A Sun-Drenched Invitation to Ease, Play, and Remember
“Summer Days” brings a relaxed, glowing warmth to Hidden Passion, carried by mellow Rhodes chords, airy pads, and the soft, lyrical touch of electric violin. It’s a track that leans back rather than leans forward—unhurried, spacious, and effortlessly nostalgic. Toby Berka paints summer not as a fleeting season, but as a state of being: a moment when life feels lighter, memories grow sweeter, and joy arrives without effort.
Lyrics
Here in the shade life is easy to bear
Warm and refreshing sways gently the air
Lively and lush, all is vivid and fair
Drifting along like we haven’t a care
Out in the sun it is easy to be
Hopeful and light, we are careless and free
Brightly alight, it is easy to see
Life is a gift, full of joy, full of glee
Lounging in and basking in the sun’s tender rays
Playing in and dancing in the warm summer haze
Life astounds as joy abounds in wonderful ways
Our songs resound of pleasures found in these summer days
Let us recall those days when we were young
Free and unburdened, so harmless our fun
Let us remember the songs we had sung
Seemingly now all our age is undone
Come play with me in the sun and unwind
Out in the wild where we leave all behind
Stretching my soul, only beauty in mind
These summer days leave my pleasures refined
Lounging in and basking in the sun’s tender rays
Playing in and dancing in the warm summer haze
Life astounds as joy abounds in wonderful ways
Our songs resound of pleasures found in these summer days
A Gentle Drift Through Sunshine, Memory, and Carefree Joy
“Summer Days” is where Hidden Passion lets itself breathe. After tracks filled with emotional intensity, swirling synths, and bold pleas of love, this song reclines into a calmer, more languid groove. Berka’s use of Rhodes and soft pads gives the piece a velvety, late-afternoon feel, while the electric violin glides through the mix like a warm breeze. Everything about the arrangement encourages the listener to loosen their shoulders, slow their pulse, and simply exist for a while.
Lyrically, “Summer Days” is an ode to ease. The opening lines—
“Here in the shade life is easy to bear
Warm and refreshing sways gently the air”
—establish a world where effort dissolves. Nothing needs to be achieved; nothing urgently calls. Instead, Berka invites us into a mood of presence, where the “lively and lush” world becomes a companion rather than a backdrop. The song radiates gratitude for the simple pleasures that often slip past unnoticed.
The chorus reinforces that carefree spirit with infectious warmth:
“Lounging in and basking in the sun’s tender rays…”
It’s not just about relaxation—it’s about reclaiming delight. Berka captures the almost childlike joy that rises unbidden in the summer haze, a joy that “astounds” and “abounds” in ways that feel both natural and miraculous. The chorus feels like the musical equivalent of sunlight glittering on water: rhythmic, bright, and quietly mesmerizing.
In the second verse, the track blooms into full nostalgia. Berka invokes memories of youth, singing, play, and a sense of time when burdens had not yet taken shape. Yet he doesn’t linger in the past with longing or regret. Instead, he uses memory as a bridge—an invitation to rediscover that carefree openness in the present. When he sings, “Seemingly now all our age is undone,” it’s not magical thinking; it’s the transformative power of joy, how a single warm moment can make us feel young again.
Throughout the track, the electric violin threads through the arrangement like sunlight cutting through leaves—gentle, warm, and expressive without ever overwhelming the softness of the song. The Rhodes keeps everything grounded, its mellow timbre carrying the weight of summer afternoons spent reclining, dreaming, or simply watching the world shimmer.
“Summer Days” stands out on Hidden Passion because of its effortless charm. It reminds the listener that joy doesn’t always come from passion aflame or emotional upheaval. Sometimes it arrives quietly, drifting toward us on warm air, accompanied by music that feels both nostalgic and alive. Berka captures that fleeting brilliance and slows it down just enough to savor.
It’s a musical hammock, swaying in a summer breeze: gentle, bright, and deeply refreshing.
Toby Berka 