July 9 - Yess

This is a song that I think some of you will think breaks with my musical taste. The year was 1999, and I was frantically trying to get everything together to fly over to the US on August 5 and then to get married on Friday August 13. My dad had been working in Australia for quite some time, and my mom was flying over to join him for a while - and my sister had just left her long-term boyfriend and finished nursing school and needed to get moved back to Trondheim. Helping her move was actually one of my favorite things to do that summer - I remember spending the night in her tiny student apartment before carrying everything out to the trailer the next morning. Then we drove down to my uncle Olav, where my grandmother had been, and took her with us on the drive home. It was a great trip - and while moving might not seem like it is relaxing, it was a nice break for me to take the trip. I have always relaxed when driving, and Norwegian summers can be really sunny and nice, and that's how I remember it.

But in all the stress and hectic flurries of activities of that summer (don't get me started on the uncertainties about getting the visa in time), there was this one song that reminded me that, "yes, it's summer, and everything is chill". The beats were laid back, the vocal delivery was laid back, and the lyrics were laid back - so I could more easily get to my default laid back state of mind. So today, I thought I'd share what kept me grounded in the chaotic summer of 1999: Folk & Røvere (people and robbers) with their 1999 summer hit, Yess.