Every year music artists unofficially compete on the radio waves and iTunes downloads with new hyped and peppy songs, each battling to be that year’s Summer Anthem. While I enjoy jumping around on a beach to the sounds of all these new pump-up summer tunes as much as the next person, there are a few songs from my childhood summers that I hold dear in my poor nostalgic heart. Full disclosure, I didn’t have the best taste in music as a youngster, but then again, who did? Here are five Summer Anthems from my childhood.
Celebration by Kool & the Gang – age 3
I have a very clear memory that this song was somehow included in one of the Stuart Little films, but I can’t seem find any evidence… Regardless, I heard it somewhere and my parents had it on a CD, so there was an entire two months of summer road trips when I wouldn’t let them listen to anything else. No wonder that CD went missing…
Conga by Gloria Estefan, Miami Sound Machine – age 4
That particular CD reappeared the following year under mysterious circumstances, probably thanks to my Grandpa who loved this song. I never did manage to learn the words to the extra-quick chorus, but boy was it danceable (and, as I have just discovered, it also has a fairly entertaining music video)!
Sk8er Boi by Avril Lavigne – age 9
So began the dark void of my pre-teen music phase. Avril Lavigne was everything I wanted to be — a badass punk girl with coloured hair and goth-inspired eye makeup. Despite my newfound coolness, this song was still peppy enough for some summer dancing! I felt so grown up and cool listening to her, and now of course I can’t help but love it due to the nostalgia.
Supergirl by Saving Jane – age 10
I kicked my Avril Lavigne obsession out the door in favour of this song — not this group, just this one song. At this age I didn’t have an ipod or computer of my own, so I relied on a big boombox-ish radio tuned to the local station all summer. Luckily (for me if not for anyone else) this song got played at least once every two hours, resulting in me jumping up, cranking the volume and dancing like a crazy child for exactly three minutes and eleven seconds.
Second Chance by Shinedown – age 12
Warning: Shinedown is a gateway drug to pre-teen emo phases. I heard it once and my hair spontaneously burst into feathered bangs that fell artfully into my face and my entire wardrobe magically darkened to shades of black and grey, a trend that continued for the next four years (okay, I may be exagerating slightly). It isn’t a typical summer anthem, nevertheless I can’t help but sing along — albeit slightly ironically — whenever the tune drifts into my ears.
There you go, now you know my cringe-worthy music history. What were some of your favourite summer songs as a child? Thank you HCUBC Cuties, and here’s to looking forward to this summer’s slew of part anthems!
Photo Credits: newham-music.org.uk, sonypictures.com, pintrest.com, youtube.com