Whether we acknowledge the fact or not, summer has come and gone, and while many summer plans ceased to exist, the music scene’s production of bops did not.
While in the heat of the summer, you may not be set on one specific song being the “song of the summer,” but as the season comes to an end, you know deep within your soul what song has made it to THE song of the summer status. It’s the song that encapsulates late night summer drives. It’s the song that’s being played in every Gen Z consumer dominated store. It’s the song that is on five radio stations at once and however hard you try, you are unable to escape from.
While TikTok is undoubtedly the app of the summer, the song of the summer is still under peer review. Honorable mentions, and winners for many, included “WAP” by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion, “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa and “Watermelon Sugar” by Harry Styles.
However, for senior Evan Arnott and junior Nayelly Torres, none of these made it to their top summer jam.
“I’m not connected with today’s hip youth I would say, but I would cast my vote for ‘Blinding Lights’ because anything the Weeknd puts out seems to be a one hit wonder, it just seems to land really well,” Arnott said. “Every couple of the years the Weeknd drops a banger and makes a comeback.”
Arnott credited the Weeknd’s success to his ability to catch a broad audience through producing Euro-pop mixed with 80s electro and hip-hop tunes that have a catchy beat that are good to vibe out to.
“For me, the song of the summer really just has to be something I can dance and jam out to,” Torres said. “I want to have fun, I don’t want to be sad and depressed because I want to feel as though I’m having a good time.”
Torres stated that her personal song of the summer was “Yo Perreo Sola” by Bad Bunny, because it hit all her personal criteria.
“Due to corona, we weren’t able to twerk and grind in the clubs and this song, we have to dance to in the club or the year is not over,” Torres said. “This song really makes all Latinos unite as well as people who are not Latin speakers, I am just saying, when you hear the song, you will understand it really.”
Arnott stated that he believes that the song of the summer has to be catchy and has to have a relative beat that gets stuck in people’s heads.
“The chorus has to be relatively short so people can hum it to themselves and it has to have lyrics that are memorable,” Arnott said. “What I mean by that is they don’t have to be deep because say Nirvana isn’t deep but they’re saying things that stick in your head.”
Torres believes that the song of the summer has to be popular, but this factor will alter the results based on where one resides in the country. Arnott agreed with Torres, saying that the song of the summer does not have to be a specific genre, comparing “Thrift Shop” by Macklemore to “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X, two previous years’ song of the summer, which are different genres yet both made it to his song of the summer chart.
Despite the fact that summer 2020 was very different from past summers, one thing will continue to stay consistent, pandemic or no pandemic: there will always be a song of the summer.