How Awful is Kid Rock’s “All Summer Long”?
We don’t have a car, and I never listen to the radio. We borrowed the former this morning to take our old G5 iMac in to get a RAM upgrade (it turns out the old girl has swollen capacitors–thanks, Apple!). I was listening to Victoria’s long-standing rock station, 100.3 the Q.
I heard the opening riff to Warren Zevon’s classic “Werewolves of London”. Sadly, the actual song was “All Summer Long”, an astonishingly awful song by Kid Rock. Here’s the video (Mr. Rock challenges Tom Petty for ugliest man in rock, eh?):
There’s nothing good about this song. It soullessly rips off not one but two classic rock tunes–Mr. Zevon is no doubt spinning in his grave. And the lyrics are just awful. Consider the start of the chorus:
And we were trying different things
We were smoking funny things
Making love out by the lake to our favorite song
They were both trying and smoke different and funny things? Man, that’s profound. It’s like somebody imbued GarageBand with a little artificial intelligence, and instructed it to compose a country-rock song.
Up to this point, I’ve managed to remain almost completely ignorant of Mr. Rock’s musical oeuvre. My critique may come as no surprise to those more familiar with his work.
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:58 am
Wow - This blogger and music fan agrees wholeheartedly. This sucks so badly.
I guess we car drivers/radio listeners can look forward to hearing this one - uh - all summer long?
June 3rd, 2008 at 12:46 pm
“I never listen to the radio.”
why?
June 3rd, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Bz: To clarify, I never listen to the device that receives radio signals and converts them into sounds audible to human ears. I do subscribe to eight or ten podcasts that originate at broadcast radio organizations.
It’s more practical than philosophical. We don’t have a car. When I’m out and about (or even doing mundane things at home like cooking or cleaning), I listen to audio books, podcasts and music on my iPod. I have a large (by my standards, at least) and growing digital music collection, so I have lots of music on-hand that I have barely or never heard. And I get my news via the Web.
I guess I’ve just programmed my own ad hoc ‘radio station’ without ads, and with stuff that’s consistently of interest to me.
June 3rd, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Thanks for the clarification.
June 3rd, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Geddy Lee of Rush is usually considered the ugliest man of rock. Where have you been? Sheesh.
June 3rd, 2008 at 4:04 pm
This abomination was playing on a number of the radio stations in Southern Ontario when I went to visit my parents a few weeks back. It kind of makes me happy that all the radio stations in my little Northern Ontario town are all stuck in some sort of time warp where music made after 1995 doesn’t exist.
June 3rd, 2008 at 4:17 pm
You obviously have never heard the lyrical genius that is “Bawitdaba-da bang-da bang-diggy-diggy-diggy Said the boogie - said up jump the boogie”.
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Fact: Geddy Lee is not ugly, he’s a poet and a music icon that walks among us.
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Also, don’t the Geddy Lees and Kid Rocks of the world have rather a huge amount of competition from the Rolling Stones in the All-Ugly Rock Men pageant?
As for Mr. Rock’s song, it’s not the greatest country-rock song in the world, it’s just a tribute.
I think that last link should properly cleanse the palate.
June 4th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
I’m with Todd. Geddy’s lack of conventional hotness is belied by his talent. Kid Rock, on the other hand, seems to be living proof that sometimes genetics can be truly, truly cruel.
June 4th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
One can be a poet and music icon and also be ugly. Didn’t realize I was going to upset Todd, or I wouldn’t have said anything. I don’t even think Geddy Lee’s particularly homely; it’s just that he’s been mentioned whenever I’ve heard or read someone discuss ugly men in music. Don’t shoot the messenger.
June 6th, 2008 at 9:14 am
You can’t have a discussion on ugly men of rock and roll without mentioning Lemmy Killmister of Motorhead.
June 18th, 2008 at 9:37 am
i like the song actually. its just about good times with good friends during the summer & having fun…what is wrong with that? he talks about before the internet before all this technology stuff people actually went out and enjoyed nature and were more socially connected instead of how we are today, through the internet (mostly). dont hate on the guy its just an upbeat fun song. sheesh.
June 20th, 2008 at 7:49 am
fun song it’s horrible. Please!!! People can’t even write songs any more they have to do remakes. Just like the movies show some originality
July 1st, 2008 at 4:34 am
I Love this song…Don’t hate ppl….If you dont like it, then just don’t listen to it, turn the radio chanel or something….Allll Summer Longgggg
July 13th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
All summer long should be retitled BLATENT PLAGERISM!!!
ANY respect I had for mr rock has gone straight into the toilet.
July 15th, 2008 at 10:06 am
This song irks me. If I remember Kid Rock was a wanna be hip hopper in 1989. Dating an african american girl and having a biracial child during those years. I’m sure kid rock wasn’t sitting by the lake singing sweet home alabama. He is such a fake.
August 1st, 2008 at 5:10 pm
I was also in the car when I had first heard this song. I mistakened it for Sweet Home Alabama, but soon found out it wasn’t. Frankly I believe that Kid Rock should “rap” up his opinion of music and move on instead of changing his style every couple of years. He went from rap to country to rock and roll. It’s a disgrace to music. I never liked Kid Rock and now that I heard this song, I never will. He’s as fake as Pamela Anderson’s breast’s, which is probably where he got it from.
August 2nd, 2008 at 8:49 pm
I actually find Kid Rock to be a great source of inspiration for me. If pop musical standards have gotten so abyssmally low you can that you can steal not one but two classic rock riffs, sprinkle in a drum beat a seven year old could come up with, and then add in the type of lyrics any average Joe could put on a cocktail napkin in an hour or so, then maybe I do have what it takes to make it in the entertainment industry after all. And I too can drink about fif-teen Hein-e-kens! Gee, thanks Kid!!
August 13th, 2008 at 11:19 am
I’m sure most of the comments about how this song “rocks” didn’t have much exposure to the originals - I like the originals and have to admit that the song is a catchy POP tune but nothing near the classics it borrows from. It kills me how these forums always have the obligatory “I LOVE THIS SONG”,”KID ROCK ROCKS”, and “JUST TURN THE CHANNEL.” I would change the channel if it wasn’t playing on every damn station every 30 mintues. My major beef with the song is the lyrics that could have been written by any teenager in about 15 minutes.
“And we were trying different things
And we were smoking funny things”
Wow- need something that rhymes with “things,” let me think… . Hey guys, remember when we used to try things and smoke things. Very deep.
“It’s the simple things in life like when and where
We didn’t have no internet
But man I never will forget
The way the moonlight shined upon her hair”
Just flows- internet and moonlight on her hair- this guy may not be able to come up with his own music but makes up for it by dominating his genre in regard to lyrics.
The saddest part is that we’ll have an entire generation of burnouts about 20 years from now loving a new song that references how good life was when they partied “All Summer Long” to Kid Rock.
August 14th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
What REALLY REALLY pisses me off about this rip-off, is that the Zevon classic riff is not even played correctly.
Have a close listen to both songs’ intro and you will see the kid rock version has it wrong.