Songs of the Summer, Vol. II
Welcome, fellow summerphiles! I love every season of the year, but there is just something about the sweet, sweet summertime that makes me especially joyous. I love nothing more than to kick off my shoes, grab an icy cocktail, and run around in a bathing suit with a sick soundtrack behind me. Hence, my newest Saturday series, “Songs of the Summer.” Don’t we all secretly wish that we had a movie score playing behind us at the most poignant and pivotal parts of our lives? Well, consider me your personal Danny Elfman, here to give you the soundtrack to summer 2k17.
Click here to listen to the playlist as you read. This heightens the experience, trust.
1. Body Like a Backroad, Sam Hunt- I’m going to lay it down for you right now. The real real. I never enjoyed country music when I lived in Indiana. For twenty-two years, I avoided it like the plague. But now that I live my life smack-dab in the middle of the Best Coast, I crave country music in the same way that I crave Reese’s cups (read: hardcore). This song is so sexy. I love the imagery. It is a countrified version of John Mayer’s hit, Your Body is a Wonderland. Only better. Go listen to it. You are welcome.
Best Lyric:
Body like a back road, drivin' with my eyes closed
I know every curve like the back of my hand
Doin' 15 in a 30, I ain't in no hurry...I'ma take it slow just as fast as I can
Recommended for: cruising with your sweetheart, making out, driving through corn fields
2. Hometown Girl, Josh Turner- ANOTHA ONE ANOTHA ONE. I can’t help it. Summer makes me want beer, cut-off jeans, and a country cook out. Also, the vain part of me thinks that Josh Turner could have very well written this song about me…just saying. I haven’t felt so strongly about my own presence in a song since Tom Petty sang about Indiana girls growing up with those Indiana boys on those Indiana nights. Grab this song and slow dance with your hometown girl in the middle of your favorite dive bar. I’m certainly requesting this the next time I’m at my favorite dive bar in the United States (shoutout to LINEBACKER LOUNGE, all caps. So you know I'm shouting them out).
Best Lyric:
(All of them, really. But I especially love:)
Her mamma's mamma was born right here
And her roots run deeper than that old town square
She's a good girl, but she's not uptight
She can rise and shine and she can hang all night
Recommended for: Indiana girls, Indiana nights, growing up tall, growing up right
3. Tangerine, Beach Fossils- I love this song so much, primarily because it reminds me of the best “club” I have ever visited in my entire three decades on this planet (but, I guess like only nine years of actually having legal entry into such establishments). The spot was Bungalow. The year? 2013. The city? Santa Monica. The vibe? Holy shit. It was like partying in the most luxe beach bungalow I’d ever seen. Imagine a Hollister store without all the clothing racks everywhere. But all the hot Hollister models. And cooler music playing. And booze—that too. Anyways, this song gives me major Bungalow vibes, and it makes me want to go back there asap.
Best Lyric:
What i see
What i need
Nothing in between
Everything
Tangerine
(NB: this is not a song I love for the lyrics, but for the vibes.)
Recommended for: Hollister models, beach bungalows, parties in Palm Beach
4. Plain Jane, Mags Duval- I’m seriously missing Taylor Swift. There. I said it. I read on some National Us Weekly Enquiring OK rag mag that she was planning a “big comeback.” Please, God—this is the only time I’ve actually wanted one of those ridiculous headlines to be true (normally they say nonsense like World War III Planned by Trappist-1 Aliens). Regardless of my rag mag manifestation, Mags Duval has created a song with some pretty serious Blank Space echoes. Catchy-as-hell chorus, smooth lyrics, and a cute hook. I like.
Best Lyrics:
Your cool turned to khakis
Your chucks turned to loafers
That jacket’s a cardigan around your shoulders
The rebel inside you
Has withered and died and I cringe at the sight of the new you
Recommended for: scorned lovers, Taylor Swift fans, storyteller lyric fans
5. Grigio Girls, Lady Gaga-This song makes me so happy/sad. I feel like this song is an anthem to girlfriendship, and I love the stripped-down imagery that Lady Gaga creates with this song. The backstory to her lyrics is quite touching, and I suggest you go grab a google of them and read about it. I personally love this song because it reminds me of my bookclub out here in the Bay Area, and how important they’ve been to my development and the creation of the person I am today.
Best Lyric:
Let your teardrops fall
On the Pinot Pinot Grigio girls Pour your heart out Watch your blues turn gold
All the Pinot Pinot Grigio girls Keep it real cold 'Cause it's a fired up world
Recommended for: girls’ night in, wine & feelings nights, ripping wine corks out with your teeth