Today officially marks the start of the summer season, and with that, I came up with an idea to collect all of the best and my personal favorite songs that people usually associate with “summer” and create a cohesive playlist that you all can enjoy with me.
First of all, I want to clarify what actually counts as “summer music,” because the term can change and offer different sounds and genres. Other than being released in the summer season, which is also not a requirement, the songs often have a certain vibe that is more related to the overall “feel” and mood rather than any specific theory behind them.
So in plain terms, it can be any song that you associate with the summer; it’s a feeling. There are also two main divides when it comes to summer music. On one hand, we have happy, upbeat, lighthearted, and sunny songs like “This Must Be the Place” by Talking Heads. On the other hand, we have songs associated with melancholy summertime—songs that are slow in tempo, even mildly depressing, like “Summertime Sadness” by Lana Del Rey.
The quest for a song to become a “summer hit” is driven by many fans of popular music, but these songs often end up as one-hit wonders. The search for the perfect summer song has a long history, as mentioned in an article by Phil Edwards titled “The surprising history of the "song of the summer” on Vox.
By the time Billboard got involved with music, the summer song was already an established idea. The magazine published its first hit parade in 1936, and in 1958 the Billboard Hot 100 debuted. The Hot 100's launch made it possible to calculate exactly what was lighting up the charts.
Given its long history, the race is still significant and shows no signs of slowing down. With more music being produced than ever before, and in today's age with apps like TikTok guiding the industry towards a perfect summer hit, artists are more eager than ever to earn this title. To be honest, in the past I was very defensive when it came to summer hits. Personally, I tend to dislike them or completely ignore them. However, finding a song that captures those perfect summer feelings started to seem more and more appealing with each passing season.
Here’s a playlist of my TOP 100 SUMMER SONGS! I hope you have fun with it. Feel free to drop your recommendations for the perfect summer song if I missed any of your favorites.