So, today is the first of July.  (Rabbit, rabbit.)  Summer may have started officially with the solstice two weekends ago, but today it seems undeniable.  Not just calendar-real, but real-real.  It's July.  It's summer.  The heat is on.

And to celebrate this long, lazy month of pure summer fun, Being Savvy is going to take you and your family away.  Where, you may ask?  Well, all sorts of places, near, far, real and imagined.  July's theme is Escapes, Real and Imagined. 

Stay tuned as we take a fabulous, month-long vacation together, Savvy style.

To set the scene, today's Tuesday List Day brings you some of our favorite summertime tunes.  The songs that makes us think of sun-drenched days and places near and loved, or far away and dreamed of.  The beats that get us up and hopping around. 

Here are some of our picks -- what are yours?

5. "Here Comes the Sun" from Abbey Road by the Beatles.  The perfect summer morning wake-up music.  (It will cheer you, even when rise and shine time these days for both the sun and your little darling is woefully early.)

4. Joni Mitchell's "All I Want" is pale summer sunlight, digitized.  Plus, it's so fun to sing "I want to shampoo you" to that adorable little face you love best!

3. Cesaria Evora's voice takes us non-stop to the islands.  Listen to "Flor Na Paul" while sitting in the warm shade and watching your kids play with the hose, and you'll be fluent in the Cape Verde local dialect in an afternoon.

2. U2's "Beautiful Day" feels an awful lot like summer's anthem.

1. Our all-time sunniest song is the rather hard-to-find In the Middle of the Ocean by a rather young Tony Bennett.  Two minutes, ten seconds of pure summer.

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The incredible team of local Being Savvy city editors from Atlanta to Vancouver and everywhere in between or otherwise are also riffing on what summer music means to families in their towns.  Don't miss a slide through the drop-down list "Being Savvy near you" on our home page for all the best local music musings, all across the land! 

From the many gems, some of our favorite finds include Tampa's list of local concerts from Ringo Starr to Chris Isaak, via Pat Benetar and Loverboy!  And the San Fernando Valley's picks for a three-year-old's most requested hits.  LA's West Side brings you a round-up of local summer music festivals from the big and famous to the little and local.  Boston takes you outside the famed ballpark concerts for a full round-up of the city's summer music scene.  Honolulu has the South Pacific's best concert list, and Columbus brings you the greatest concert getaways from the mainland.  More personal playlists abound, whether you are local or not:  Washington DC rocks your summer roadtrip, BBQ, or inside game of freeze dance with suggested playlist.  Atlanta wraps us the essential summer anthems for you, minivan-style.  Minneapolis has a quirky, delightful little set.  And San Antonio brings you the Texas down-low to set your summer scene.  Denver chimes on the mile-high local faves.  And Nashville, of course, brings you all of Music City's music thoughts.

Enjoy!