaking,
Spring can really hang you up the most.

College boys are writing sonnets,
In the tender passion they're engrossed;
But I'm on the shelf with last year's Easter bonnets,
Spring can really hang you up the most.

Love came my way, I hope it would last;
We had our day, now that's all in the past.
Spring came along a season of song,
Full of sweet promise but something went wrong.

Doctors once prescribed a tonic,
Sulphur and molasses was the dose;
Didn't help a bit, my condition must be chronic.
Spring can really hang you up the most.

All alone, the party's over,
Old man Winter was a gracious host;
But when you keep praying for snow to hide the clover,
Spring can really hang you up the most.

[John L]

Growing up in California, I never thought much about seasons. Since moving to Russia, I have come to appreciation the heart of summer. But there just isn't enough time to thaw out before the deep freeze comes again. It's only been warm here for about one week so far. My innards still feel frozen solid. Summer feels much more welcome with permifrost bones.

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

And I know I've mentioned it here at least twice, but the title of that Fran Landesman song in Tom's post is a hip paraphrase of the first line of the T.S. Bloody Eliot I quoted in post #6.

Now if somebody can find the lyrics to Fran's great song "Nice Weather For Ducks" I'd be most appreciative. Just listened to Irene Kral's version earlier tonight -- fabulous song!

[Gary Sisco]

March is the cruelest month in Vermont, not winter, not spring, but you get slammed back and forth with both. I like it, though. When March comes, you're on the downhill side of winter, even though it often brings the heaviest snows of the year. It's close enough to April so you know it's not going to last but weeks at most. April is good. May is better.

September here often brings the weather I'd hoped for most of the summer. The first part of October's also generally still warm. I like the transitional part of November when the leaves are gone and the contours of the land can be seen again, unsoftened by the leaves or foliage. There are more shades of gray than you remember being possible until you see them again. Somewhere mid-month, the first significant snow fall but it doesn't normally last until the very end of the month. The only thing that throws off November is deer season bringing its annual round of nitwits to deal with. Beautiful, though.

[Gentle Giant]

Originally Posted by clinthopson

Best season songs:

Indian Summer
Early Autumn
Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most
Summertime (Donna's favorite)
Autumn in New York

Just so happens I have an iTunes playlist on season songs, which includes:

The First Chill Of Winter 3:53 Hewerdine, Boo and Darden Smith Evidence
Winter 5:42 Amos, Tori Little Earthquakes
The Winter Tree 3:05 Renaissance Tales Of 1001 Nights-Volume II
Winterlong 3:08 Young, Neil Decade
Winter In America 6:08 Scott-Heron, Gil The Best Of
Sometimes In Winter 3:08 Blood, Sweat & Tears Blood, Sweat & Tears
Spring Is Here 8:03 DeRose, Dena Another World
It Might As Well Be Spring 3:40 King Pleasure Songs That Made The Phone Light Up
Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring (Demo) 2:35 Beach Boys Good Vibrations: Thirty Years Of The Beach Boys (Disc 1)
All Summer Long 2:07 Beach Boys Good Vibrations: Thirty Years Of The Beach Boys (Disc 1)
Summer Breeze 3:25 Seals & Crofts Greatest Hits
The Summer Wind 2:57 Sinatra, Frank The Very Good Years
Summer 4:00 War The Best Of War
Summer Soft 4:14 Wonder, Stevie Songs In The Key Of Life (Disc 1)
Summer in the City 2:40 The Lovin' Spoonful Do You Believe In Magic/Hums
Hot Fun In The Summertime 2:38 Sly & The Family Stone The Best Of Sly & The Family Stone
Summer Side Of Life 4:05 Lightfoot, Gordon Gord's Gold
Hot Summer Day 5:51 It's A Beautiful Day It's A Beautiful Day
Forever Autumn 7:44 Hayward, Justin The War Of The Worlds (Disc 1)
Autumn Leaves 5:08 Cole, Paula Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil
Autumn Almanac 3:11 The Kinks The Ultimate Collection (Disc 1)
Autumn Song 2:50 Kooper, Al Rare & Well Done


And then there's:

Winter, spring, summer, or fall
All you've got to do is call
And I'll be there, yes I will
You've got a friend