Just press play: Summer lovin’

Kelly Pickerel

In a continuous effort to bring you, the reader, fun pieces you can use, we’ve decided to include a playlist from a different staff member each week. We all have different music tastes, and we’re hoping these summer selections might just make their way onto your iPod.

“Cruel Summer” by Ace of Base

I like this remake better than Bananarama’s original. I’m a product of the ’90s, what can I say? It’s also one of those songs you can never get out of your head as soon as you hear it.

“Summer Girls” by LFO

The Lyte Funky Ones are obviously a serious band. And anyone who believes “New Kids On the Block had a bunch of hits / Chinese food makes me sick,” correlates into good lyrics is obviously serious about his or her music. This song is obviously the best.

“Summertime” by Will Smith

It seems like the radio stations play this song 12 times a day as soon as the temperature hits 60. I wish Will Smith still had hair like he had for this video, just like the fresh prince that he is.

“Summer Skin” by Death Cab for Cutie

This is one of my favorite songs ever. For me, it’s sad yet uplifting at the same time. “I don’t recall a single care, just greenery and humid air.” The perfect line for a perfect summer.

“Boys of Summer” by Don Henley

This song reminds me of my childhood, cruising down country roads in my dad’s yellow 1971 Mustang Mach 1. I can still smell the interior and feel the whiplash as my dad shifted gears.

“Dusk and Summer” by Dashboard Confessional

This was my theme song for the summer before my senior year of high school, and it will probably overtake my life again this summer. “Nobody here can live forever, quiet in the grasp of dusk and summer.” The real world awaits me.

“Summer Nights” by Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta

I never thought I’d include John Travolta on any top lists. But, uhh-ohh those summer nights!

“You’re So Last Summer” by Taking Back Sunday

This reminds me of high school summers. We used to scream each line like it was the best thing ever written. And that’s so last summer.

– Kelly Pickerel