Life’s A Beach: Island Hopping

Written for Song Lyric Sunday –
“National Beach Day”

This week at Jim Adams’ Song Lyric Sunday, the theme is “National Beach Day” and our challenge is to write about a song that celebrates sandy beaches. Spending time at the shore was a way of life for me since childhood when my parents took us to Orchard Beach in The Bronx for swimming and a picnic. As a teenager, I’d go to Jones Beach on Long Island with friends. After getting married, Bill and I spent a couple of summers in Hampton Bays, NY, and after the kids were born, we started vacationing in Montauk. The surf and sand were major elements in my life; then in 2019, covid hit and everything changed, but nothing …. not even a pandemic …. can take away my fabulous memories from those many years with family and friends.  Here are a couple of songs which I think celebrate sandy beaches very nicely. Grab a drink and your towel and let’s go to the beach!

Born on May 20, 1959, Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwo’ole was a Hawaiian musician, singer, and songwriter know for his angelic voice and mastery of the ukulele. Izzy grew up surrounded by music; his parents worked at a Waikiki bar and his uncle was musician Moe Keale. Izzy started playing the ukulele at age 11. In 1976, along with his older brother, they formed the influential traditional group, The Makaha Sons of Ni’ihau, recording numerous popular albums. He recorded his famous medley of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World” in a single studio session in 1988 which became a global sensation. In 1993, Izzy released his breakthrough solo album, Facing Future, which became the top-selling Hawaiian music album worldwide. Affectionately known as “The Voice of Hawaii”, Izzy was deeply passionate about Hawaiian sovereignty and the preservation of native culture. He passed away from respiratory failure on June 16, 1997, at the young age of 38, receiving the rare honor of lying in state at the Hawaii State Capitol.

“White Sandy Beach of Hawaii” is a beloved contemporary Hawaiian classic written in 1991 by Duc Huy, a Vietnamese-Hawaiian musician who performed under the stage name of Willie Dann. Huy’s inspiration for the song was his wedding ceremony on a Hawaiian beach. While the song circulated among local Hawaiian artists, IZ recorded his definitive version and featured it on his 1993 multi-platinum album, Facing Future. The track features IZ’s gentle, soaring tenor vocals accompanied only by his signature sweet ukulele, capturing a peaceful, nostalgic island ambiance. The lyrics express dreams of walking hand-in-hand with a loved one on a sun-drenched shore. The song is a nostalgic reflection on love, longing, and peace, using the imagery of a dreamlike tropical paradise to soothe a troubled heart.

This is “White Sandy Beach of Hawaii” by IZ

Up next is a group we all know, one which has charmed and entertained us for years. Starting out as a garage band in California in 1961, the Beach Boys are considered American music royalty. The legendary rock band consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their friend Al Jardine. Led by Brian Wilson’s musical ingenuity, the band combined 1950s R&R, doo-wop, and R&B with complex vocal harmonies to define the “California sound” of sun, surf, cars, and romance. Although many of their songs had a surfing theme, the only actual surfer in the group was drummer Dennis Wilson; his idea to write songs about the sport inspired their breakthrough regional hit, “Surfin’,” in 1961. Hits like “Surfin’ Safari,” “Surfin’ U.S.A.,” and “California Girls” made them a dominant national act that rivaled British Invasion groups. The Beach Boys 1966 masterpiece, Pet Sounds, pushed boundaries with innovative studio techniques and orchestral arrangements, heavily inspiring albums like The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Released later in 1966, chart-topping single “Good Vibrations” represented the pinnacle of Brian Wilson’s ambitious studio experimentation. The Beach Boys have sold over 100 million records worldwide and hold the record for the most US Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 hits by an American band, with 37 songs reaching the top 40. In 1998 they were inducted into the R&R Hall of Fame as well as being part of the inaugural class of inductees to the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. Multiple landmark recordings have been inducted for historical significance in the Grammy Hall of Fame, including Pet Sounds, and the singles “Good Vibrations” and “California Girls”. Rolling Stone magazine ranked the Beach Boys at #12 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, making them the highest-ranked American band on the list.

Co-written in 1988 by movie producer Terry Melcher, Beach Boy Mike Love, John Phillips (The Mamas & The Papas), and song-writer Scott Mckenzie, “Kokomo” is a tropical pop smash hit that became the Beach Boys’ first US #1 single in 22 years since the release of “Good Vibrations”. The track was specifically written for the Tom Cruise film Cocktail. Music critics largely panned the track as “syrupy commercial pop”, but it struck a massive chord with the general public and introduced the band to a new generation of fans. While the lyrics claim Kokomo is “off the Florida Keys”, no such island exists there. The name was fabricated to evoke a dreamy, idealized Caribbean escape. Yes, the Kokomo in the song is a made-up place but it shares its name with real towns like Kokomo, Indiana and the chorus features the real locations of Aruba, Jamaica, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Key Largo, and Montego.

This is “Kokomo” by The Beach Boys

Bonus Track: After all that talk of sandy beaches and fun in the sun, I’m ready for a piña colada. 🍹 This is “Escape (The Piña Colada Song) by Rupert Holmes.

National Beach Day

Big thanks to Jim Adams for hosting another great Song Lyric Sunday this week and every week. Be sure to follow his link and check out his site.

Thanks for stopping by and listening to some great music today. I hope you enjoyed the theme for this week as well as the information and music I featured.

That’s all she wrote, kids. See you on the flip side. 😎

NAR©2026

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