MUNGO JERRY - IN THE SUMMERTIME

IN THE SUMMERTIME

MUNGO JERRY(BAND)

SONGWRITER: RAY DORSET

COUNTRY: UK

ALBUM: ELETRONICALLY TESTED

LABEL: DAWN

GENRE: SKIFFLE

YEAR: 1970

"In the Summertime" is the debut single by British rock band Mungo Jerry. Written and composed by its lead singer, Ray Dorset, it celebrates the carefree days of summer. In 1970 it reached number one in charts around the world, including seven weeks in the UK Singles Chart, two weeks in one of the Canadian charts, and number three on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the US. It became one of the best-selling singles of 1970 and eventually sold more than 30 million copies.

The song took Dorset only ten minutes to write and compose, which he did using a second-hand Fender Stratocaster while he was taking time off work from his regular job, working in a lab for Timex. The song's lyric "have a drink, have a drive, go out and see what you can find" led to the song's somewhat ironic use in a UK advert for the campaign Drinking and Driving Wrecks Lives.

Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh

Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh

Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh

Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh

Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh

Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh

In the summertime when the weather is hot

You can stretch right up and touch the sky

When the weather's fine

You got women, you got women on your mind

Have a drink, have a drive

Go out and see what you can find

If her daddy's rich take her out for a meal

If her daddy's poor just do what you feel

Speed along the lane

Do a ton or a ton an' twenty-five

When the sun goes down

You can make it, make it good in a lay-by

We're no threat, people

We're not dirty, we're not mean

We love everybody but we do as we please

When the weather's fine

We go fishin' or go swimmin' in the sea

We're always happy

Life's for livin' yeah, that's our philosophy

Sing along with us

Dee dee dee-dee dee

Dah dah dah-dah dah

Yeah we're hap-happy

Dah dah-dah

Dee-dah-do dee-dah-do dah-do-dah

Dah-do-dah-dah-dah

Dah-dah-dah do-dah-dah

Alright ah

Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh

Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh

Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh

Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh

Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh

Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh

When the winter's here, yeah it's party time

Bring your bottle, wear your bright clothes

It'll soon be summertime

And we'll sing again

We'll go drivin' or maybe we'll settle down

If she's rich, if she's nice

Bring your friends and we'll all go into town

Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh

Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh

Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh

Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh

Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh, uh

Chh chh-chh, uh, Chh chh-chh

In the summertime when the weather is hot

You can stretch right up and touch the sky

When the weather's fine

You got women, you got women on your mind

Have a drink, have a drive

Go out and see what you can find

If her daddy's rich take her out for a meal

If her daddy's poor just do what you feel

Speed along the lane

Do a ton or a ton an' twenty-five

When the sun goes down

You can make it, make it good in a lay-by

We're no threat, people

We're not dirty, we're not mean

We love everybody but we do as we please

When the weather's fine

We go fishin' or go swimmin' in the sea

We're always happy

Life's for livin' yeah, that's our philosophy

Sing along with us

Dee dee dee-dee dee

Dah dah dah-dah dah

Yeah we're hap-happy

Dah dah-dah

Dee-dah-do dee-dah-do dah-do-dah

Dah-do-dah-dah-dah