"those lyrics are outside of time and gravity"
You can’t be a full participant in this golden age of ‘90s/early-aughts nostalgia and the arrival of warm weather without soaking in Rolling Stone’s amazing oral history of how the most legendary song of the summer, AKA “Smooth” by Santana & Rob Thomas actually came to be.
It’s full of gems on both the range of creative processes employed (tag yourself: we’re the songwriter who “literally had a weekend to come up with something,” but you might be the Rob Thomas “living at home with his fiancée, and doing nothing except smoking pot and playing PlayStation” type), and also like some very beautiful language from Carlos Santana on the ~trueness~ of the song:
“When I listened to the lyrics and heard, ‘It’s a hot one,’ those lyrics are outside of time and gravity. I thought we had entered a place of immortality … I think everyone needs a break from fear. And that song brings the frequency of joy and celebrating your life and your perfection. People need to be validated and celebrated, and that song works every time we play it.”
CC: to whoever is funding all these Rocketman-esque movies out there....we’re going to need a rush order on the feature length film treatment of this saga, yes?? thanks!! (also ty Dilip for this link!)