I had a lot of fun making
a playlist for the last Music Monday, so I want to try it again. This time,
in celebration of the Memorial Day weekend, I want to focus on Summer Songs.
And I’m not referring to how people will label certain pop songs “the song of
the summer”, I’m talking about songs that feel explicitly summery (although
there can be overlap, depending on the song I guess, although I don’t include any
of that overlap here). I have no idea if other people think of songs as “Summer
Songs”, but I definitely do. And for whatever reason, none of the other seasons
get that sort of label in my head.
My most basic definition has been a sort of tautological
“songs that sound good during summer”, something you would listen to sitting by
the pool, or driving around with the windows down on a hot day, or just
enjoying warm evenings.
I’ve just tried reverse engineer what qualities make me
think that, but there hasn’t been any one factor that’s consistent among
them.* There have been a few qualities
I’ve noticed though, including things like strong basslines; a light and almost
airy feel (although not all are explicitly; explicit references to summer,
heat, relaxing/wasting time, and youth; high synth or guitar parts, mostly as
rhythm instruments but sometimes with lead riffs; and big,
easy-to-sing-along-to choruses as well as frequent use of non-words (like
“ohs”, for example) to the same end.
*Other than “I have
memories of listening to them over the summer”, but that’s a big
chicken-and-egg question. Did I listen to them over the summer because I
thought they sounded summery? Or did I decide they sounded summery because I
remember listening to them over the summer? Not all of them came out during the
summer, for what it’s worth, so I think that leads me to think it’s the first,
but I can’t be sure either way.
Now that I got that way-too-academic breakdown, here’s the
playlist: