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Top Ten Summer Songs

Obsession of the Week: Summer Songs

I’ve actually been obsessing over summer songs for weeks now. When my seven-year-old’s school let out, I thought I’d add some new songs to his i-pod. As it was, this year he was introduced to The Beach Boys by his music teacher (Thanks Mr. V.) and had spent the better part of spring singing “Surfin Safari” and “Barbara Ann” everywhere he went (my dad should be proud).

In thinking of songs to add, I figured he needed something beside the Beach Boys’ greatest hits so I started making a list of songs about summer. The list quickly turned into an endless download nightmare. I decided to limit myself to only songs about summer that had summer in the title. I’ve always tried to vary my son’s i-pod selection (click here to read more about it) so he’s introduced to a wide variety of music.  I  wanted to make sure the list included hits from as far back as the 60s and included as varied a selection as possible. As it turned out most are from the 70s. Go figure. So here’s my list of  the “Top Ten Summer Songs” in alphabetical order by artist.

  1. Alice Cooper “School’s Out (for Summer)”  
  2. Bananarama “Cruel Summer” (1983) 
  3. Chad& Jeremy “A Summer Song” (1964) 
  4. DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince “Summertime” (1989)
  5. Don Henley “The Boys of Summer” (1984)
  6. Kid Rock “All Summer Long” (2008)* 
  7. Mungo Jerry “In the Summertime” (1970) 
  8. Olivia Newton-John, John Travolta & Cast “Summer Nights” (1978)* 
  9. Ray Lamontagne “For the Summer” (2010)
  10.  Seals & Crofts “Summer Breeze” (1972) 

* this selection made the list but didn’t actually make it on my son’s i-pod due to content and the possibility of him singing the lyrics at full volume. There are certain things you don’t want to hear your seven-year-old sing about even if he doesn’t understand the context.

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One of My Favorite Political Subjects: Part 3 in the “Reach Out of Your Darkness” series

Immigration remains a hot topic today. It is one of my favorite subjects to tackle and my Examiner.com series this week really encompasses all my favorites.  This one tends to draw the most criticism (nationally and even within my family). The issue of those that immigrated here legally versus those who come illegally seems to be the tipping point for most critics of my position on immigration. I think this article addresses the points of that very well here.

The point of the article isn’t to argue what the reform should be or who should be here or not. It is more about showing tolerance for those who come here seeking a better life and suffer discrimination similar to the discrimination your ancestors likely endured as well. 

 Click here to read \”Immigration Tolerance: Reach Out of Your Darkness (Part 3)\” 

In the article, I also attached this video from School House Rock of the 1970s. I think it best simplifies the immigration culture of America’s history (although it leaves out slavery entirely). It was also my first introduction to the importance immigrants played in our nation’s growth that included my ancestors as well. 

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Part 2 of “Reach Out of Your Darkness”: No Divine Denomination

I was first baptized into the Catholic faith as an infant but later my parents converted to a protestant belief system as I was growing up. One thing that has stayed with me as an adult is the fact that so much of what the church we attended believed in was about the church leaders’ personal interpretations of  scriptures. In the church we attended, the use of instrumental music was strictly restricted. A Capella was said to be God’s preferred method of worship. This belief was linked to a specific scripture (one I do not recall) that obviously ignored the countless times in the Bible where musical instruments were used in worship to the Lord.

In addition to what this church believed, it also professed to know what other faiths believed. As an adult, most of what I was told about other faiths and beliefs has turned out not to be true. For this reason, I have always been skeptical of one faith professing to know what the intent and beliefs of another religion is. In particular, I have written several cautionary articles about Christian condemnation of Muslims. While I do not claim to understand the Muslim faith completely, I am always concerned when others villianize Muslims based on what they have heard from non-Muslims. None of us knows the depth of God’s divine grace and justification. Who is to say the Muslim, Mormon or Jew aren’t entitled to the same heaven Christians believe in? Only God makes that determination. 

In part 2 on my Examiner.com series of “Reach Out of Your Darkness”, I encourage every believer to practice the very Christian value of love toward others no matter what their beliefs are. No matter who we are – God loves everyone.  Click the link below to read my article on the subject. The article also has a link to a survey where you answer a series of questions that determinewhat Christian denomination you are most aligned with. You may be surprises at your results.

Click here to read \”No Divine Denomination: Reach Out of Your Darkness (Part 2)

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Reach Out of the Darkness: New Examiner Series

With this week being the start of the Holy Week of Easter, I am relaunching a popular article series that ran locally on Examiner.com last year. This year the series is entitled “Reach Out of Your Darkness” and is about appreciating differences. The series first ran this time last year as “No Matter Our Differences: God Loves Us All” and was hugely popular. 

This year, I am using the old Friend & Lover song, “Reach Out of the Darkness” as my inspiration. It’s a great song about peace and learning to appreciate our differences. So much of what we focus on these days is what divides us (our religious differences, our political differences, our sexual orientation, our citizenship status, etc…). What the bible reminds us time and time again is that we are all God’s creation. All created for good. This needs to be our theme for this Easter season.

Who did Christ die for this Easter season? A select group? He died for the salvation of everyone. In the spirit of this, I launch this series this week.

Click here to read \”Reach Out of the Darkness: God Loves Everyone!\”

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Quote: “You have to find something you love…”

“You have to find something that you love enough to be able to take risks, jump over the hurdles and break through the brick walls that are always going to be  placed in front of you. If you don’t have that kind of feeling for what it is you’re doing, you’ll stop at the first giant hurdle.” George Lucas

It’s been one of those weeks…I mean months. You ever feel like no matter which way you turn something is standing there ready to clobber you “Fight Club” style? It’s been one of those months for me.

It’s been two months since I posted an article for my local Examiner column and a month since my last national article. What’s the reason? I’ve been working on my edits for my novel-in-progress and finishing up work on my MFA but more than that I’ve felt like I have been out of juice when it comes to the religion & politics column. I haven’t had enough love to throw myself over the hurdles or crumble the brick walls. It’s a temporary thing and my goal is to be back at it before April rolls around. I’m putting ideas and plans together for the articles I will write when the mood strikes. My category manager wants me to focus on doing more “evergreen” content (content that is always fresh for those searching that topic) and I think that will be a good place to pick it back up. I have a bunch of ideas but until I feel the need, I’m happily letting time pass. Whether that is good or bad for the column, we’ll find out.

In the meantime, it’s been fun focusing more on pop culture stuff here on the blog. While I don’t get paid to post here, I have enjoyed watching the blog readership grow tremendously over the past months. The growth rate has been 218% since November. I’ve loved the posts I written and evidentially many of you have been drawn to them as well. It’s nice to know that when you are doing something you love that others find it amusing too. Thanks for reading.

Please feel free to post your suggestions, comments, or ideas here for what you’d like to see more of. I’d love to hear from.


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Hope for All in Loving Your Enemies!

I just had to share this verse and commentary today. I receive daily scripture emails and this one really struck me this morning. I like what Whitehead says in his commentary about how loving your enemies creates hope that God loves everyone. No matter what wrong we do, what we believe or don’t believe, God is still there for us.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. – Matthew 5:43-45

Jesus was stretching the imagination of the Jewish listeners. To love your enemies is to acknowledge that God loves them too. This is another way of saying that there is hope for anyone. No matter how evil or unrighteous someone may seem, the sun still shines upon them. We are challenged to live in the love of our heavenly Father, who wishes for none to perish and all to come to repentance. 

by: Dave Whitehead, Senior Pastor, GraceNYC.org
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