Summer: June 21, 2011

With this week's Variations on a Theme episode falling on summer solstice, we couldn't let the occasion go by unnoticed—hence our Summer episode.

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We start with what everyone says when they first feel the hot sun.

The Undertones - "Here Comes the Summer" - The Undertones (1979)

Phoenix - "Summer Days" - United (2000)

Mean Tangerine - "Summertime" - Wolf Sampler (2011)

Now we check in with the urban summer experience.

Shy Child - "Summer" - Noise Won't Stop (2007)

Animal Collective - "Summertime Clothes" - Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009)

Jimi Hendrix - "Long Hot Summer Night" - Electric Ladyland (1968)

We transition into the subject of summer love.

The Rural Alberta Advantage - "In the Summertime" - Hometowns (2008)

Jason Collett - "High Summer" - Rat a Tat Tat (2010)

We continue on the subject of summer love—often temporary and fleeting, only lasting as long as the season.

Kathleen Edwards - "Summerlong" - Back to Me (2004)

Pete Yorn - "Last Summer" - Back & Fourth (2009)

Even though summer is just starting, eventually it must come to an end.

Passwords - "Life After Summer" - Passwords (2011)

New York Dolls - "End of the Summer" - Dancing Backward in High Heels (2011)

Sound Dimension - "Summertime" - Mojo Rocksteady Beat (2008 compilation)

Of all the seasons, summer may be the best one in which to let your mood reflect the weather, no matter how you might be feeling.

The Flaming Lips - "It's Summertime" - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)

Teenagers: June 14, 2011

Following up on our School theme last week, this week's theme concerns those individuals who are now out of school and marauding around your town: Teenagers.

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We start at the beginning of the teenage years.

Big Star - "Thirteen" - #1 Record (1972)

Stars - "14 Forever" - Sad Robots (2008)

The Square Waves - "Fifteen and Done" - Amplified to Landscapes (2011)

Let's continue with the middle years of teenage life.

Super Wild Horses - "Fifteen" - Fifteen (2010)

Buzzcocks - "Sixteen Again" - Love Bites (1978)

The Indelicates - "Sixteen" - American Demo (2008)

We detour from the specific ages of the teen years to delve into the general teen experience.

The Virgins - "Teen Lovers" - The Virgins (2008)

Apex Manor - "Teenage Blood" - The Year of Magical Drinking (2011)

We Are Wolves - "Teenage, Bats & Anthropology" - Total Magique (2007)

We dive back into the teenage ages. Adolescence bring change—and it's not always appreciated by your friends, and vice versa.

Broken Social Scene - "Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl" - You Forgot It in People (2002)

Hey Rosetta! - "Seventeen" - Seeds (2011)

Arguably the biggest change of the teenage years comes when you turn the supposed age of adulthood: 18.

I Blame Coco - "Eighteen with a Bullet" - Island Life: 50 Years of Island Records (2009)

Tegan & Sara - "Nineteen" - The Con (2007)

We end with a beautiful song that perfectly captures that teenage feeling: a million emotions you can't name, swirling in radiant colors that inspire you, depress you and surprise you at every moment.

Sonic Youth - "Teen Age Riot" - Daydream Nation (1988)

School: June 7, 2011

With the school year winding down and many people graduating from high school, college or university, this week Variations on a Theme went with a School theme to usher those plucky graduates into their wide-open future in style.

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We start with the ostensible reason we go to school in the first place: education.

The Metros - "Education Pt. 2" - More Money Less Grief (2008)

Modest Mouse - "Education" - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (2007)

Pearl Jam - "Education" - Lost Dogs (2003)

Now we delve into the day-to-day school experience. What's it really like at school?

Jawbreaker - "Chemistry" - Dear You (1995)

Nirvana - "School" - From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah (1996)

The Evaporators - "I Quit School" - Ripple Rock (2004)

Let's continue our examination of life at school.

Hot Chip - "Boy from School" - The Warning (2006)

Destroyer - "School, and the Girls Who Go There" - City of Daughters (1998)

Belle & Sebastian - "We Rule the School" - Tigermilk (1996)

Now we hear about those central figures of schools: teachers.

Leonard Cohen - "Teachers" - Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967)

The Joel Plaskett Emergency - "Come On Teacher" - Truthfully Truthfully (2003)

School is certainly an institution in modern life.

Rheostatics - "Churches and Schools" - Greatest Hits (1987)

John Hiatt - "Graduated" - Little Head (1997)

As you graduates make your way in this brave new world, remember that it's not all about academics and achievement. You've also got to get your...

Jamiroquai - "Soul Education" - Synkronized (1999)

Fruits and Vegetables: May 31, 2011

Following up on last week's Gardens episode of Variations on a Theme, this week our theme is the products of those gardens: Fruits and Vegetables.

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Let's start with fruit in general—sometimes a source of contention.

Ridley Bent - "Fruit Pickers (In Dubious Battle)" - Blam (2005)

Christine Fellows - "What Makes the Cherry Red" - Nevertheless (2007)

Jess Hill - "Apple Tree" - Orchard (2011)

Now we drop down from the fruit trees to see the vegetables on or in the earth.

The Wilderness of Manitoba - "Golden Beets" - When You Left the Fire (2010)

Alison Krauss & Union Station - "The Boy Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn" - New Favorite (2001)

We stay with vegetables but go a little more general—and a little noisier.

The Flaming Lips - "March of the Rotten Vegetables" - Zaireeka (1997)

Opposite Day - "Vegetables" - What Is Is? (2009)

Barenaked Ladies - "The Canadian Snacktime Trilogy Part III: Vegetable Town" - Snacktime! (2008)

Getting back to vegetable varieties, but with a hip-hop take.

Noisy Stylus - "Broccoli Wars" (2001)

Freestyle Fellowship - "Hot Potato" - Innercity Griots (1993)

Time to hop off the vegetable train and get back to some sweet fruit.

The Presidents of the United States of America - "Peaches" - The Presidents of the United States of America (1995)

Pink Floyd - "Apples and Oranges" (1967)

Apostle of Hustle - "Blackberry" - Eats Darkness (2009)

We end with a classic fruit song.

The Beatles - "Strawberry Fields Forever" (1967)