“Fell into a sea of grass
And disappeared among the shady blades
Children all ran over me
Screaming tag! You are the one!”

If I close my eyes while the song plays sometimes I can still see him, sitting in a white metal chair on the patio at someone's house, strumming a guitar and singing.  Eighteen and beautiful, a voice that if for second you thought he wasn't singing for you, your heart would break.

“He trips her as her sandals fail
She says Stop I'm a girl
Whose fingernails are made of a mother's pearl
Yellow buttercup
Helicopters
Orange buttercat chasing after
The crazy bee mad about somebody
I don't know who”

Eye contact and a little smile, he is singing just so you can hear him.  It doesn't matter if all your friends are there, the warm April night is just for the two of you, he smiles again and it's like a caress.

“Me and my girlfriend
don't wear no shoes
her nose is painted pepper sunlight
She loves me I mean it's serious
As serious can be
She sings a song and
I listen to what is says
If you want a friend feed any animal
There was so much space I cut me
A piece with a fine wine
It brought piece to my mind
In the summertime and it rolled
The summertime rolls”

I still love this song but now it is bittersweet.  Sometimes it makes me smile and sometimes it makes me cry, occasionally both.  Isn't life funny?