Track 1 of the album Lights Half Down · 2026

Summer Rolls Out From the Schoolyard Gate

“I'm the lady at the schoolyard gate with a whistle and a broom, and the summer rolls out past me. It's the only bright song on the record, so I put it first.”

jazz · jazz · nostalgic swing · 2:58

Lyrics

I'm the lady by the schoolyard gate
With the whistle and the broom
I've watched a thousand little ones
Come running from the room
Their bags are bigger than they are
Their shoelaces undone
They tumble out like sparrows
Into the afternoon sun

Summer rolls out from the schoolyard gate
Like a red carpet, never late
Every child a little parade
Every step a sweet serenade
Summer rolls out from the schoolyard gate
Oh, I wave and I wait
For the last one, the slow one
To walk out into the sun

A girl comes by with a paper crown
Says it's for me to keep
A boy hands me a dandelion
Gone to seed, so sweet
I tuck it in my apron
Beside the dusty key
They'll never know I loved them
Quite as much as I do, you see

Summer rolls out from the schoolyard gate
Like a red carpet, never late
Every child a little parade
Every step a sweet serenade
Summer rolls out from the schoolyard gate
Oh, I wave and I wait
For the last one, the slow one
To walk out into the sun

The yard goes quiet, the swings sway slow
A single sock lies on the ground
I lock the gate, I hum a tune
Of all the happy sound

Summer rolls out from the schoolyard gate
Like a red carpet, never late
Every child a little parade
Every step a sweet serenade
Summer rolls out from the schoolyard gate
Oh, I wave and I wait
For the last one, the slow one
To walk out into the sun

Summer rolls out
Summer rolls out
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye