"Summer in the City" was a 1966 hit single by The Lovin' Spoonful, written by Mark Sebastian (brother of John Sebastian) and Steve Boone. It came from their album, Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 13. The song featured a series of car horns, during the instrumental bridge, starting with a Volkswagen Beetle horn, and ending up with a jackhammer sound, in order to give the impressions of the sounds of the summer in the city. The song is ranked #393 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

The signature keyboard part is played on a Hohner Pianet, and the organ is a Vox Continental.


Hot Town
summer in the city
Back of my neck
getting dirty and gritty

Been down,
isn't It a pity
Doesn't seem to be
a shadow In the city

All Around
people looking half dead
Walking on the sidewalk
hotter than a match head


But At Night
It's A Different World
Go Out
and Find A Girl
Come On, Come On
and Dance All Night
Despite The Heat
It Will Be Alright

And Babe,
Don'T You Know It'S A Pity
The Days
Can'T Be Like The Night
In The Summer In The City
In The Summer In The City


Cool Town,
evening In The City
Dressed so fine
and looking so pretty
Cool Cat,
lookin for a kitty
Gonna look in every corner of the city
Till I'm
Weezin like a bus stop
Runningup the stairs
Gonna meet ya on the roof top

But At Night It'S A Different World
Go Out and Find A Girl
Come On, Come On
Lets Dance All Night
Despite The Heat
It Will Be Alright

And Babe,
Don'T You Know It'S A Pity
The Days
Can'T Be Like The Night
In The Summer In The City
In The Summer In The City

Solo

But at night it's a different world
Go out and find a girl
Come on, come on
lets dance all night
Despite the heat
it will be alright

And Babe
Don'T You Know It'S A Pity
The Days
Can'T Be Like The Night
In The Summer In The City
In The Summer In The City

Hot Town Summer In The City