Summer Babe (Winter Version) Lyrics
Ice, baby
I saw your girlfriend, and she was
Eating her fingers like they're just another meal
But she waits there
In the levee washes
Mixin' cocktails with a plastic-tipped cigar
[Verse 2]
My eyes stick to all the shiny robes
You wear on the protein delta strip
In an abandoned houseboat
I will wait there
I'll be waiting forever
I'm waitin', waitin', waitin', waitin', waitin', waitin', waitin', waiting
Go
[Guitar Solo]
[Verse 3]
Minerals, ice deposit daily
Drop off the first shiny robe
I've got a lot of things I want to sell, but
Not here, babe
You took 'em all
About
“Summer Babe (Winter Version)” is the first song off of Pavement’s 1992 album Slanted and Enchanted. The song was ranked number 292 by Rolling Stone as one of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
We didn’t know how to record. We used reverb on the drums — the cheapest, worst reverb ever.
Sourced here
‘Summer Babe’ is the start of Pavement front-loading their albums with the catchiest song first. Shots fired by Pavement! It’s just three chords, if you can call them that, so musically, it’s all about what you can wrestle from those chords. How far can you go? The lyrics are kinda silly. It mentions ‘Ice Ice Baby’. There’s some imagery from Stockton, California, where we recorded it, mixed in with a cryptic story about a girl and a guy. I don’t think it makes all that much sense, but it’s got some cool imagery.
I was living in Hoboken or Jersey City when I wrote it. I said, ‘I’m not gonna mess around with this noisy art thing. I’m going to make some real songs that people remember.’ So I had ‘Summer Babe’, and I played it for Kannberg. One thing I can say that’s good about Scott — I can say many things, but one thing specifically — is you know when he likes something. I remember showing it to him, and he’s like, ‘Yeah, that’s good, dude, you gotta do that one.’
Stephen Malkmus in Rolling Stone in 2018
- 1.Summer Babe (Winter Version)
- 9.Here
- 10.Two States
- 11.Perfume-V
- 12.Fame Throwa
- 14.Our Singer