Simultaneously palatable to contemporary country, top 40, and rock stations, Kid Rock’s “All Summer Long” isn’t just an impressive charter; it’s a clever melding of samples and evocative lyrics. Country Music Television (DISH Network 166), which has been marking the industry's slow but steady shift away from traditional twang- country to more popish sounds, aids in the flowover by airing the song's low key video.
A song about a song, “All Summer Long” is underpinned by riffs from “Sweet Home Alabama” and significant appearances from “Werewolves of London” and “Take the Money and Run.” Backup singers deliver further callbacks to the Lynyrd Skynyrd classic. While it clearly evokes the best of the era, “All Summer Long” stands on its own, referencing the Internet (or lack thereof), drinking on the sly, and first love. In compiling it, Kid Rock has studied a staple of hip hop and rap and brought it to southern rock.
His last hit, “Picture,” a duet with Sheryl Crow, was also a crossover, but leaned more on the pop side. “All Summer Rock” tilts back the other direction, returning Kid Rock to lakesides, upbeat riffs, and “smoking funny things.”
Although the song is set in the summer of 1989, the wrappings of “Sweet Home Alabama” manages to create an aura of another decade entirely. The video, too, is refreshingly literal; two teenagers bring the lyrics of the song to life as Kid Rock finds a moonlit lake to strum next to. By stepping so far away from a more pop-influenced, abstract interpretation, the video solidifies the song’s southern rock roots.
It’s always an interesting trip when modern music cross-borrows, injecting new life into genres which might otherwise stagnate. I look forward to 50 Cent’s first single in praise of line dancing.
