“Here Comes the Summer” – The Fiery Furnaces
(Words/music: Eleanor Friedberger and Matthew Friedberger, available on The Fiery Furnaces EP, Rough Trade 2005)

I’ve been to the opera once in my life.  In high school, I saw La bohéme at the Metropolitan Opera House and enjoyed the experience about as much as a teenager with only the most cursory understanding of classical music could.  Since I didn’t understand a word of the libretto, I ended up focusing more attention on the ways that the music told the story, whether through the vocal performance, the specific key, or the choice of instrumentation.  To a much smaller degree, I approach the Fiery Furnaces the same way – the lyrics are often interesting but often the music carries some of the story as well.  In a sense, the early Fiery Furnaces records have operatic tendencies – recurring themes, sweeping arrangements, and ambition everywhere.  I think this is what makes the band such an acquired taste – one person’s masterpiece is another’s pompous misfire I suppose.  Still, whether as entire albums or independent songs, the Friedberger siblings aim to tell stories and use every element of their songs – arrangements, lyrics, and performance – to bring the story to life.

At the heart of “Here Comes the Summer” lies a promise Eleanor Friedberger makes about the impending summer.  “I’ve been waiting since I don’t know when and now it finally seems about to start,” she sings, adding, “I swear, I swear that I will do my part.”  There’s a mix of excitement and let down in this line, with the joy of an anticipated event arriving and the realization that the dreams for the future might lie slightly out of reach.  The music tries to balance these two emotions, countering bouncy, squealing keyboards with slower, more wistful phrasing.  In what seems like a straightforward arrangement (at least for the Friedbergers), this musical pivot point contains the heart of the song – the point where daydreams and reality merge together.

Today marks the same moment “Here Comes the Summer” captures, and we’re at the same place Eleanor Friedberger reaches when the song shifts into those long keyboards.  We have the same opportunity to make the same promise – to do our part – to make the summer into what we want it to be.  Personally, I’m a few weeks away from my summer, but I’m looking to embrace the longer days, warmer nights, and free time as much as possible.  Even if the summer doesn’t turn out to be as good as the one I imagined when scraping the ice off my car in January, I’m going to make the most out of it.  I’ll do my part.  How about you?

More on The Fiery Furnaces: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm