Indian Summer - By Beat Happening
TITLE: Indian Summer
ARTIST: Beat Happening
GENRE: Twee / Indie / Lo-fi
MOOD: Bittersweet / Childlike
SIMILAR TO: Belle and Sebastian, The Field Mice
As the end of summer is drawing to a close and the leaves are finally beginning to redden, Beat Happening’s “Indian Summer” fits in perfectly as a final idyllic, summery tune. As one of the pioneers of the lo-fi movements, Beat Happening is an iconic band that first began performing in the 80s and is still active today. Their second album, the critically acclaimed Jamboree (1988) touches on familiar twee-pop topics, such as childhood, innocence, and love. It stands to mention that almost all of Beat Happening’s other songs on the album “Jamboree (1988)” is fairly unlistenable, full of raucous noise and indecipherable screaming. It has to be said, “Cat Walk”, “Drive Car Girl”, and “In-between” are good in a purposely butchered lo-fi way, but the only song that actually feels enjoyable and important is Indian Summer.
So what is an indian summer? An Indian summer is a period of warm, sunny, dry weather occurring during late September to mid November, that is usually uncharacteristic of the season. In literature, the term has been used as a representation of a time when someone can recover the happiness of their youth. Interpreted metaphorically, it can be understood as the final attempt to preserve childhood, the last chance one can have to feel untroubled before the killing frost of the winter comes. Since it’s meant to represent the end of an era, almost everything about this song is childlike. The baby pink album cover of is a simply drawn strawberry, reminding one of hasty childhood drawings. The background music is unadorned, only employing a basic drum beat, very twee jangly guitar, and a hypnotic droning melody. The lyrics are plain, the soothing mumble of lead singer Calvin Johnson’s voice is relaxing as he speak-sings, “We’ll come back for Indian Summer, and go our separate ways...We will never change. No matter what they say.”
In the twee-pop world, Beat Happening is monumental. Not only were they one of the first bands to experiment and instigate this type of sound, but “Indian Summer” is one of the most heavily covered lo-fi songs of all time. In a documentary about the Johnson’s self produced record company, one of the covering bands says that Indian Summer is “indie’s Knocking on Heaven’s Door-- everybody’s done it”. The summery song perfectly captures the band’s fundamental personality; they’re misleadingly complex. While both joyous, cheerful, and childlike, they’re also melancholy, intimate, and a bit sad. What makes Beat Happening’s song so tremendous and unique is that it is perfectly suited for them.