Expecting Rain

The MEZ is not sure why this was one of least favs off L & T for quite some time. I have now come around to liking it very much. I think it goes over well live. The song has such a retro feel to it, which I love. Others opinions, fav renditions, posts, etc etc. The MEZ now really digs Summer Days!! MEZ

I fell in love with the album the first time I heard

She's looking into my eyes, she's holding my hand
She's looking into my eyes, she's holding my hand
She says, "You can't repeat the past." I say, "You can't? What do you mean, you can't? Of course you can."

By every indication, the last line there is set up to hold 12 syllables.

And he fills that space with TWENTY-TWO.

It is a classic Dylan technique, and maybe the best example of it, ever.

And he quotes an American classic along the way!
I read The Great Gatsby after "Love and theft" was released and that phrase really made me laugh while reading it. This was before the internet pervaded my world so much that I would know about Dylan's "borrowings" before actually hearing the song.

LJ makes a good point, I love that line! Its a good song on the album but I think it was better live back in the early 00s. They really rocked the joint every time they played it. The studio one feels a bit...restrained. I mean, its great, its very tight but when he let his old band rock out for 10 minutes it was so fun to listen to.

siruso

i love summer days and in particular that line too. reminds me of the first line of 'cry a while' and the 'barron field' (tbh it could be 'battle field' i haven't actually read the lyrics ) line in LDB

the 'caddilac car' part is great too

also, having recently read the great gatsby, it strikes me that all the verses generally hold up to the idea that the dylan is singing this from the perspective of a gatsby-type charachter.

As I said in antother threard. This is THE line that got me hooked on Dylan.

And the whole album, and Dylan's career in 2001, exists in the tension between the pull of two lines on that record:

On "Mississippi" when he sings:

Well, the emptiness is endless, cold as the clay
You can always come back, but you can't come back all the way

And on "Summer Days":

She says, "You can't repeat the past." I say, "You can't? What do you mean, you can't? Of course you can."

I can't understand why a lot of people seem to consider this a throw-away track, I for one love it and I think it's a good example of what Dylan's been up to the past 10 or so years.

I'd love to hear some NET experts about what the actual best version of this song is, as I seem to love all the 2002 and 2003 version I've heard (but I'm no NET expert at all, so I wouldn't know which versions are regarded as the best).

I do know I love this one though:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0QHgQEu-ZM

This one's got great phrasing, but unfortunately it lacks the awesome instrumental section: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLdx5kzRE9Q

Good one.

[I would too... maybe they could record a Christmas album?]

A great song, one of my all-time favourites.

I love most of the live performances, especially those since 2005.

for example:
Portland, 12.3.2005
http://www.sendspace.com/file/5iltpt

East Rutherford, 16.11.2006
http://www.sendspace.com/file/a2nq8m

and especially this one from Salzburg, 11.6.2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbKK3yOpnPA

What about "As great as you are you'll never be greater than yourself"? He seems obsessed on L&T with whether or not he can be 'great' again.

Fantastic live version:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/tdlo1c

From Fairfax, Virginia, November 22, 2002. Charlie's final show (his first tenure) has that kind of special energy.

Nice versions posted, thanks from The MEZ!!!! MEZ

One more, from Oeiras, Portugal, 11.7.2008.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/n44o8i

The sound of the recording (soomlos of course) is excellent and here it's possible to hear how good Freeman and Kimball are playing together (although there are so far away from each other on the stage). I don't know who plays what but what they are doing is wonderful. It's completely different from the original. I really love the 2002 versions with Campbell and Sexton (and also the rocking "Summer Days" with Koella in 2003) but this is at least as good. I presume they improvised that without much rehearsing because they used play (often strikingly) different instrumental parts in every show.

"The demon of intemperance ever seems to have delighted in sucking the blood of genius and of generosity."
Lincoln's Temperance Address, Springfield, Illinois, February 22, 1842.

My third favorite song off of Love & Theft.

After listening to everything posted here & also some of my own, i must confess I totally agree with TruthIsObscure that the song at its best was with the last band as opposed to the previous ones. Not every night however. As I've said before, the Freeman/ Kimball combo for me was always erratic, but when they were allowed to take the song away from Bob, Denny always stunningly came through. Mostly because a song like Summer Days sounds more like his kind of Chuck Berry playing than a lot of Bob's songs more traditional fare. Those concise and controlled solos could really go to wild places when Bob would let the band tear this song loose. And Bob sounds in much better voice and has been more inventive with the song in these recent years than back in the day and I'll stand by that.
That's why I'm so psyched about the new combo combining the best of the old with the sound of the new.
To all that care, that 2006 E. Rutherford version is awesomely crazy. Bob sounds incredible, but the guitars sound very different there, like someone was on a loud acoustic and Denny's solo is just mind-blowing.

My personal favorite is a monstrous version from Christchurch New Zealand 2007. The interplay between them all is perfectly tuned, set off by an extended intro, but it's the way Bob sings it this time that really does it for me with this one. You just have to hear it to get it.

August 8 2007

http://www.sendspace.com/file/fi1v12

Great example of the awesome lyrics on this album and great vocal delivery

My problem with TTL is that it has nothing like this...

Love the song. Great music. Different for Dylan. Fun but clever lyrics.

Everything about this song speaks of fun and brilliance. Watching them play it live is a real treat.

First time I heard SD live the band cooked...
all part of the brilliance that is L&T

I too read the Great Gatsby after hearing this song and I found the two to be excellent bed fellows. Summer days seems to encapsulate so many aspects of that novel. Its partly the 30s style, partly the lyrics and partly the attitude. Moonlight and Bye and Bye among others also sit comfortably alongside the mood of the novel. My appreciation of Dylan's achievement on that album grew considerably after reading it. I suddenly had a context that highlighted the nuances I had missed previously. It was already one of my favourite albums, but reading that book somehow allowed me to see it from dylan's perspective.

I think Koella owned this song and considering the original features Sexton that's pretty impressive.



Also different album, but same decade

"You think I'm ove the hill, think I'm past my prime"
From Spirit On The Water

It's a great song....off his greatest album.

Dig LJ too....yes, Dylan & his syllables.

I think he learned that little trick from Chuck B.

& it does rock live - I know a local band who do it & it's a high point in their set.

i was there. my favorite of the Dylan shows i've been to. Bob dropped to his knees while playing guitar. it was wild and i was dancing my ass off!

-justin

Hey good folk, would you check out my band's new version of Summer Days?
I love this song!!!!

http://www.sendspace.com/file/ktxpkj

Thanks y'all!!

Here's a Youtube of my drunken version!
Hope you enjoy it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TREJgeDZA3s