The song was a collaboration between John Sebastian, The Lovin Spoonful’s bassist Steve Boone, and the frontman’s brother (and non-group member) Mark Sebastian. John Sebastian recalled to Uncut magazine June 2014: “That song that came from an idea my brother Mike had. He had this great chorus, and the release was so big. I had to create some kind of tension at the front end to make it even bigger. That’s where that jagged piano part comes from.”
“Steve contributed the middle eight, which I thought sounded like Gershwin, so we hired a radio sound effects engineer to come in with records of horns and traffic, a real New York City thing.”
(source)
The Lovin’ Spoonful: “Summer In The City”
Hot town, summer in the city
Back of my neck gettin’ dirt-‘n’-gritty
Bend down, isn’t it a pity
Doesn’t seem to be a shadow in the city
All around people lookin’ half dead
Walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match-head
{Refrain}
But at night it’s a different world
Go out and find a girl
Come on, come on and dance all night
Just bide the heat, it’ll be all right
And babe, don’t you know it’s a pity
The days can’t be like the nights
In the summer in the city, in the summer in the city
Cool town, evening in the city
Dressed so fine and looking so pretty
Cool cat, looking for a kitty
Gonna look in every corner of the city
‘Til I’m wheezing like a bus stop
Runnin’ upstairs, gonna meet you on the roof top
The Lovin’ Spoonful in 2014!
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