Sunshine, warm weather, longer days and being outside are all linked to the summer season. There are plenty of songs that have those youthful, upbeat, happy and fun vibes that are associated with this time of year. This playlist has genres from beach pop, to rock, to hip hop and reggae but all have that central summer theme. Whether you’re driving on an 80-degree day with the windows down, chilling at the beach, soaking in the sun or wishing it was summertime again, these ten tracks amplify the fun and nostalgic summer feeling.
View all these Songs and More HERE.
Diet Mountain Dew – Lana Del Rey
If the original demo of this song was the release on the album instead of the current version, I wouldn’t have put it on this playlist. The demo sound was slower and deeper lyrically than what was released. Although the theme of finding love and pleasure in an abusive relationship remains the same, lyrics like “hit me and tell me you’re mine, I don’t know why but I like it” was taken out from the final cut. Changes like this, albeit good or bad, make this song a good summer song.
The more upbeat version has a good summer groove that masks what the true meaning of the song is. You can listen to Lana’s enchanting voice and think it’s simply about a relationship that might have turned sour or is not beneficial. The livelier version, both lyrically and instrumentally, makes it catchy and more radio friendly. Although many fans like the much deeper and almost toxic-esk viewpoint of the original, this release still displays many of Lana’s songwriting and singing talents in a summer and lighter vibe.
In the Water – CAL, Quinn XCII
I could choose almost any song from Quinn’s early discography. They all are very tropical sounding, with samples of sounds like waves and birds and sounds you would hear by a beach. In the playlist there are plenty of tracks like “Bones”, “New Wave”, and “Another Day in Paradise”, however, I choose to showcase this track.
A super simple but catchy instrumental paired with some more spoken/rap verses with impressive singing in the chorus makes for a great summer hit. To pair with that, the song’s theme is centered around hopeful love. This song also has elements of tropical house music, which screams summer vibes. A great song to listen to at the beach or driving with a partner and the windows down on a sunny day.
Swimming Pool Summer – Capital Cities
From the indie electronic band that released one of the best summer songs ever, “Safe and Sound”, comes a lesser known track, “Swimming Pool Summer”. The band features instruments, from trumpets to vibraphones to violins and uses funky guitar riffs and upbeat drums to make a collage of entertaining sounds. This track is easy going, but still has the party feel of some of their other popular songs. It’s a great balance between fun and chill that is super contagious, especially in the summertime.
D’yer Mak’er – Led Zeppelin
Classic Rock legends Led Zeppelin are heavily influenced by reggae in this unique track. From the drums to the guitar chords, reggae influences are clearly shining through. The guitar solo transports the listener to a tropical island. Overall, this is a fun and easy-going song, similar to how summer should be. Even the song title is meant to be pronounced “Jamacia”, although it doesn’t look like it. The joke and intention behind the song title is saying “did you make her” which sounds like “Jamacia” in an English accent. Regardless of the meaning behind the song title, the reggae influences make this a must for any summer playlist.
Sunroof – courtship.
A band who is seen a few times on this playlist shines the most in their song “Sunroof”. This is a song where it’s hard to be angry or upset listening to. Catchy versus leading to an uplifting and fun chorus, which courtship does in many of their songs, is a staple for summer music.
This song was featured in the YouTube channel Sugar Pine 7, and this is where I first heard this song. In one of their episodes, the channel’s creators dance to this song. It’s overall just a happy, feelgood song, similar to a lot of the bands discography.
See 2:35 to see the song featured
Wedding Crashers – Amine, feat. Offset
Amine’s track, Wedding Crashers, is a message to an ex pretty much saying f*** you. The beat is the opposite of the theme. It’s upbeat, happy, fun and has some reggae influences in the beat. It’s a great song to listen to when you’re feeling down about an ex, but more so a great, easy listening and fun song to listen to in the summer.
Finest Wine – Six60
Hailing from New Zealand, this pop band mixes electronic sounds, high pitched and fun vocals, with feelgood lyrics. I found this band going into the summer of my senior year of high school, so it’s hard for me not to relate them to summer whenever I hear them. Sticking with the summer theme of being fun and upbeat, Six60 does that at a very high level. The guitar licks scream summer, the bass helps underline a pleasing reggae feel, along with the drums tying everything together. While this track isn’t as upbeat as the other’s, it plays into more of the relaxing side of summer. Enjoying and soaking in the sun and nice weather, and maybe even enjoying some fine wine is easy to do while listening to this chill summer song.
Dopamine – Børns
The title track from the 2015 album gets overshadowed by the hit pop song “Electric Love”. While both are great summer songs, this track just seems happier and sunnier. How can a song named after the pleasure chemical be considered anything but happy and upbeat? This whole album is fantastic, and choosing just one from it was tough. However, this song screams summer and had to be on my list.
In the Dark – Camila Cabello
Her 2018 project, Camila, is like the album Dopamine, talked about previously, due to having any track from the album having the potential to be put on this list. However, this one is listened to less often according to Spotify. But it is my favorite off the album, and I felt like it needed to be shared. Coming from Cuban and Mexican decent, she has a lot of influences in Calypso and Reggaeton as well as Latin rhythms. Not in this specific song, but in many others on the album she has lyrics in Spanish. All these influences make for a great summer pop song hit.
Survival – YG Marley
Son of music legend Lauryn Hill and grandson to one of the biggest reggae icons, Bob Marley, YG Marley exploded onto the scene with his first single, “Praise Jah in the Moonlight” being popularized on TikTok. Many might not know of his latest release, Survival. This track is contemporary reggae, where you can see the influences of his mother and especially his grandfather. While the genre saw its peak in popularity in the 60’s and 70’s, Marley’s new spin on reggae could help make the genre popular again.
Only highlighting ten songs from this playlist doesn’t do the season justice. If you like any of these songs check out the entire playlist HERE. You’re guaranteed to be transported to warmer weather in your mind when listening.
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