Suddenly Last Summer

It seems to me to be about a brief summer romance, and though it ended quickly, the girl thinks about it often, so in a way, it never seems to end.

A haunting, dreamy sounding song that reminds me of being a little kid in the '80s.

What a great song about love lost or ended. I like especially how it implies that love struck unexpectedly one summer and then ended when they parted ways . . .

I was disappointed there was not more information on this song, which I love, but have no idea what the artists were going for when they wrote it. Perhaps that's the best part of a great song, it can mean something different to everyone. I personally had one summer, where my life was transformed by a relationship which eventually ended, so this song always produces a lot of nostalgia in me. Though it was much longer ago than "last summer" the tag-line "and then suddenly, last summer" captures how memories can come out of nowhere and magically transport us back to a happier time. It can take "all of my will" to shake that off, and not get stuck in the past.

I love this song. The video is so memorable too.

to me it's obvious.

she's way into someone. let's assume it's a guy.

she's been into him a long time. and it finally happens. only once. then they are separated for whatever reason.

the bulk of the song is jumping between her past desire for him and her future memory of being with him.

point being, it was a powerful moment for her and she can't forget.

This may be inspired by the Tennessee Williams one act play. Taken from the perspective of Catharine, or perhaps even Sebastian, it definitely has a hazy, macabre overtone.

Why is this song so memorable? Why is any song so memorable? In this case, I think it's due to its (likely purposeful), ambiguous nature, where anyone can apply this song to a personal memory.

Hall and Oates did this a LOT. I can't go for that (for what?), She did it in a minute (did what?), She's gone (where'd she go?), etc. It's a 'Theater of the Mind' style of writing where you fill in the blanks that the song writer purposely doesn't provide. In that way, a song becomes yours personally.

I suspect more than a few people out there have an unforgettable summer. A summer that simply can't end because it's always there in your mind, just waiting for you to return.

As a musician, I hear something else in the music itself. There's an odd chorused, almost dissonant synth that mostly alternates between A and G. This runs through the whole song. To me, it's like the sun itself, relentless, always there. When I hear this song, I think of sunshine for that reason.

You ever have a 'falling' feeling when thinking about something from so long ago? The bridge part has a 'falling' note pattern, suggesting being drawn down into a memory.

In this song, the lyrics don't have to stand out or be brilliant because it's the music that grabs you without needing to tell you anything. In fact, take the lyrics out of the song and they're kinda silly, honestly.

But just the suggestion that it's about a lost summer is all you really need to let the music of this song take you on that journey.

Exactly what @Lovesong44 said…. I was too young when this song came out to understand its meaning. Loved the groove.

But as I’m older yep - love was struck; and then parted.. she longs for last summer …

The actual lyric is different than what is written here, and it makes all the difference. Specifically: "One summer never ends, one summer never begins" (not "began", although it does sound like "began" in the first chorus, if you listen carefully to the two later lines, it is "begins"). The enormous difference is that she's looking hopefully to the future, to relive the summer in her mind that "never ends", however, using "begins" implies that she's waiting and waiting and waiting... and it's why she's "standing still" and it takes all of her will. It's really pretty intense.