You know that song Bruce wrote, “Girls in Their Summer Clothes?” I heard that song and said, “This song should be on the radio, why is that not all over the radio?” I spoke to somebody recently, a Bruce fan, and I said, “Do you know this song? It is the most insightful song about aging. It is a song of experience, actually.” And they said, “No, I don’t know that.” So these songs, they can slip through the cracks of culture.
— Bono, Rolling Stone Magazine, January 2018
I have to agree with Bono. 😁
It's such a beautiful and poetic pop song with a sentimental theme, I enjoy the dreaminess of Blessing Avenue and Magic Street, the universal suburban setting, love the irony of these two names, and greet the latent self-mockery. I don't feel Bill believes he is going to burn the town down... Not anymore. It's just a lonely cry.
Music, I love the fuller sound, the grandiose production, all the instruments. Beautiful vocals, main and backing. The Winter Mix is fuller, richer, and therefore better, in my opinion.
Hello beautiful thing, maybe you could save my life?
I realize this is just a pick-up line, but it's fucking flawless.
A very private confession. I used to identify with the girls, obviously, but this summer is the first when I feel more like the poor old Bill.
To make the song a hit I think he should have stripped-down the instrumentation/production a bit and played it in a faster pace. The current version lacks energy, in my opinion. It has a great, strong melody and good lyrics.
The latest Archive release has almost made discussion of any other version (studio or live) of this song redundant. Fenway 2012 is the new gold standard for this song IMO.
OMG !
I agree with bono too
Still holds up. The political references in the lyrics haven't dated it.
Having read this thread I revisited "Magic" today.......by Jiminy that's a fine album.
First time I'd played it in a goodly while.......great stuff.
I was so happy that Clarence got a big solo live. Beautiful song. And an unexpected surprise at Saratoga in 2009 ....My wife and i were standing, singing and swaying ....Pretty much by ourselves 🙄
I have loved this song from day one, and how I wish for a tour to hear it or any other one.
Will there ever be a tour like in the old days???
I almost wish they actually held this song over till WOAD. It fits thematically and musically with the WOAD material but I think the arrangement could've gone even more epic like some of the other material on that record (This Life, Queen, etc.)
Also, in one of my usual misheard/outright wrong lyrics moments, while I think I've always known the line is as Louisa writes in the title, I always find myself singing;
"Had a beautiful thing, maybe you just saved my life"
Adds a kinda tragic beauty, imo.
It's a song I feel never reached the bar in a live setting that Bruce set with the studio version. His vocal was far too strong, perfect, for him to seemingly better it on the road.
And that brings us to this version, my favourite, where the operatic aura on the album is stripped away and we're left with a man standing there alone, with a vocal that isn't spotless, to make for a version that is magical. I always refer everyone to 1:24 and dammit I'm gonna do it again! He already looks so cool, and to react in the way he does increases that ten fold.
Does he better the studio vocal here? Nah. Does he match it? I dare say he does.
And here's what I wrote in the review of the show.
Following a spur of the moment familiarisation on the acoustic (not enough gets said about how good that little melody played up to 0:44 is) that ends in an acceptance of “ah, I’ll have to make it up!“, we get my favourite version of “Girls in Their Summer Clothes”. If you’ve checked out the definitive live songs posts you’ll remember I’ve talked about this one in the past, but it’s too good not to talk a little bit about again. Sang with a fine combination of strength and delicateness, the voice strain from earlier on is forgotten and it’s fitting that this is a song from an album called Magic, because magic is exactly what this is. What I’ve noticed with repeated listens is that you don’t even need to watch the video on YouTube to see Bruce grinning when his voice breaks from 2:59, because you can actually hear in his voice how much he’s beaming about it through the audio. Still one of the best examples of his humility that I can give as a recommendation.
My wife's favorite Bruce song!!
This is the best song Bruce has written in the 2000's. Like you, I love the grandiose sound and I prefer the Winter mix. Bruce played it in the encores at one of the 2008 shows at Ullevi, and it was so perfect because it was a hot July night in Gothenburg.
If I had to pick only two songs - one from the 1990's and one from the 2000's - I would pick The Ghost of Tom Joad and Girls.