Summer

Album: Everything Is Love (2018)
Charted: 84
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Jay-Z and Beyoncé open up their collaborative Everything Is Love album with this luscious summer tune.

    Let's make love in the summertime, yeah
    On the sands, beach sands, make plans
    To be in each other's arms, yeah
    Let it breathe, let it breathe
    I wanna drown in the depth of you


    This is not the first time the Carters have used the seaside for metaphorical purposes. In 2013, Jay-Z told a girl "You can keep ya beach" on his 55 second Magna Carta Holy Grail track "Beach Is Better". Three years later Beyonce compared her then broken relationship with her husband to sandcastles.
  • Miami producers Cool and Dre supplied the instrumentation for the track. They also supplied the beats for the Everything Is Love cuts "713" and "Black Effect " as well as the single "Salud!". Dre told Billboard the story of their production:

    "For the 'Summer' record, Cool had this music groove that he was working on and played it for me, and immediately I heard a melody, and it was definitely inspired by what we were seeing every day.

    There's a scene where Jay and Bey are on the beach filming each other on the sand and just enjoying the presence of each other, and we took what we saw and put it in the music. When they heard it, they took the idea and turned it into 'Summer.'"
  • Beyoncé and Jay-Z are also credited as producers. Dre explained to Billboard: "On records like 'Summer' Beyoncé would be like, 'I want to hear strings; I want to hear horns. Use my string section, use my horns - I got them all here.' They really produced these records with us. That's why it says produced by Beyoncé and JAY-Z and Cool and Dre. They definitely gave us direction. And when we were doing it right, they told us not to stop."
  • That's Rory from the Jamaican sound system Stone Love Movement at the beginning of the song.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Dean Pitchford

Dean PitchfordSongwriter Interviews

Dean wrote the screenplay and lyrics to all the songs in Footloose. His other hits include "Fame" and "All The Man That I Need."

Daniel Lanois

Daniel LanoisSongwriter Interviews

Daniel Lanois on his album Heavy Sun, and the inside stories of songs he produced for U2, Peter Gabriel, and Bob Dylan.

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)Songwriter Interviews

"Come On Eileen" was a colossal '80s hit, but the band - far more appreciated in their native UK than stateside - released just three albums before their split. Now, Dexys is back.

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: Tarantino Edition

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: Tarantino EditionMusic Quiz

Whether he's splitting ears or burning Nazis, Quentin Tarantino uses memorable music in his films. See if you can match the song to the scene.

Emilio Castillo from Tower of Power

Emilio Castillo from Tower of PowerSongwriter Interviews

Emilio talks about what it's like to write and perform with the Tower of Power horns, and why every struggling band should have a friend like Huey Lewis.

Lori McKenna

Lori McKennaSongwriter Interviews

Lori's songs have been recorded by Faith Hill and Sara Evans. She's performed on the CMAs and on Oprah. She also has five kids.