The Dark Side of Summertime

9/28/2023

The song "Summertime" may sound peaceful and calm, but its lyrics have a dark meaning. Despite its almost five-minute length, the song only contains twenty lines of lyrics, with most of them being repetitive. Although the song was created in 1934, it was resung in the 1960s by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. During this time, black people are oppressed, and racial segregation existed; the civil rights movement had just started. Due to these circumstances, the song can be analyzed in various ways. Such as something simple like a lullaby from a mother to a child or a black nanny to a white child. In the song, Ella sings, "...Oh, your daddy's rich; And your ma is good-lookin'; So hush, little baby; Don't you cry...". This could be interpreted as the nanny telling the child not to cry because their life will be easier since they are white.