Robert Lamm captures the promise and innocence of hot summer nights in the opening lines of Chicago’s “Over and Over.” While he doesn’t go over the top with this imagery, he plants the seeds of summer and lets the listener’s imagination fill in the blanks.
“Fireworks, fireflies
On the roof watching summer night skiesAll the boys, all the girls
All the time making love with our eyes”
With those opening lines, I can feel the soft squishiness of a fresh cut lawn, smell the fragrances of campfires, sunscreen, and bug repellant and even hear the hum of cicadas.
The multi-tracked harmony vocals of Bill Champlin and then-newcomer Jason Scheff are so tight they sound like one voice. “Over and Over” dances with a gentle Jeff Porcaro-esque groove, and one of the strong points of 1986’s Chicago 18 is that the horns are back — not that they ever really fully left. It’s nice to hear them used as prominently as they are here.
What makes “Over and Over” a favorite of mine is that it’s perhaps their best “summer song” since 1972’s “Saturday In the Park.” As a child of the ’80s, this track still manages to take me back to the hot summer nights of my youth every time I listen to it.
As an addict of the drug called nostalgia, the high I get off this song is something that grows progressively stronger with the passage of time. “Over and Over” is a reminder of the idealism and innocence of youth, perfectly captured in a pop song. Well played, Mr. Lamm; very well played. indeed.
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