Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1991
Looking for the Summer
Buy Looking for the Summer now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Looking for the Summer
| cover = Chris Rea Looking for the Summer 1991 single cover.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Chris Rea
| album = Auberge
| B-side = Six Up
| released = 1991
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre =
| length = 3:51 (single version)
5:03 (album version)
| label = East West
Atco (US)
| writer = Chris Rea
| producer = Jon Kelly
| prev_title = Heaven
| prev_year = 1991
| next_title = Winter Song
| next_year = 1991
| misc =
}}
"'Looking for the Summer'" is a song by British singer-songwriter Chris Rea, released in 1991 as the third single from his eleventh studio album 'Auberge'. It was written by Rea and produced by Jon Kelly. "Looking for the Summer" reached No. 49 in the UK and remained in the charts for three weeks. A music video was filmed to promote the single. It also featured in a diner scene in the 1992 Hollywood blockbuster 'Basic Instinct'.
Background
In a 1991 interview with Dennis Elsas, Rea described the song's lyrical message: "The idea is fundamentally a guy is looking at his daughter, who is now just about in her teenage years and he sees her turn away. She's looking to her summer, she's spring looking for the summer, and he, then in autumn, looks back and remembers what it was like when he also looked for his summer. The third verse reminds his wife how they hurt each other's growing pains, while they both looked for their summers, and in many ways he still looks for his summer."
Critical reception
In a review of 'Auberge', Deborah Hornblow of 'The Hartford Courant' considered the song as one of the album's "better tracks", and noted the song is "infused with a wide-openness and yearning by the strains of Rea's fine guitar work". Adam Sweeting of 'The Guardian' commented: "Song titles like "Looking for the Summer" are accurate guides to their contents."
Johnny Loftus of AllMusic recommended the song by labelling it an AMG Pick Track. In a 2017 concert review, Andrew Steel of 'Yorkshire Evening Post' described the song as a "classic" and added: "The soft-rock gems of "Julia" and "Looking for the Summer" are smart, lithe numbers possessed of a foot-tapping joy underneath his husky vocals, rugged and languorous."
Track listing
'7" single'
# "Looking for the Summer" (Remix) 3:51
# "Six Up" 4:06
'12" single'
# "Looking for the Summer" (Remix) 3:51
# "Six Up" 4:06
# "Urban Samurai" 4:27
'Cassette single'
# "Looking for the Summer" (Remix) 3:51
# "Six Up" 4:06
'CD single'
# "Looking for the Summer" (Remix) 3:54
# "Six Up" 4:08
# "Theme From the Pantile Journals" 4:13
# "Teach Me to Dance" 4:05
'CD single' (US promo)
# "Looking for the Summer" (Edit) 3:50
# "Looking for the Summer" (LP Version) 5:04
Personnel
* Chris Rea - guitar, slide guitar, Hammond organ
* Anthony Drennan - nylon guitar, acoustic guitar
* Max Middleton - Rhodes
* Robert Ahwai - bass
* Martin Ditcham - drums, percussion
'Production'
* Jon Kelly - producer
* Chris Rea, Dave Richards - producers of "Urban Samurai"
* Justin Shirley-Smith - engineer
* Russell Shaw - assistant engineer
'Other'
* Lewis Edwards - sleeve painting
Charts
References
Category:1991 songs
Category:1991 singles
Category:East West Records singles
Category:Atco Records singles
Category:Songs written by Chris Rea
Category:Chris Rea songs
Buy Looking for the Summer now from Amazon
<-- Return to songs from 1991