SUMMERTIME:
I wrote “Summertime” because I really like the Velvet Underground. And I really like happy songs, or songs that start out happy and then you realize they’re really depressing. I always admired The Misfits song “Skulls” because it’s so poppy and upbeat, but then of course Danzig is so scary and demonic, especially now that he’s an old man. I suppose Husker Du does that too. One minute you think, “This is a cheerful, up-tempo rock song!” and then the next second there are razor blades everywhere and you’re dialing for an ambulance because you realize the song is about how much Bob Mould and Grant Hart love each other, but they can’t make things work. I thought it might be nice to write a song like that. The chords are catchy, but the lyrics paint a bleak picture. Of course, I was feeling that way at the time. Things were, are, and always will be quite bleak. I was also listening to a lot of Television and Ramones, and all the other classic New York City rock bands, so they really influenced the sound of this record. And we were recording at a horrible decaying studio on West 30th Street in New York City, so that helped too. I asked Maureen “Moe” Tucker to produce the album and play drums, because her drums sound like city traffic. I think she’s one of the best rock drummers in the world.
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