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My Gen X Playlist: Summer Breeze – Seals and Croft

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I am a fan of Going Down the Road and Feeling Grand. It chronicles a wife and husband’s life on the road to explore this magnificent country. They’ve been traveling in an airstream for the past five years. So cool. Recently, they decided to put a pause on their nomadic life and set down roots. As she decompresses to the idea of life not on the road, she reflects on the shift from letting go of owning things to looking forward to the simple comforts of life.

For the past five years I’ve been touting the philosophy that experiences are more important than things. That being in nature makes a more meaningful impact on selfhood than being in a house. That things are just things. Well, here I am thinking about things again. Heck, I’m even thinking fondly of some the things I manically rid myself of leading up to getting on the road. It’s a very strange feeling.

To help simplify this, I’m making a list of these things I’m looking forward to. Small things, experiential things, things that may not happen, random things I’m looking forward to.

As I was reading her list, I thought about how seasons change. What we sought out in the past changes the older we get. 50 Happens also created a list when she passed a milestone in life. Sometimes it takes me a few times reading about something before it eventually sinks in.

I enjoyed both lists enough to create one of my own. Here is my list of things that have faded with age.

  • Wanting to backpack through third world countries on a shoestring budget. Am I a wimp because I want AC and running water?
  • Avoiding doctor and dentist visits. To be honest, I still want to avoid the dentist, but I don’t.
  • Craving midnight runs for burgers and fries. I’m nostalgic for the thought of it, but I leave it right there.
  • Climbing the corporate ladder. There are trade offs that you make while climbing that are no longer worth it as you get older.
  • Getting an MBA. Turns out, I didn’t need one. But I’ve been thinking about returning to school for a more interesting pursuit.
  • Being able to bounce back after a hangover. No can do.
  • Never asking for help. I still struggle with this one a bit – but it’s no longer never.
  • Charging everything to a credit card and worrying about the fallout later. It’s too easy to fall into this trap.
  • Thinking that time is limitless. Time changes as you get older. It suddenly goes into warp speed and there’s nothing you can do to slow the mother fucker down.
  • Believing that everything is always black and white. I’ve learned life is full of different shades of grey. It takes a little living before you learn this one.
  • Being too busy to take care of my health. I used to say there will be plenty of time for that later. Funny how later sneaks up and passes you by.
  • Not having a sweet tooth. Man, I love sweets now. I have no idea when that switch was flipped.
  • Living life without empathy. This wasn’t intentional. Empathy is something I gained through many of life’s ups and downs. I call it the silver lining of surviving F’ed up moments.

I’m sure there is more to add to the list. But it’s a good start. What do you have in your list? I’d love to know.

Thinking about seasons, I’m reaching way back into the 70’s with Summer Breeze. It’s as yacht rock as it gets. I’m not afraid to admit that I liked it as a little kid. And I had no idea what the heck they were singing about back then, mostly because a seven year old kid has no concept of metaphors. Spoil alert: it’s not about summer breezes at all.

Jim Seals spoke about the meaning of the song, which surprisingly is actually not about a summer breeze at all! Shocker! Trying to create an image in the mind of listeners, the band explained how they focused on the summer blooming flower, Jasmine. The flower was used as a metaphor to show “contentment and harmony.” In 1975, Seals additionally spoke about the song to Melody Maker saying that it was, “A very simple song about a man coming home from work and hearing the dog barking and things like that, and to a lot of people, the song’s about looking for security.’

Rare

That sounds like something that never falls off any list, no matter the season. Makes me want to wrap it around me like a warm comforting blanket. Gotta love yacht rock.

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For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

See the curtains hangin' in the window
In the evenin' on a Friday night
A little light a-shinin' through the window
Lets me know everything's alright

Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind
Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind

See the paper layin' on the sidewalk
A little music from the house next door
So I walked on up to the doorstep
Through the screen and across the floor

Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind
Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind

Sweet days of summer, the jasmine's in bloom
July is dressed up and playing her tune
And I come home from a hard day's work
And you're waiting there, not a care in the world

See the smile a-waitin' in the kitchen
Food cookin' and the plates for two
Feel the arms that reach out to hold me
In the evening when the day is through

Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind
Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind

24 thoughts on “My Gen X Playlist: Summer Breeze – Seals and Croft”

  1. Ahhh…that song immediately relaxes me as I close my eyes and imagine floating in a swimming pool on a hot summer’s day.

    I love your list. I agree that times speeds up as you age. This week I found myself trying to calculate what percentage of my life I have left to live. Maybe 25%? I feel a renewed urge to get busy and do those things that I’ve put off until later. Later may never come.

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  5. I have a strong connection with this song, beginning with my disliking it very much until it was sung in lovely ways to me over the course of a few years until finally, I loved it again. 🙂

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  7. I’m going for a third try on commenting here. A) I may be the only person around who really does not like Yacht Rock. I spent my high school years listening to the Grateful Dead, and that set me on a music path away from pop, I guess. I do enjoy your posts, though, the personal and the musical weaving. B) How exciting you’re thinking of going back to school! Spill the beans, please.

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    1. I grew up with yacht rock on the radio. Mom’s choice of the radio station of course. We didn’t have a choice! Music just grows on you when you hear it enough.

      I’ve been thinking about getting another degree. Nothing too fancy or intense. Something interesting. Maybe begin that when I retire, or possibly start now with a class or two at the local community college. I miss school. Or maybe I miss the my college days. I’m not sure how I’ll do taking a class. It’s been decades since I’ve stepped into a classroom.

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      1. Hey, my mom listened to a lot of John Denver, and I know the words to every dang song of his.

        I don’t know what your original degree is in, but I really enjoyed my humanities degree … a diverse bunch of subjects teaching me the basics of world history, religion, philosophy, but all in all: how to think. Not that I’m a big thinker now! But my point is that a “useless” degree can be quite fulfilling.

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      2. I’m a John Denver fan because we grew up listening to him because of my mom. I feel you on that one.

        My degree was in finance. One regret is that I didn’t take too many interesting classes in college – I focused mainly on business and finance classes. Humanities sounds interesting. I may have to look into that.

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      3. While hiking through Colorado National Monument I really wanted to sing “The Eagle and the Hawk” at the top of my lungs. We were looking for golden eagles though and I would have scared any away long before they were near. But dude, all those who see me and all who believe in me share in the freedom I feel when I fly.

        Seriously, if you ever need a humanities pep talk, ping me.

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  8. Life has too many shades of grey, there is always a dilemma, moral or otherwise with anything life.

    You’ve made a great list. I’d have to see if time allows me to think up anything or the memory works 😅

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