Durandatory Duran: One More Post of Summer Themed Duran Duran Songs

By Chris McGinty of AccordingToWhim.com

I’ve done two posts of Duran Duran songs that are in some way related to summertime. The first three were tracks that actually had the word “summer” in the title. The second post was three “summerable mentions” where the word summer was in the lyrics, and one track that was on the summer fringe. Today, I have two “summerable mentions” and one that’s on the summer fringe. Also, in the second post I discussed a song that while I think it’s a great song is on the low end of my mostly imagined list of best to least best Duran Duran songs. Today, I’m going to start with a Duran Duran song that may actually be in my Top 10, if not then my Top 20 for sure.

Duran Duran – Mediterranea

When Duran Duran’s thirteenth studio album, “All You Need is Now” came out, I was so impressed with the album that I made a decision I thought I’d never make. Up until that point, I could definitively say that my Top 3 Duran Duran albums were “Medazzaland,” “Liberty,” and “Big Thing.” I couldn’t really tell you after that what my next favourite album was. It tended to vary by my mood. “All You Need is Now” was easy to slot in at the number 4 slot.

On top of that, while I instantly liked almost every song on the album, one song stood out as one of the most amazing songs they’d ever written, “Mediterranea.” While the song really is talking about the dreariness of the wintertime, it’s about dreaming of a summer getaway to a faraway place, “Oh imagine, summer fashion.”

Along with Nathan and his wife, I got to see this song performed live during that tour. I believe it was at the WinStar show. I believe it should be added to every set Duran Duran ever plays.

"What a great show that was." "You can say that again."

Duran Duran – Before the Rain

“Before the Rain” is also from “All You Need is Now.” It has the line, “A stormy summer, is rolling closer.”

This track was primarily written by Simon Le Bon and was a call back of sorts to the feel of “The Chauffeur” from the “Rio” album. We also got to see this one performed live at the Verizon Theater in Grand Prairie, Texas show, almost a year after the WinStar show.

"What a great show that was." "You can say that again."

I wish I had more to say about this track, because it’s a really great song, but I just don’t have any other information to impart.

Duran Duran – Drive By

“Drive By” is on the summer fringe, because it starts with the line, “It was the hottest day in July.” It is from Duran Duran’s eighth studio album “Thank You.” I’m going to have to write a review of “Thank You” one of these days. It’s an album of cover songs, and I’m not really all that into Duran Duran covering songs.

"What an... ok album that was." "Um... yeah."

“Drive By” is an odd song though, because in a way they cover their own song while covering a Hall and Oates song while writing an original song. The track uses elements of the Hall and Oates song “Falling.” Simon tells the tale of a young man stopped in standstill traffic drifting off and dreaming. The “story of his dream” is instrumentation from “The Chauffeur,” which I already mentioned once in this post.

I did my best to collect summer themed Duran Duran songs into these three posts. I think I got everything. I listened to B-Sides and demo tracks and used it as an excuse to listen to all fourteen of their albums. If I missed something, please let me know. I will say this. I almost want to include “The Chauffeur” as on the summer fringe, because he alludes to warm weather in the lyrics, and it was mentioned twice in my descriptions. It’s almost like it wanted to make the list.

Chris McGinty is a blogger who feels like maybe “My Antarctica” takes place in the summer? It’s always cold there, even during the summer. It’s a stretch. That’s why it’s in the blurb.