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Where's Summer B.?

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"Where's Summer B.?"
Single by Ben Folds Five
from the album Ben Folds Five
ReleasedAugust 8, 1995 (album)
1996 (single)
RecordedWave Castle, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
February 1995
GenreAlternative rock
Length4:07
LabelPassenger/Caroline
Vital Distribution (single)
Songwriter(s)Benjamin Scott Folds
Darren Michael Jessee
Producer(s)Caleb Southern
Ben Folds Five singles chronology
"Underground"
(1995)
"Where's Summer B.?"
(1995)
"Philosophy"
(1996)

"Where's Summer B.?" is a song from Ben Folds Five's 1995 first album, Ben Folds Five.[1] It was written by Ben Folds and Darren Jessee.[2] The song, though up-tempo, deals with the disappointment of returning to a hometown after being away and seeing things much the same as before.

History

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The song is told from the point of view of a friend of Summer B.'s. Summer has returned to her hometown after being away for a significant period of time. The friend explains the various mundane events that have occurred in Summer's absence.

The title character of Summer B. is a reference to Summer Burke, a friend of the band. Burke is credited with designing the band's distinctive stick drawing piano logo.[3] Other real-life friends of Jessee's are mentioned throughout the song.

Additional versions

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A censored version of the song appears with the original album recording on the Summer EP, a four song CD released by Passenger/Caroline to promote the band to radio programmers. The censored (or "clean") version fades out the word "shit".

Singles

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Commercial CD single

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The song was released as a CD single on June 7, 1996, in the United Kingdom, distributed by Vital Distribution for Passenger/Caroline. The other tracks of the single were recorded live on August 12, 1995, at Ziggy's in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, by John Alagia and Doug Derryberry.[4] These tracks were mixed at Rutabaga Studios in Arlington, Virginia, in May, 1996. "Tom and Mary" also appears on the Japanese release of Ben Folds Five.

  1. Where's Summer B.? – 4:06
  2. Tom & Mary (Live) – 2:51
  3. Emaline (Live) – 3:40

Commercial 7" vinyl single

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The song was released as a 7" vinyl single on June 7, 1996, in the United Kingdom, distributed by Vital Distribution for Passenger/Caroline. The track on the "B" side, "Tom and Mary", was recorded live on August 12, 1995, at Ziggy's in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, by John Alagia and Doug Derryberry.[4] "Tom and Mary" was mixed at Rutabaga Studios in Arlington, Virginia, in May, 1996, and also appears on the Japanese release of Ben Folds Five.

  • Side A: Where's Summer B.? – 4:06
  • Side B: Tom & Mary – 2:51

Promotional CD single

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A promotional CD single was released in 1996 for the United Kingdom by Passenger/Caroline that featured both the album cut and the censored version of the song.[5]

Compilations and soundtracks

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The album version of the song appears as the lead-off track on the 2000 charity compilation album Songs for Summer.[6] The album was released to benefit Free Arts for Abused Children[7] in memory of Summer Brannin, who died of kidney cancer at the age of 21. The album is a collection of some of Brannin's favorite songs and features a 'Summer' theme.

Personnel

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Production

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References

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