Tunesday 27th May, 2014: Summertime - DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince

As a writer, irony is one of my favourite literary devices. This week’s Tunesday has an element of it in audio form, both as I look out my window in this moment and as I ponder the weeks ahead. I say this because the past couple of days here in Portsmouth have not been anything like what we expect from ‘summer time’. On the contrary, they have been rather wet and dreary. Therefore you could say referencing this song is more about wishful nostalgia than my current feelings about the weather. And wishful nostalgia it does, ever so well...

I’m also due to start a new job within the next two weeks, one that means the majority of my summer this year will be spent training and learning a brand new role with a new set of skills. While all very exciting, it could mean I’ll spend more time looking at the sun from the wrong side of an office building – apparently I should expect a few late nights too. In that case I’ll take the rain; the sound of it can be soothing when you’re sitting at a desk.

Anyway, the matter at hand sees us looking back at a classic track which I admittedly was too young to fully appreciate when it was released. Hey, I was one year old; cut me some slack. The appreciation I give it now surely makes up for that?

I’ll be honest and say I don’t think the video is all that great. But this is a tune that is not about any video the artist made to go with it. It is in fact, I think, a very personal – even individual – song that everyone enjoys in different ways and for different reasons, depending on their own experience. Whether it is metaphorical, literal or ironic for you as you listen, enjoy it in your own context.

EGS