This, That, and the Other

For this week’s Thursday Inspiration prompt, Jim Adams has instructed us to respond to this challenge by either by using the prompt word peace, or going with the above picture, or by means of the song ‘Summer Rain’, or by going with another song by Johnny Rivers, or anything else that you think fits. I decided to go with the song “Summer Breeze” from Seals & Crofts.

In the summer of 1969, Jim Seals and Dash Crofts released their first album as a duo. “Summer Breeze” was their first hit single, appearing on their fourth album in the fall of 1972. Their next single, “Hummingbird,” also evoked nature and was a solid hit. They later scored with “Diamond Girl” and “Get Closer.”

Seals & Crofts were devoted to the Baha’i faith, and believed that by writing about life itself, many meanings would emerge for the listener. Seals said that “Summer Breeze” was “a very simple song about a man coming home from work and hearing the dog barking and things like that.”

The refrain “Blowing through the jasmine in my mind” was something Seals & Crofts used to bring about feelings of contentment, harmony, and peace in this song, which is a feel-good classic about enjoying some simple pleasures in life with the ones you love. Seals explained, “We operate on a different level, we try to create images, impressions and trains of thought in the minds of our listeners.”

To me, the lyrics and the melody bring about a peaceful, easy feeling (which was a song from The Eagles that I almost used for this prompt).

See the curtains hangin' in the window
In the evenin' on a Friday night
A little light a-shinin' through the window
Lets me know everything's alright

Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind
Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind

See the paper layin' on the sidewalk
A little music from the house next door
So I walked on up to the doorstep
Through the screen and across the floor

Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind
Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind

Sweet days of summer, the jasmine's in bloom
July is dressed up and playing her tune
And I come home from a hard day's work
And you're waiting there, not a care in the world

See the smile a-waitin' in the kitchen
Food cookin' and the plates for two
Feel the arms that reach out to hold me
In the evening when the day is through

Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind
Summer breeze, makes me feel fine
Blowing through the jasmine in my mind

Bonus: