Summer is my favorite season. It’s warm, my friends are home, and there’s never nothing to do. Some of my best memories are hanging out with my friends at someone’s lake house and just talking and listening to music.
The one spring task I set for myself is to craft a perfect summer playlist for my friends and me to enjoy. My qualifications include having over twenty followers on Apple Music (it took grit, call me Alix Earle), the nickname “Disco MQ,” and being a survivor of a country music family. Here are ten elite songs and why you need to add them to your summer playlist:
1. Trip the Light Fantastic – Greta Van Fleet
Greta Van Fleet is the ultimate summer band to follow. They have a generational sound that stands apart from newer music. GVF has a Led Zeppelin vibe with a modern twist.
“Trip the Light Fantastic” is about reaching enlightenment through Hindu spiritual tactics. Lead singer Josh Kiszka wrote the lyrics one night while watching the ice sink and float in his drink. He remembered philosopher Alan Watts who called life “an ebb and flow.”
This song is best played during a bike ride, hike, boat ride, or any pick-up sports game.
Listen to this song if you want “to be wholly free and amongst the stars.”
We’re tripping the light fantastic. We’re cosmic.
Josh Kiszka
2. Solitude is Bliss – Tame Impala
I can’t count how many times I’ve heard, “Did you know Tame Impala is just one guy?” Yeah. We get it.
Anyways, Tame Impala is the iconic brainchild of Kevin Parker and an international traveling act known for its psychedelic rock and stunning performances.
Their third album, “InnerSpeaker,” was released in 2010. It features various songs, but “Solitude Is Bliss” outshines most, if not all, of them.
The lyrics are beautifully written, but the beat is what makes this song unique. While it’s been described as an “introvert anthem,” it is less about being alone and more about knowing who you are. It’s about understanding and being in tune with yourself.
This song is best played alone by the pool or on a long drive (windows down, volume up).
Listen to this song if you think, “company’s okay, solitude is bliss.”
You will never come close to how I feel.
“Solitude Is Bliss”-Tame Impala
3. Right Down the Line – Gerry Rafferty
This song is, hands-down, no competition, the best summer jam probably in existence.
With its yacht rock feel, dive bar vibe, and feature in the hit show Euphoria, there is no contest that this song is an absolute hit.
Released in 1978, “Right Down the Line” has more than passed the test of time, and for a good reason.
Rafferty wrote this song about his wife, Carla Ventilla, thanking her for staying with her through hard times and how his love grows for her every day. If you ever need a good cry, read the comments under the YouTube video.
This song is best played at the beach with friends, when with a significant other, by a campfire, or on a pontoon boat (no other kind).
Listen to this song if you want to share your life with someone.
You’ve been as constant as the northern star, the brightest light that shines.
“Right Down the Line”-Gerry Rafferty
4. Scar tissue – Red Hot Chili peppers
“Scar Tissue” is on three of my playlists: my summer playlist, my crying playlist, and my “Crowd Pleaser” playlist. Do with that information what you will.
Released in 1999 on best selling album “Californication,” the song addresses some pretty heavy topics. Underneath the fun and catchy beat lies the experiences of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’s lead singer, Anthony Kiedis.
The lyrics tell the story of drug addicts and the grueling battles that come with getting clean, battles that Kiedis himself has faced. The title itself references the scars left by injecting intravenous drugs. In the song, Kiedis sings about how lonely healing from addiction is and the dark situations addiction can involve someone in.
This song is best played in a car alone, especially if you’re feeling some summertime sadness, or in good company at sunset.
Listen to this song if you feel like you have no one to share a “lonely view” with.
I’ll make it to the moon if I have to crawl and with the birds I’ll share this lonely viewin’.
“Scar Tissue”-Red Hot Chili Peppers
5. SOlar Power – Lorde
When I worked at a summer camp, every morning, our cabins would have to perform an original rhyme to a song before cabin inspection. I wrote a rhyme to this song and had my fourteen-year-old boy campers perform it. We won honor cabin that week, so this song is a winner in more ways than one (the other way being it’s by Lorde).
Immediately after its release, fans noticed a complete change in what Lorde presented herself as. It was made public on a random Thursday in 2021, almost four years since she had released music, ironically on the only solar eclipse that year.
“Solar Power” is about the transition from winter to summer and the joy it brings. Lorde described it as being “a celebration of the natural world.” When fans questioned this new identity, Lorde called herself “a modern girl in a deadstock bikini, in touch with her past and her future, vibrating at the highest level when summer comes around.”
This song is best played while sunbathing, bridge jumping with friends, hiking, or walking your dog.
Listen to this song if you are ready to “kick it” this summer.
Come on and let the bliss begin.
“Solar Power”-Lorde
6. You Make me Feel like dancing – Leo Sayer
I heard this song for the first time while on a service trip in East Kensington, Pennsylvania. It’s an indescribably impoverished area crippled by violence and drug addiction.
While serving meals one night in particularly bad weather, one of the guests started playing this song from a speaker. My mood immediately changed, and I couldn’t believe how sweet life was then and how grateful I was to have an incredible family, great friends, and what I do.
This song is about someone who brings great joy to Sayer’s life. It was his first #1 hit on the Billboard charts, and it doesn’t even take a full listen to wonder why.
This song is best played during an impromptu dance session with your friends for obvious reasons.
Listen to this song if you’re “gonna dance the night away.”
Just snap your fingers and I’m walkin’.
“You Make Me Feel Like Dancing”-Leo Sayer
7. Party on fifth ave. – Mac Miller
I was introduced to this song, and Mac Miller, by my lovely best friend, Lily, who has much better taste in music than I do.
The album “Party On Fifth Ave.” is featured on is called “Blue Slide Park,” named after a park in Pittsburgh Miller grew up hanging out at, which was artistically reflected in the album cover. He was only nineteen when this album dropped, making it that much more impressive.
The song is incredibly upbeat and fun and features a baritone saxophone sample from “Unwind Yourself” by Marva Whitney.
This song is best played in the car or while getting ready to go out with friends, but it should only be played on full volume.
Listen to this song if “you tryna party.”
I’m flyer than Beetlejuice.
“Party On Fifth Ave.”-Mac Miller
8. Little Lies – Fleetwood Mac
If you know me, you know my friends, which means you know we’re all suckers for Fleetwood Mac.
Released in 1987, “Little Lies” is on Fleetwood Mac’s fourteenth studio album, “Tango in the Night.” It was written by the band’s keyboard player, Christine McVie.
When asked about the song’s meaning, she said, “The idea of the lyric is: If I had the chance, I’d do it differently next time. But since I can’t, just carry on lying to me, and I’ll believe, even though I know you’re lying.”
The lyrics are classic and haunting and you just can’t go wrong with Fleetwood Mac in the summer.
This song is best played on a bike ride or while sunbathing.
Listen to this song if you’re about to break up with someone.
If I could turn the page in time, then I’d rearrange just a day or two.
“Little Lies”-Fleetwood Mac
9. From Now On – The Features
I did find out about this song from the movie “Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 1,” but that doesn’t necessarily negate its potential to be a great addition to any summer playlist.
“From Now On” is played during Bella and Edward’s honeymoon scenes, which are very fun and lighthearted, which is reflected in the lyrics.
It’s the first time in the entire movie series that Edward is relaxed, which says a lot about the song itself.
“From Now On” was released by The Features, an indie rock band from Tennessee, in 2011 as a part of the motion picture soundtrack for the fourth “Twilight” movie.
This song is best played on a run, while riding bikes, or during a pool party.
Listen to this song if someone makes you feel whole.
I held your hand and I felt complete.
“From Now On”-The Features
10. New Romantics – Taylor Swift
This might be a hot take, but “1989” is Taylor Swift’s best album, and I rest my case on “New Romantics.”
“New Romantics” can only be described as pop perfection.
Featured on Taylor Swift’s fifth studio album, “1989,” this song perfectly summarizes the album’s entire vibe; NYC, pop princess, hipster chic.
Not only are the lyrics hype, but the song reflects the freedom and possibilities that come with changing seasons.
This song is best played while doing your makeup with your girlfriends, for summer karaoke, and, best of all, in a naked Jeep.
Listen to this song if you and your friends are going to sing this song proudly.
We are too busy dancing to get knocked off our feet.
“New Romantics”-Taylor Swift
I truly hope you enjoy all of these songs and that your playlists become wildly successful amongst your friends. Happy Summer!