I look at the sun, I look to the sea, think of the pleasures we’ve known

Ah, the ocean. The sound of the hiss and crash, the smell of the salty air, the arc of the waves. How could you not love it?

The Surfrider Foundation was created in 1984 to help protect the oceans, waves, and beaches through their 60+ local chapters of do-gooders. The foundation has released three CDs (in 1996, ’97, and ’99) and many musicians have donated songs to help raise money for their good cause. Today we’ll take a gander at Music For Our Mother Ocean 3 (MOM3 for short), mostly because I can’t seem to find my copies of MOM1 or MOM2 at this particular moment. Bring a little sunshine through your earbuds:

01. “Little Deuce Coupe” – Brian Wilson & Brian Setzer
(the Brians face off with mostly pleasant results — kind of cutesy but I like ‘em both)
02. “(Put The Lime In The) Coconut” – Sprung Monkey
03. “Summer In The City” – Butthole Surfers
04. “Electric Music & The Summer People” – Beck
(doin what he does best, getting folks up on their feet to shake it a little with some smooth harmonica thrown in back and a slight middle-Eastern sitar vibe)
05. “Snoop Bounce” – Snoop Dogg and members of Rage Against The Machine
(perfect for when you’re showing your steeze, drivin’ around oceanside with your windows down and need something to roll to. “Give em the real street blues, have ‘em slidin’ in their eelskins, groovin’ in their tennis shoes.” Heck, why not.)
06. “Summer” – Lisa Loeb
07. “Ocean Size” (Butthole Surfers’ remix) – Jane’s Addiction
08. “The Whale Song” – Pearl Jam
(former drummer Jack Irons — who was instrumental in the formation of Pearl Jam as we know it — sings lead here, and the intro guitar chords are reminiscent of the moody PJ song “I Got Id”)
09. “Here Comes The Sun” – Allison Moorer
10. “Wild Life” – Paul McCartney & Wings
(from the 1971 album of the same name)
11. “Gone Surfin’” – Gary Hoey
12. “Sea Cruise” – Jimmy Buffett
13. “How Strong” – Red Hot Chili Peppers
14. “Walk Don’t Run” – Everclear
(classic surf jam reinterpreted pretty faithfully)
15. “Wicked Man” – Ben Harper
(also eventually made it onto his album with the Blind Boys of Alabama; fitting because of its gospel undertones)
16. “Mother” – Smash Mouth
(definitely NOT a Danzig cover. Just in case you were wondering what that would sound like.)
17. “Gaia” – James Taylor
(this one is really slow and a little lagging, but James Taylor’s voice always makes me feel good and smooth and relaxed and happy. From his 1997 CD Hourglass, as well.)
18. “Nothing to Say” – Beastie Boys (1:16 of chaos from the Boys)
19. “Sunland” – JKay
20. “Money” – Lit
21. “Winter Waves” – Chris Isaak
(the most pleasing gem of the batch, a lovely little tune that makes we want to learn how to surf on a grey winter day. Pleasant little verses, with some retro throwback spoken words in the middle to the girl who broke his heart. Of course.)

I bought the CD used on Amazon for a mere $3.00. The foldout paper case smells like patchouli and cigarette smoke, but hey, what did I expect for that mere pittance? It’s not an earthshatteringly amazing collection of 100% gems, but there’s a few goodies on here.

Not bad for an afternoon a la playa.

Donate to Surfrider Foundation here, if you feel so inclined. Then go for a walk on the beach and feel all expansive and nice inside.