Top 5 Best “Summer” Songs

When I first started working on this list I was totally pumped because I really like summer. I like eating ice cream, s’mores, and watermelon, going swimming, never being cold, sunshine. You know, all that hippy, dippy summer love stuff.  But once I got into the meat and bones of the list I decided that I don’t like summer songs. They’re kind of stupid. So this list is short because there just aren’t enough songs out their with “summer” in the title that are actually good. So I’m stuck with only 5 songs on my list.

5. Cruel Summer – Bananarama ( I actually hate this song, but I’m too obsessive/compulsive to have a list of 4. But I hate this song less than I hate “Summer of ’69″ or “Boys of Summer”. And even though my cousin met Don Henley in a guitar shop in Dallas, I still won’t include his scruffy voice song. And I hope the fact that I chose Bananarama over Bryan Adams and Don Henley makes the hairs on the back of their necks stand up the same way mine does when I hear their raspy voices on the radio for the 5 seconds I’m struggling to change the radio station. )

Now let’s get into the list of summer songs  actually like.

4. Summer in the City – Lovin Spoonful (Even as a kid I liked this song because this is what Oklahoma summers are like. Hot and sticky during the day, but when the cool nights come it’s time to let loose and have fun.)

3. Summer Nights – Grease Soundtrack (The movie and the song are timeless. And now I’m an adult and actually get what they are singing about, I have a entirely new appreciation for it.)

2. In the Summertime – Mungo Jerry (I love the carefree “life is for living” philosophy of the song. And if nothing else, it’s kind of funny, “If her daddy’s rich, take her out for a meal. If her daddy’s poor, just do what you feel”.

And the numero uno summer time song is (Drum roll please….)

1. Summertime – DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince (ah yes, the good ol’ days of acid wash jeans and “scrunched” crew socks. Did summertime ever sound sweeter?)