I hated this song when it first came out; it sounded overproduced, overly twee and everything that I didn’t want in my pop music at the time (It was the height of Britpop, and I wanted my pop to have some surreal idea of authenticity and noise amongst its stylized, idealized sixties retro). Since then, I’ve found some charm to the Boo Radleys in general (The album following Wake Up, C’Mon Kids, is rather great), and found myself wanting to revisit this song in case I was wrong the first time around. And… I was? Maybe? Possibly?
What may have happened is that, even though I still have the same objections to the song, I’m less bothered by twee and overproduction. I mean, sure; everything sounds too shiny and the horns sound fake, and yes, “You can’t blame me/Not for the death of summer” is trying a little too hard, but still: There’s something appealing about the song, despite all that: The harmonies as the backing vocals do their “Wake up/Wake up/Wake up” thing, or the way the song reminds you – very purposefully, I think – of “Good Day Sunshine” off Revolver, perhaps. Perhaps realizing that “Wake Up Boo!” isn’t the worst thing in the world is a sign of old age. I’m due, after all.