The sun is shining bright, windows are rolled down, hair is blowing in the wind, and the country playlist is blasting through the speakers. The summer season has arrived, and country music is the soundtrack for this season. The songs that have gone dormant during the colder seasons have wakened with a click of a play button. All other playlist has been put on pause until the season of autumn returns. This happens every year, even for those people who tend to never listen to country. For some reason, country is hard to ignore or even hate when toes are in the sand, waves are crashing, salty hair is tangled from the wind and everyone is gathered together with drinks in their hands, singing along to the words and laughing.
Country music is the one genre that gathers a lot of people together in the summer season. It’s the genre that brings pure bliss and gets people excited for the warmer months of the year. There are a lot of possibilities for why country music is reserved for the summer. Maybe it is the lyrics about having a good time in the summer sun while swinging off a rope into a cold lake. Maybe the songs that are about a summer crush is what gets all the girls excited for the boys that visit the shore for those short three months. It reminds them of the three months they spent down the shore. It takes them back to that place that was filled with salty kisses, beachy hair, tan skin, late nights and memories.
Summer Sorbello said that, for her, “country music just gives me the summertime vibe,” especially when she is sitting on the beach, barefoot staring out into the water. Fiala Harasek said that country songs “are normally about sunshine, freedom and barbecues.” Those three sentences summarizes the summer season for some people. Students have the freedom to run wild and enjoy their days soaking in the yellow rays and not worrying about upcoming deadlines. It’s during this time that everyone comes home from college, and friends get together for cookouts and catch up with one another, while having country music play in the background. Songs about sunshine and summer activities “is just not what I’m looking to hear when it is in the middle of winter,” Fiala said, thinking about the genre.
Listening to country music in the summer brings back memories of all the past summers that people have spent with their friends. For most, it is just a nostalgic reminder of their childhood. Dr. R. Todd Rober, a music professor at Kutztown University, claimed that “some people might associate that music with what they grew up with or what their parents listened to, so they listen to it more during family get togethers during the summer holiday.”
Elizabeth Baiera said, “I grew up listening to country in the summertime. My family would play it all day long on a cookout day.” So, for her, country music was always associated with summer. So, whenever country music is playing, it takes her back to those summer days and the memories of the cookouts. Colleen Donnelly said that for her a lot of the music reminds her of summer. “I think just because we always have them blaring on the deck at my mom’s pool.”
For Connor High, he listens to country because of his surroundings. “Being from Lancaster, there’s a lot of farmland and areas to go fishing. So, I normally listen to country music because it has a nice chill-outside kind of vibe.” Most people feel that way about country, Dana Carty explained that country is a go-to genre because “no matter what song comes on, fast or slow, you can roll down the windows and have the wind blowing through your hair and love the way you feel.” Country is more about the way it makes a person feel in the summertime versus other seasons. In the colder seasons, people feel more depressed because the sun rarely comes out and it is cold which makes people want to stay indoors curled up under a blanket.
Jacob Stem also agreed that country music just gives that happy feeling because most songs are written about hanging with your friends in the summer and hanging out by a bonfire. Most songs are written about activities that are associated with summer such as fishing and trips to the beach. “Rap and other genres are more for parties at night,” Stem said. During the school season, rap and other genres do take control of the radio, especially at parties that are held by fraternity brothers.
Some people associate country as being a slow beat that is just about tractors and farms. However, that is no longer the case. Country music has evolved into more upbeat tempos that fit into that summertime feeling. “Since it’s summer and we’re all getting more vitamin D, you want to be happy and jam to upbeat songs, so having that pumped up or twangy song is a good summer feeling song,” Heather Androwick said. Of course, there is still slow country music being produced by some artists, but there is more of a variety in sound. Jordan Fritz explained how today’s country music is so upbeat and positive, which are the feelings a person wants to experience during the summer.
Kristen Covely barely listens to country, but she admits that she does have a habit of listening to it when the weather gets warmer and is driving down to her shore house. “Country concerts come around during the summertime. Everyone goes, grabs a drinks and listens to the music with their friends. Some people think that country music goes along with the beach scene because many artists have now put on concerts that are now at the beach. One artist, Sam Hunt, will be holding a concert for his fans at the beach in Atlantic City, N.J.
Dr. Rober said, “there has been may changes in country music over the last 100 years. Even just the name ‘country music’ is different from the early days when record companies called it hillbilly music.” Sam Hunt is an example of a country artist who is changing the way country music sounds and feels. He has become very popular among the younger generations of today. Most of his songs are more upbeat and even have a few raps thrown into the mix. However, it’s still considered country because of the lyrics. His song “Single for the Summer” is all about the feelings people get in summer. He sings about the sun sinking slower and the freedom of the summer nights.
Many of the country songs will have lyrics that are associated with or describe summer. Ms. Androwick said that her go-to summer song is “Barefoot and Crazy” by Jack Ingram, which is a song that talks about the very first day of summer when the clouds begin to part, and the sun begins to shine all bright and warm. He sings about those days when everyone goes down to the rivers and the lakes, jumping off cliffs into the water and having a great time with their friends.
A country song that is played a lot on the radio during the summer country is Georgia Line’s song “Cruise”. This is the song that really gives you the whole vibe of the windows down, driving around town with the wind blowing hair wildly around. Now that the warm weather is slowly beginning to return, you can expect some people to roll down the car windows, throw a pair of shades on and blast their Country Summer playlist.