It’s getting hot in the Eastern US today with highs in the 90’s this week. The other day I mentioned how my brother Jeff loves the heat and humidity, and always wears a flannel shirt when he comes up from his home in Florida to visit his family in Pennsylvania. I’m a bit the opposite. I don’t necessarily like cold and damp, but give me a brisk wind and I’m happy to put on a sweater.
I’m old enough to remember being confused the first time I heard someone refer to another person as “hot.” I thought they were referring to the person’s temperature, until the context and their tone of voice sunk in. Ah, so hot can mean that, huh? Sexy, handsome, gorgeous, but hot? Well, now you hear it all the time. And of course, now it can mean popular, like the hottest hits on Spotify or the hot new fashion trends.
Maybe it goes back to Billy Idol. Wait, bear with me a moment, this makes some sense to me. In his 1982 hit, “Hot in the City” he has these wonderful words to encourage you that you are more than you think you are:
A sometime someone you’re not
Don’t wait to see what you got
‘Cause you know that you’reHot in the city, hot in the city tonight
I don’t know, I haven’t looked up the etymology of the use of “hot” as sexy or cool, so feel free to enlighten me in the comments if you know more about this. For our purposes today, I’m willing to give Billy Idol credit.
But one year after Idol’s hot tune, came “Cruel Summer,” a stand alone single from Bananarama that took a very different view on the heat. No, not Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer.” That’s a whole other ball of melted wax for another day. No, the girl band from 1983 saw the heat and humidity like I do. I don’t know if they were longing for the shade of a forest and a mountain stream, but they definitely didn’t care for the heat:
Hot summer streets and the pavements are burning, I sit around
Trying to smile, but the air is so heavy and dryStrange voices are saying (What did they say?)
Things I can’t understand
It’s too close for comfort, this heat has got right out of hand
Yeah, I like the positivity and upbeat sexiness of Billy Idol’s take on the topic, but I have to admit, I’m more of a Davey Downer about it like Bananarama. Which one are you when it comes to heat? Do you love it or do you hate it? Are you an Idol or a Banana?
For you movie buff’s, here’s a bit of trivia. Bananarama’s “Cruel Summer” got a boost in popularity in the US after it appeared in the film Karate Kid and in 1988, Billy Idol’s “Hot in the City” featured in the Tom Hanks movie Big.
Let’s listen to both and try to stay cool. And as my friend Toni says, don’t forget to hydrate!
Jeff's Song of the Day 