Title Fight: "Here Comes the Summer"

Cover Illustration of The Best Thing About Being a Bird by Linda Sullivan, 2004

What are the odds that my favorite songs by two very different bands would have the exact same title? I'm not counting Iggy Pop's "Here Comes the Summer", which I've never heard - the Undertones and the Fiery Furnaces both have great songs using this name. The Undertones get the obvious advantage of having had the first well-known "Here Comes the Summer", although they weren't the very first to use the title (Mark Wynter performed a song with the same name in the late '60s.) And, even though the Undertones' "Here Comes the Summer" was a decent single for the UK punk-pop band, it was no "Teenage Kicks". Then again, most Americans don't remember "Teenage Kicks" either.

The chorus of the Undertones single is a real winner, with Feargal Sharkey's quavering voice declares "Here comes the summer!" over a rinky-dink organ riff and nice backing vocals. The song does a good job of evoking youthful anticipation, fading out before hitting the two-minute mark. Early March is the perfect time for this message, and hearing it now makes me excited for the months of sweltering heat and endless lawn-mowing that lie ahead.

The Fiery Furnaces' "Here Comes the Summer" seems like it should be a throwaway, being a new track tacked on to their singles compilation EP. But the song is one of their best and a personal favorite, with a sense of longing and remembrance in place of the expected anticipatory energy. Eleanor Friedberger's voice is not built for real singing, but she can do the an expressive "talk-sing" that is perfect for this song, and her brother Matthew's wah-wah guitar and farty keyboard bassline somehow make her sighing remembrances more poignant. I think it edges out the Undertones classic by having more to offer on repeated listens, telling you a story that makes you wonder whether the coming of summer should even be seen as a good thing.

Winner: THE FIERY FURNACES

"Here Comes the Summer" by the Fiery Furnaces

"Here Comes the Summer" by the Undertones