“Summer ’68” is basically about a one night stand. It’s not a strange spaced out odyssey like some Pink Floyd songs, but it has a certain epic charm nonetheless.
It actually contains a couple of super catchy riffs. It kicks off with a simple set of piano chords, which introduce the happy go lucky vibe of the track.
The other riff which I particularly love is the brass sections in the breakdowns. This would seem to belong to another song, but somehow it works fantastically here!
The lyrics are sung by Richard Wright, which is unusual, since the main singers of the band at this point were Roger Waters and David Gilmour.
The song is brimming with joy, and muses on the subject of love and groupies in the distracted, slightly poetic way that Pink Floyd songs often do.
The song was released on Atom Heart Mother in 1970. The band have come to dislike that album, and the critics never really rated it very well, but in my opinion it contains a nice selection of songs.
The actual song itself is more highly rated by critics, especially retrospectively.
Very fun!