Chet Baker -- "Summertime"
"Summertime" is a pretty creepy song, I've always thought. Of course, it's not supposed to be, but there's something about it that has always seemed a little off, a little crooked. Maybe it has something to do with the line "your daddy's rich and your momma's good looking" -- as though that and a strategically maintained sheltering from the cruel realities of life were enough to insure a child's lasting happiness. Take this message and set it to some minor chords, and you have to agree -- it's a creepy song. The only way to make it creepier is to have Chet Baker play it.
Baker's instrumental version (can you imagine him singing it? -- that would have made it one of the creepiest tracks ever) ambles along at a steady clip. There's something echoey, something spacey about all of these classic Baker recordings from the 1950s. For an instrumental track, this song has an uncanny ability to frame a narrative. The mood Baker evokes here pretty much tells you his whole life story, and you can tell even from a casual listen that it isn't going to have a happy ending.
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