Let’s be clear here. When I say “summer playlist”, I just mean songs that I’ve currently been listening to this summer. They’re not necessarily “summer” songs. Just a random mishmash of new, old, yesterday’s news songs, etc. that I have been or will be listening to on a loop this summer. The playlist is located at the bottom of the post. Some songs have explicit lyrics, so listen at your discretion:
‘Elle me dit’ and ‘Love You When I’m Drunk’ – Mika Is it even summer without Mika on your playlist? I’ve been listening to music in different languages quite a bit this year. When I decided to put some Mika on shuffle ‘Elle me dit’ came on. I’d forgotten how great this song is. I feel like I should be shopping or walking a catwalk at a fashion show when I hear it. ‘Love You When I’m Drunk’ is another good one. And, hey, summer is the time for fleeting romances, no?
‘Boyz with Fun’ and ‘Permission to Dance’ – BTS Hang tight, this is the longest ramble for this post:
‘Dynamite’ was the most requested song in my classroom this year, but I only recently made the connection that BTS are the same guys responsible for THIS epic performance on SNL a couple years ago?! They went from something as aggressive as ‘Mic Drop’ to something as disco-pop as ‘Dynamite’. It’s like watching and listening to night and day. If this is the range “boy bands” have these days, I can back it. There’s good reason why these guys are dominating the music industry right now. Like this performance of ‘IDOL’? They really looked at gravity and said “no thanks, not interested”.
I’ve included two BTS songs on this summer playlist. ‘Boyz with Fun’ is a few years old and I don’t think the lyrics for it necessarily translate very well from Korean to English, but the gist of the song – I think – is to be your own brand of weird. It’s not one of their more “sophisticated” or “mature” songs (e.g., ‘Black Swan’), but the chorus is easy enough to learn so that you can sing along. J-Hope and RM’s rapping that kicks in at the 2:20 mark is my favourite moment. So much energy! Like the Beastie Boys meets New Kids on the Block.
‘Permission to Dance’ (with writing credits that include Ed Sheeran) – I’m an absolute sucker for songs about dancing. This song, released at the beginning of July for summer, has a bubbly, good riddance to Covid-19, feel-good music video that is super kid/family friendly AND even contains sign language in some of the choreography. The signs that were adapted and used include: “enjoy”, “dance” and “peace”. Too rad! I do not know very much ASL, but I try to incorporate what I do know into my teaching, so my teacher heart almost burst when I learned this fact. Also, I don’t know about anyone else, but I get some real ‘Powerline’ vibes when the music cuts out at the 2:55 mark in the video and it’s all vocals and dance poses. I swear, the biggest letdown of my childhood was learning that ‘Powerline’ (a cartoon character) didn’t have a full album and my adult butt is still bitter about it. What a sham. Disney! Get this group to cover ‘I 2 I’ and maybe I’ll forgive you. Jimin and Jungkook could absolutely pull off those lead vocals with style and just imagine the choreography! Touché, BTS. You win! We’ll for sure be singing and dancing to this song in my classroom next school year.
Onward to the next…
‘Tarzan & Jane’ and ‘Grobmotoriker’ – Mo-Torres One of my online friends in Germany is responsible for this one. She recommended the album ‘Strahlemann’ in a group chat and so I hit play one morning as I got ready. The album is all in German, so I admittedly have no clue what the lyrical content is about, but it sounds super upbeat! These two tracks are my favourite on the record and ‘Grobmotoriker’ has a music video that you can check out.
‘My Shot’ – Broadway’s cast of Hamilton I finally got around to watching the musical this year. While it might not be my favourite musical of all time, I really appreciate the music in it. I love the twist it has on what we consider traditional musical numbers. If you need a lecture about not prioritizing your hobbies or side hustle, this is a great song to throw on.
‘Time to Dance’ – The Shoes I have Jake Gyllenhaal to thank for this one (and a few more songs coming up later). While making my way through his filmography this year, I came across this music video that he was in. One in which he portrays a murderer who wears fencing gear and goes after hipsters. This song sets a great pace for running. I swear a played it for a whole week straight.
‘Modify’ – Kniles Some techno goodness. I believe this groovy jam served in many videos for ‘Bad Lip Reading’ on YouTube before a full version was released. I stumbled across it through Spotify recommendations one day.
‘Summer’ – Mumm-Ra Released just last year, this song by the English indie rock band Mumm-Ra is a super chill summer bop that I heard about via YouTuber Regan (PeruseProject). Great for those lazy mornings while you sip on your coffee and admire blue skies.
‘Hold Steady’ – Justin Forrest I heard this one in an episode of ‘Cobra Kai’. The chorus is ridiculously addicting and I can’t help but sway my whole body when I listen to it. I like to play this one when I’m driving or feel like I’ve momentarily got my life together.
‘Giants’ – Walk the Moon I’ve so deeply rooted this band’s music as inspiration for a character that I’ve written. So much, that at this point, I feel like I need to apply any new content that ‘Walk the Moon’ comes out with to said character’s personality (just joking… Sort of). I am particularly obsessed with this song at the moment. Pair it with ‘Time Bomb’.
‘We Like It’ – Computer Games I mean… it’s Darren Criss. Can you really go wrong here? I just want you to know that “HEY”, this song is great.
‘Walking on Sunshine’ – Katrina and The Waves I obviously knew of this one, but hadn’t listened to it in a long time. It came on during a retro summer playlist I was listening to and then I was magically able to organize my entire closet. So, basically, this song helps you get stuff done. You might even smile through the worst chores.
‘Kokomo’ – The Beach Boys Another classic. Funnily enough my best friend also said that she’d been listening to The Beach Boys a lot lately. I think I will always think of ‘Full House’ whenever I hear anything by them. It’s just a part of my DNA at this point.
‘Odds Are’ – Barenaked Ladies Random. This one just sounds so chill and hopeful. I’m here for it this year. “The odds are that we will probably be alright.”
‘Dreams Come True’ – Brandon Flowers Why have I been sleeping on Brandon Flowers’ solo work?! I roll the windows down in my car for this one. Everyone needs to hear it. There are a couple songs by The Killers that bring me right back to sitting on a bus, on the way to Chicago on a school trip, switching up CDs on my discman. So, when I hear his voice it’s like a happy trigger for nostalgia.
‘Don’t Ever Change’ – Hanson (feat. Rick Nielson of Cheap Trick) This jam reminds me of something, but I cannot for the life of me think of what. Either way, it doesn’t really matter how old you get, does it? It’s always nice hearing anthem songs about being yourself. Hanson knows what’s up. The band has been releasing a new album one-new-track-a-month-at-a-time since May. I don’t really know of many other bands that are quite as creative as they are with merchandise and interacting with fans. It seems like they always have something new going on. This once-a-month deal allows you to get to know and appreciate each song, which is pretty genius on both an artistic and business level.
‘Alive’ – NEEDTOBREATHE I want to make a hipster movie just so I can use this in the trailer for it. Who feels like running in slow-motion out in the middle of nowhere?
‘No Love in LA’ – Palaye Royale They’re at it again! This band thrives when it comes to creating tunes that get stuck in your head. I don’t know if Remington meant to channel Dr. Frank-N-Furter for the music video with the wardrobe choices and lipstick, but ‘The Rocky Horror Show’ is where my mind went. This new era of theirs looks promising!
‘Doomed (for each other)’ – Salem My Chemical Romance superfan and patron saint of the fanbase, Cassie the Venomous, posted about this band one day. I checked them out. I was not disappointed. I particularly like this track and another called ‘Eyesore’. Some of the lyrics are the most emo I’ve ever heard, to be honest. Some get a little bit kinky and macabre if you’re into that kind of thing. But dang, so catchy.
‘First Date’ – Ninja Sex Party THIS SONG IS CHOCK-FULL OF EXPLICIT LYRICS/CONTENT. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED IN CAPITAL LETTERS. I’ve never heard a song escalate so quickly in lyrics. I was cry-laughing the first time I heard it because it was so unexpected. I have a pretty morbid sense of humour, so keep that in mind. Sums up awful first dates pretty well! HA!
‘Hey Driver’ – Lucky Boys Confusion Rediscovered this oldie but goodie!
‘She’s so Mean’ – Matchbox Twenty I added this to my story inspiration playlist, but now it’s basically on every playlist I create.
‘Do You Love Me’ – The Contours I like that there’s a dance called the ‘Mashed Potato’. I like it even more when being able to mash potato is declared in a song. Music like this immediately helps to lift my mood.
‘I Hear You Knocking’ – Dave Edmunds I watched ‘Moonlight Mile’. I wasn’t a huge fan of the film, but I did become a huge fan of this cover song!
‘Spirit in the Sky’ – Norman Greenbaum Yet another Jake film. This song plays during the credits for ‘Life’. A song I have heard before, but have been playing a lot more lately. It can be a difficult feat to set aside images of the little gelatine-blob-murder-machine-alien that’s featured in the film when I hear it, but I try.
‘Papa Loves Mambo’ – Perry Como One day I decided to only listen to “oldies” music. I have a separate playlist created for it, but this is one that I often throw on when removing my makeup in the evenings for some bizarre reason. Is that TMI?
‘You Can’t Hurry Love’ – The Supremes I’ve really been taking advantage of the recommendations feature on Spotify this year, can you tell with all these random oldies I’ve been throwing in?
‘El Chico Del Apartamento 512’ – Selena Told ya that I’ve been listening to a lot of music in different languages lately! Probably because I watched the ‘Selena’ series on Netflix a bit earlier this year and realized how much of her discography I was unfamiliar with. From there I just decided that I should be listening to a wider range of languages. Why not? We always say how music is universal. You don’t necessarily have to understand all the lyrics to a song to love it. I have an idea about what this song is about, but I couldn’t tell you the actual words being sung. I’m here for the instrumental and her voice. I can tell you that it is very difficult to accomplish anything serious when you’ve got Selena playing. All you do is bidi bidi bom bom around the kitchen.
‘Ave Maria’ – David Bisbal Similarly to what I said about the previous song, I understand what it’s about, but don’t know the words. One of my colleagues was playing it in her classroom one day and I had to add it to my Spotify ‘likes’ immediately. I couldn’t pin-point why I felt so reminiscent over it, because I’d never heard it before. Then I came to the conclusion that it gives off the same kind of energy as the ‘Party Up!’ song played during the ‘Move it! Shake it! Dance and Play It!’ Disney World parade that I witnessed back in 2015. I’m not saying that they sound at all the same, I’m just saying that they have similar vibes. So, I like it.
‘How Dare You Want More’ and ‘Stop Making This Hurt’ – Bleachers I say it all the time but, I LOVE Bleachers. The music is usually energetic and inviting, but the lyrics often a brutally honest take on life, relationships and mental health. With that said, ‘How Dare You Want More’ has the greatest saxophone highlight at 2:49 and I habitually loop it. As for ‘Stop Making This Hurt’… I’m pretty sure that I was doing laundry when I first listened to it. I’ve never had so much fun tossing clothes from the washer into the dryer. Jack Antonoff has stated that this song is about wanting to enter the next phase of your life, but feeling held back by your past. I can relate hardcore, and I’m glad that this song exists for when I’m feeling in the gutter.
‘Miss Alissa’ – Eagles of Death Metal Shout out to Tom Holland. Or maybe Tom Holland’s brother? This was used in a clip that Spider-Man himself posted on Instagram and I had to scroll through comments until someone mentioned what the title of the song was. I’ve never listened to Eagles of Death Metal before, but I’ll have to make note to listen to more of their work.
‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ – The Ramones This song immediately reminds of three things now: 1. The film ‘Vacation’, 2. Listening to Rob Zombie’s cover of it live/in person and 3. Replaying it over and over in the car on my way to get my first Pfizer dose!
What’s currently on your summer playlist? I always love hearing music recommendations!