Ink Tea Stone Leaf

When does summer truly begin? The astronomical among us define the summer season in the northern hemisphere as beginning with the June solstice, the day with the longest span of daylight each year.  However, the solstice is historically referred to in English as Midsummer’s Day, suggesting that by June 20th or so, historical people considered the season to be well under way. Consequently, when I hear folks speak of the early days of June as though they were still in the domain of spring, I can find myself with a thing or two to say on the subject.

In any case, it is June now, and the solstice approacheth. I say that summer’s here, and the time is right for the unveiling of my long promised playlist. After hours of painstakingly cultivating and curating my mp3s, I have at last assembled my one hundred tracks for absolute chillin’, the sort of collection I would happily subject my friends to at the first backyard barbecue I can arrange.

Is this the one true summer playlist, the end-all and be-all of warm weather music? My friends, let’s be real: there is no such thing. I’m chill enough to admit that. There are all kinds of music that suit a summer’s day, and I am constrained as much by my taste and knowledge as by my self-imposed track limit. Many sunshine-infused tracks were left by the wayside, and we are all the poorer for it. The ideal summer playlist, much like the ideal summer evening, would simply never end. The best choice is to queue up some one else’s playlist as soon as this one reaches its conclusion.

Here are the songs, that you might reproduce my efforts and benefit by them until school is back in session, or however you choose to define the time. In fact, there is no reason to stop even then: summer music is for all days and nights. Enjoy, and if you need me, I’ll be in the hammock.

1. Dancing in the Street / Martha and the Vandellas, Dance Party

Figuring out how to start this playlist was a puzzle, but in the end there was simply nowhere for “Dancing in the Street” except the lead off position. It is an essential entry in the summertime canon, one of the all-time songs, which elevates every song that follows in its train.

2. Soak Up the Sun / Sheryl Crow, C’mon C’mon

Sunlight and the soaking up thereof is a recurring theme in this playlist, and this bouncy bit of pop is a fine introduction. Actually with my skin tone it’s important that I soak up very little sun in a literal sense; but in the metaphorical sense, this is simply the mandate of summer.

3. See Fernando / Jenny Lewis, Acid Tongue

Not every song on the list is explicitly about summertime, but when they’re about buying bottles of suds and going where they “chain up the sun,” well, you know it’s at least eighty two degrees or so out there. Fahrenheit, of course.

4. San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair) / Scott McKenzie, Monterrey International Pop Festival

The summer of 1967 is of course one of the most legendary summers in history, which is why we need to hear from the Summer of Love directly, via its official theme song. What is the season without its flowers?

5. Summer’s Cauldron / XTC, Skylarking

6. Grass

These two songs begin one of my favorite summer-themed albums, and because they are a seamless suite I could not think of separating them. They are a perfect paean to the sensuality of the warmer parts of the year, including a tinge of outdoor eroticism.

7. Summertime / Nina Simone, 60 Essential Recordings

I have a few versions of George Gershwin’s “Summertime” available, but few can match Nina Simone’s investment of grandeur. It is well to remember that this song was an operatic aria before it was anything else.

8. The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy) / Emilie-Claire Barlow, Clear Day

We’re still early in the playlist, so it is appropriate to sing of sleepy summer mornings. The Simon and Garfunkel original version would have been just as groovy, but I particularly love Barlow’s warmth and joy.

9. Kodachrome / Paul Simon, Negotiations and Love Songs, 1971-1986

See, I didn’t forget Paul Simon. I could not do without his tribute to summer’s colors and our idiosyncratic attempts to capture what’s in our mind’s eye.

10. Mother Nature’s Son / The Beatles, The Beatles

The sun is a recurring motif in Beatles songs, but out of a great many possibilities I selected this one as the best and most representative of a pure, easy feeling of nature in the longer days of the year. You could substitute “Good Day Sunshine” or “Here Comes The Sun” (though that one is really more of a springtime tune), but this one does it for me.

11. Blueberry Hill / Fats Domino, Greatest Hits

Of course, there are the brief summer nights to consider as well, and the ephemeral, dreamlike romance that accompanies them. Such sentiments call for a bluesy piano ballad, with a fruitful evocation of course.

12. Peaches / The Presidents of the United States of America, The Presidents of the United States of America

Peaches, like most fruit, are ripest in the summer months. If you’re going to move to the country for the sake of eating a lot of peaches, this is the time to do it. Myself, I don’t actually care for peaches, but the vibe is what matters. Besides, I suspect that the band may mean something less than literal by “peaches,” and the eating of them.

13. Wildflowers / Tom Petty, Wildflowers

Thirty-odd years later, Wildflowers remains one of the greatest summertime albums of all time, and pretty much any song from that album could have been on this playlist. In fact, Wildflowers on a loop could almost serve as a substitute for any summer playlist, but that would defeat the purpose of all my efforts. “Wildflowers” the title track at any rate could not be excluded.

14. The Pop Singer’s Fear of the Pollen Count / The Divine Comedy, Liberation

There is a sense in which this entire project was an excuse to make everybody I know listen to this song, the message of which is extremely silly and extremely sincere at the same time: summer means hay fever, and it is still one hundred per cent worth it. The version I have is from the album, but the single version (and its CGI-tastic accompanying video) is probably better.

15. You Are the Sunshine of My Life / Stevie Wonder, Talking Book

A classic, powerfully straightforward expression of feeling that sounds exactly like its title suggests. Those backing vocals are the definition of gorgeous.

16. You and Me on the Rock / Brandi Carlile, In These Silent Days

With exceptional and uncommon poetry, “You and Me on the Rock” goes beyond the usual transient seasonality of a summer love and suggests something truly built to last.

17. Summerfling / k.d. lang, Invincible Summer

A real summer’s love song is all about describing the immediate feeling of the present moment, or remembering it with hazy clarity, and forgetting everything else. A killer string section helps too.

18. Even the Losers / Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Damn the Torpedoes

He’s back, and he brought the Heartbreakers this time! This is just a reminder that the magic of the season is not restricted to the fortunate few, delivered by one of the solidest rock and roll bands of all time.

19. Island in the Sun / Weezer, Weezer (the green one)

Summer is a time for yearning in a time when everything already seems to be at hand. There’s something melancholy in dreaming of a place where “we’ll never feel bad anymore,” but it doesn’t usually make you feel sad.

20. Listen to the Music / The Doobie Brothers, Best of the Doobies

There is another sense in which this playlist exists to provide a suitable setting for this song. We could have started with “Listen to the Music,” though that might have been a little too arch. Listen now, in case you haven’t been.

21. I’d Like To / Corinne Bailey Rae, Corinne Bailey Rae

As summer advances, it gets warmer and warmer, and the songs get more sensual too. “I’d Like To” is all about the senses, and all of the cycles of life, from nostalgia to heated attraction.

22. Hot Fun in the Summertime / Sly and the Family Stone, The Essential Sly and the Family Stone

You simply couldn’t leave this song out, even if you tried. It’s the kind of song that makes you feel like you could do just about anything, because it’s actually time to do it: summer as total freedom.

23. (Love is Like A) Heatwave / Martha and the Vandellas, Heatwave

I could have used the Linda Ronstadt version, which rocks, but the original recording of “Heatwave” is basically perfect. It’s the Motown sound of the Funk Brothers, and it’s the energy in the backing vocals as well as the lead that brings us to a fever pitch.

24. Street Fighting Man / The Rolling Stones, Beggars Banquet

Maybe we got a little too hot there. Sometimes the warm weather leads you to get in some trouble, and not necessarily the good kind. But we need that incredible Rolling Stones rhythm section to keep us going in here.

25. Pinch Me / Barenaked Ladies, Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits: 1991-2001

This part of the playlist is going to be a bit of a downer, sad to say. We can’t always be upbeat when it’s this hot out. Sometimes, we are disillusioned.

26. That Lucky Old Sun / Ray Charles, Anthology

Are we one with nature, or are we doomed to stand apart and envy a more natural existence? Ray Charles puts so much yearning into living free like the sun up in the sky, that we almost can’t yearn anymore. Almost.

27. Summer Soft / Stevie Wonder, Songs in the Key of Life

Strictly speaking, Stevie seems to be jumping all over the calendar here, but summer is in the title, and it fits the mood. It suggests a kind of eternal recurrence of loss, which would be depressing if Stevie didn’t have that rare ability to make us feel good no matter what he sings.

28. August / Rilo Kiley, Takeoffs and Landings

A song about the end of summer, but the promise of something new. Maybe another summer, in another time? You can see why songwriters and poets love this kind of seasonal imagery, it’s ripe with narrative potential.

29. Summer, Highland Falls / Billy Joel, Turnstiles

This is one of Billy Joel’s very best lyrics, if you ask me. We’re still in our melancholy summer, but now we’re looking at it a little more philosophically, and we might just be okay about it. And of course, that piano is fantastic.

30. Summer Side of Life / Gordon Lightfoot, Gord’s Gold

With the culmination of our downbeat summer mood swing, it’s time to hold some room in our hearts for people in times when they suffer, even when it looks like they shouldn’t be suffering. There’s a kind of grace in a song like this that I love.

31. Deirdre / She and Him, Melt Away: A Tribute to Brian Wilson

It’s time to lift our spirits again. This is a sunny little cover version of a Beach Boys song (more from those guys in a while), and a little wisdom for the moment: “good things turn bad, but they’re over now/so don’t look sad ’cause you’re older now.” And as required, those harmonies are lush and on point.

32. Sugar Magnolia / The Grateful Dead, Skeletons from the Closet: The Best of the Grateful Dead

Remember when we were dreaming of love and beauty in the countryside of the imagination? We’re doing that again, because that is the best summer pastime. You might lose track of all the flora in the lyrics, and that’s okay too.

33. Time of the Season / The Zombies, Odessey and Oracle

Which season, exactly? It’s not explicitly stated, but listen to that sleepy bassline and there’s no doubt that we’re somewhere in July or August. Summer is the time for loving, and also the time for gentle hallucinations and gorgeous harmonies.

34. On the Road Again / Willie Nelson, 16 Biggest Hits

The road trip is another venerable summertime tradition, and “On the Road Again” is the paragon of the road trip song: optimistic, propulsive, and focused on friendship. You put this on, and everybody smiles. This track even has some cheering at the end.

35. Get Your Kicks on Route 66 / Gail Gage Jazz Band, Gail Gage Jazz

If I had it handy, I probably would have used the iconic Nat King Cole version of “Route 66.” But I don’t, so instead we have a groovy rendition from a local jazz group from here in Salem, Oregon. It’s got a lovely lead vocal, and plenty of instrumental soloing to keep things going. You could use any version of this song for your own playlist, though, because it can’t help but be excellent.

36. Highway 101 (Rosarita Beach Café) / Al Jardine, Islands in the Sun

Beach Boy sighting! This is actually a rewrite of a Lieber and Stoller song called “Smokey Joe’s Café,” and it’s got that old fashioned groove that is compulsively singable. Al Jardine is getting up there in age, but I think he could probably record stuff like this forever.

37. Embryonic Journey / Jefferson Airplane, Surrealistic Pillow

The first instrumental track to appear on the playlist, which of course means that it is seasonally ambiguous. But doesn’t it fit in so well with the road trip theme? I think it does, that’s why I put it here. Also because it’s a beautiful piece.

38. ELM / Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts / Cowboy Bebop Soundtrack

Another instrumental (with some la-la’s) and perhaps only a tenuous connection to road tripping, or any other summer theme, but this one is beautiful too. In the context of the anime, it certainly suggests a journey, perhaps one more profound and serious than a spin in the car down the highway.

39. Hail to Whatever You Found in the Sunlight that Surrounds You / Rilo Kiley, The Execution of All Things

I hear this song as a good one for gazing out the passenger side window when the mood is a little lower. It’s about distance, liminal spaces, and all the more melancholy aspects of the journey. Yes, we had to get melancholy again for a moment. These long drives can be emotionally complex.

40. Samba Pa Ti / Santana, Greatest Hits

Another lovely instrumental, perfect for driving through the evening when you aren’t in a terrible hurry. It’s not even sad or anything, it’s just gentle and comforting, like a breeze.

41. They Got Lost / They Might Be Giants, They Got Lost

If your road trip is going anything like this one, it might be time to pack it in, lest it turn into the road trip that never ends. There’s a fast version of this song on a live album, and a slow version. I went with the slow one for that extra-languorous, broken air conditioner vibe.

42. Ahead on Our Way / John Oeth, Final Fantasy Guitar Collection

This is the “town” theme of Final Fantasy VII, one of my favorites from that soundtrack. A tune that balances a touch of melancholy with optimism, and is very well served by this gentle guitar arrangement. You could say we’ve arrived home, but we’re still on our way.

43. Bummer in the Summer / Love, Forever Changes

Summertime isn’t all sunshine and roses, not all the time, anyway. Sometimes you’ve got work to do, and messy interpersonal issues to work through. At times like that, you’ve got to cut that all loose, and focus on the groove (and this song does bring the groove).

44. Summertime Blues / Eddie Cochrane

Will the pain ever end? Perhaps not, but that is one hell of a guitar part to lighten things up. Imagine a summer playlist that somehow didn’t have some version of “Summertime Blues” on it—I couldn’t let that happen, and I went back to the original for that pristine rockabilly feel.

45. Lookin’ Out My Back Door / Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Long Road Home: The Ultimate John Fogerty/Creedence Collection

We can’t let any sort of blues get in the way of a good time. We’re going back to a happy dream scenario for a second, one with such vivid imagery that it suggests, perhaps, a little chemical augmentation. That sounds like a new theme to me. Either way, “bother me tomorrow, today I’ll find no sorrow.”

46. One Mint Julep / Ray Charles, Anthology

When I said “chemically enhanced,” I of course meant something like an iced summertime cocktail, such as the classic mint julep. This brassy instrumental sets the right tone for a warm-weather garden party.

47. Sweet Blindness (Live) / Laura Nyro, Stoned Soul Picnic: The Best of Laura Nyro

The summer season can be intoxicating on its own, so I suppose the wine can be as much a metaphor as a beverage. The studio version of “Sweet Blindness” is a lot faster, and it has a lot of peppy charm, but I adore this slower, more soulful interpretation.

48. Sunny Afternoon / The Kinks, Face to Face

This song offers a darker take on the hedonism of the summer, getting drunk and lazy simply because you haven’t got much else going on. A cautionary tale, but melodically irresistible at the same time, this is perhaps the richest vein of irony we’ve hit so far. Will we hit another?

49. Tequila Sunrise / Eagles, Their Greatest Hits

There’s no irony here, just a slow country-style number about a hangover, of sorts. A hangover of heartbreak and regret, that is. And it’s very gentle on the ears, just like you need the music to be in those sorts of situations.

50. Blue Skies / Willie Nelson, 16 Greatest Hits

Finished with our drinking detour, and finding ourselves at the half-way point of the playlist, it’s time to get back to what matters: the wonder of nature and beautiful days, and the loveliness of love. “Blue Skies” is more of a jazz/pop standard, but that distinction means nothing to Willie Nelson, who sings country like a jazzman.

51. Near Wild Heaven / R.E.M., Out ofTime

We are back to embracing nature and the divine, whatever the emotional cost. I love R.E.M. a great deal, and I also love intricately patterned multi-part harmony, so naturally this is one of my favorite songs of theirs. It reminds me of a day I once spent walking through woods and fields of grass, and I mean a very literal, specific day at that.

52. Waitin’ on a Sunny Day / Bruce Springsteen, The Rising

This is the Boss at his most straightforwardly hopeful, all wrapped up in sunshine lyrics and saxophone warmth. There’s really no difference between a love song and a nature song, after all.

53. Ah tournesol / Kate and Anna McGarrigle, La Vache qui pleure

More gorgeous harmony singing, animating a dreamy chant on the sunflower and its favored star. This is the good stuff: it makes me think of cookies baked with sunflower butter.

54. Warm Valley / Duke Ellington and his Orchestra, 1969 All Star White House Tribute

Strictly speaking, this album is a tribute to Duke Ellington, and I believe he only plays the piano himself on a couple of tracks. Maybe this one? You could have fooled me if not, but it’s his composition regardless. As always with the Duke, it is a perfect melody for its title.

55. One Summer’s Day (The Name of Life) (English Version) / Joe Hisaishi, A Symphonic Celebration: Music from the Studio Ghibli Films of Hayao Miyazaki

That information tells you nearly everything you need to know, doesn’t it? This is one of the stand out pieces from the film Spirited Away, and if you know Miyazaki’s movies, you know the beauty of Joe Hisaishi’s scores are beyond compare.

56. Concerto no. 2 in G Minor “Summer”: I. Allegro non molto / Antonio Vivaldi, The Four Seasons

57. Concerto no. 2 in G Minor “Summer”: II. Largo

58. Concerto no. 2 in G Minor “Summer”: Allegro

Was it inevitable that Vivaldi would appear, like he did for the Christmas playlist? It might not have been, if “Summer” did not capture the bursting rhythms of the heat so crisply. Days last a long time around the solstice, and we can spare the time for the orchestra to bring the fields and their creatures to life.

59. Once Upon a Summertime / Oscar Peterson, Quiet Now: Time and Again

The piano duo is an underrated jazz configuration, and the interplay between the piano and the bass on this song is exquisite. An entire story unfolds between these two instruments, filling in all the space suggested by the title. Another perfect song for summer evenings.

60. Guardia Millennial Fair / Yasunori Mitsuda, Chrono Trigger: The Brink of Time

A folksy but jazzy interpretation of one of the key themes from the beginning of Chrono Trigger, an outstanding RPG from the Super Nintendo days. The album as a whole has kind of a heavy, acid jazz feel, but the “Millenial Fair” feels charmingly light, even as the arrangement builds toward the end: there is an adventure ahead, after all.

61. Little Pad / The Beach Boys, Smiley Smile

Our latest dream excursion takes us to the beaches of the Hawaiian Islands, and the Beach Boys themselves will dream us there, in minimalist style. It’s a silly little song, but I like it.

62. White Sandy Beach of Hawai’i / Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, Facing Future

Now it’s like we are really there, thanks to the soothing voice of Kamakawiwo’ole, whose love for his homeland is unmistakable in this quiet tune. It might be a cliche to say that love is the essence of Hawai’i, but if you’ve been there, you’ve felt how true it is.

63. Haleakala / Na Palapalai, Back to the Patch

I picked up this CD on my most recent visit to Hawai’i: it paints the most beautiful picture of the Hawaiian landscape, as here in this tribute to Maui’s famous volcano, Haleakala. Listen on a peaceful day, and it should inspire you to the kind of reverence for the land that all people should have, wherever they live.

64. Delfino Plaza (from “Super Mario Sunshine”) / 8-bit and the Single Players, Let’s Play

Incidentally, I have three different versions of “Delfino Plaza” in my music library. I chose this one because I like the lean, punchy jazz energy that it brings. Pretty much all of the music of the Super Mario series has a summery feel, but Super Mario Sunshine and the environs of Isle Delfino take that feel to its logical endpoint, and then they dance there.

65. Kaze Ni (Cat’s Gratitude) / Ayano Tsuji, スタジオジブリの歌

The Cat Returns might be a relatively minor film in the Studio Ghibli canon, but I have always liked this song, and I knew that I wanted its gentle ukulele strumming and cheerful singing on any summer playlist I was going to make. It makes me happy with just a little push.

66. Coconut / Nilsson, All Time Greatest Hits

There is a version of this song by the Muppets, and as I weighed which to use for my playlist, I thought, “Harry Nilsson really deserves more recognition for his particular brand of creative insanity.” That’s all there is to it. Put the lime in the coconut, and call me in the morning.

67. Watermelon Man / Quincy Jones, Quincy Jones

I have a version of this song by Herbie Hancock too, but it’s not his original; rather, it’s the funked up fusion version from Headhunters. I thought about using that version, but I like the more classic sound of Quincy Jones’ arrangement. “Watermelon Man” is perhaps the epitome of summertime jazz; listening to it, I’d love a slice of melon right now, anyway.

68. Aquatic Ambience (from “Donkey Kong Country) / The 8-Bit Big Band, Choose Your Character!

Yes, we’re feeling the water now, because it’s time to cool down. Incidentally, if you think that video game music is just bleeps and bloops, you really ought to hear what a full band arrangement can do to these songs; on the other hand, you should also give a closer listen to the originals, rather than overlook some of the amazing things they can do with limited sound technology. The original track could have gone just as well in this spot.

69. Cool, Cool Water / The Beach Boys, Feel Flows: the Sunflower and Surf’s Up Sessions – 1969-1971

Nice. Another song that perfectly lives up to its title, expressing calmness and simplicity through hidden complexities. Our summer has become serene.

70. Dragon Roost Island / ZREO: Second Quest, Fair Winds & Following Seas feat. ATLYS

Next, I thought I’d add a little drama to the water. This is a beautiful arrangement of a piece from the soundtrack of The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, featuring the strings of a quartet called ATLYS. I bought this CD for my wife as a gift, because she loves Wind Waker, and she loves string sections. This one is appropriately nautical, with a subtle Japanese tinge.

71. If I Had a Boat / Lyle Lovett, Anthology, Volume 1: Cowboy Man

Combining country tropes with inspired surrealism, Lyle Lovett is one of a kind. “If I had a boat, I’d go out on the ocean/and if I had a pony, I’d ride him on my boat.” One of my absolute favorite songs about either boats or ponies.

72. Busy Doin’ Nothin’ / The Beach Boys, Friends

There’s a certain kind of simple, liberated day that Brian Wilson describes perfectly in the lyrics of this song. Besides that, the lite-bossa groove is a delight.

73. The Girl from Ipanema / Stan Getz featuring João Gilberto featuring Antonio Carlos Jobim, Getz/Gilberto

Of course, I had to give you some genuine bossa nova after that. There’s a name missing from that trio of featured artists, of course: the magnificent Astrud Gilberto, who sings the lyrics in English. This is of course the longer album version, which has the Portuguese lyrics as well. You need both, for authenticity’s sake as well as for the excuse to spend every possible second inside one of the greatest songs of all time. The lack of any other bossa nova tracks on this playlist is perhaps its greatest weakness, but I wouldn’t have dreamed of leaving out “The Girl from Ipanema.”

74. Put Your Records On / Corinne Bailey Rae, Corinne Bailey Rae

Almost three quarters through, and we need to bring the energy back up. “Put Your Records On” celebrates the essence of the summer playlist, which is of course the putting on of records, and the subsequent letting down of hair.

75. Summer Breeze / The Isley Brothers, Brotherhood

I believed this to be the original (only?) version of “Summer Breeze,” until I discovered who Seals and Crofts were. I guess their version is pretty good too, but I love the way Ronald Isley sings this, and I love how that electric guitar goes off in the second half. There are few summer romance songs more flawless than this, and they don’t come to mind at present.

76. Stoned Soul Picnic / Laura Nyro, Stoned Soul Picnic: The Best of Laura Nyro

It’s amazing how many moods Laura Nyro can evoke within a single song just by varying the tempo. Nobody knows what it means to “surry down,” but we can easily shake our heads of the confusion and get past that.

77. Centerfield / John Fogerty, The Long Road Home: The Ultimate John Fogerty-Creedence Collection

Baseball is the ultimate summer game, but I nearly forgot to include a tribute to America’s once and future pastime on this playlist. Fortunately, John Fogerty had my back.

78. Summer (The Sun Can Bend an Orange Sky) / ConcernedApe, Stardew Valley OST

There are a lot of good seasonal tracks from Stardew Valley, but I chose this one to introduce a new theme, that of sunsets. Put yourself up on a grassy hill in your mind, and let these digital sitars carry you into the sky.

79. Orange Skies / Love, Da Capo

Here are some words to whisper in your sweetheart’s ears as the sun goes down. He or she might think you’re being silly, but you’re allowed. The flute is a summertime instrument for sure.

80. Sunset / Kate Bush, Aerial

Kate Bush’s lyrics stand on their own as a brilliant portrait of the colors of the end of a day, and the melody serves them with grace. The fact that the song builds in intensity as it nears its own sunset says something about the night, perhaps.

81. Red Room / Hiatus Kaiyote, Mood Valiant

Before the sun goes down, let’s have one last impression of the waning daylight. The words are almost unnecessary, but I suppose she has to be singing some kind of words to sound like that.

82. Brazil / Pink Martini, Sympathique

So begins a suite of songs about summer nights. “Brazil” is appropriately tropical and romantic, a celebration of rhythmic summer nights. No wonder people doze so much during the day.

83. Summer in the City / The Lovin’ Spoonful, Anthology

You can never really forget a piece of music like the intro to “Summer in the City,” that piercing, staccato guitar/organ rhythm. For a song with so much restless energy, its portrayal of urban nightlife still feels hip and cool.

84. Mary Jane’s Last Dance / Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Greatest Hits

The summer nights are restless indeed. Here is an overdue reminder of the transience of these times, no matter how emotionally heightened they feel. Not only that, but this is a clearly one of Tom Petty’s best choruses (and he writes good choruses). Don’t forget the guitar lick either.

85. The Way that Young Lovers Do / Van Morrison, Astral Weeks

Is it day or night in this song? Maybe both? It’s not clear. It doesn’t matter, but the passion and the energy do. I love the stellar imagery in the chorus, and the way the bass kind of loses control in the bridge.

86. Night Moves / Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, Greatest Hits

Nostalgia always works for Bob Seger, and for whatever reason, everybody seems to be nostalgic for the days when they were all wound up and horny, but hadn’t yet learned how to handle it gracefully.

87. Nightswimming / R.E.M., Automatic for the People

A masterclass in youthful vulnerability, “Nightswimming” can make you believe for a moment that you had experiences that you never did. You can accomplish a lot with just piano and strings, but beautiful poetry helps too.

88. Up the Ladder to the Roof / The Supremes, The Supremes

After a few songs about recalling intimate moments under the stars, how about one that lives it in the moment? Celestial harmonies for romantic stargazing, and a chorus of high drama.

89. Sun’s Gonna Shine / Steve Martin feat. Steep Canyon Rangers feat. Edie Brickell, Live

Sunrise is as much a part of the summer night as the sunset, so let’s welcome the day back with some soulful singing and light banjo picking. Did you know that legendary comedian Steve Martin was an accomplished bluegrass banjo player, and that he takes it perfectly seriously? You do now, and you should listen to his stuff.

90. Everybody Loves the Sunshine / Roy Ayers, The Best of Roy Ayers

“Just bees and things and flowers;” there’s a real beauty in how silly that line is. It’s a nice touch of 1970s funk for a warm day, and it’s hard to deny, even if you suspect that some people are more cautious of sun exposure (see: those of us with the lightest complexions) than others.

91. Lovely Day / Bill Withers, Bill Withers’ Greatest Hits

I love the way Bill Withers puts together such iconic moments in such understated songs. Holding that note with the “lovely day” chants is a subtle kind of genius. And dammit, it is a lovely day.

92. California Girls / The Beach Boys, Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)

All of the Beach Boys songs I’ve included thus far are fairly obscure, but you don’t get more Beach Boys than “California Girls.” This is the Beach Boys of the celebrated California Myth, the west coast and the sunshine and the girls who get so tan. Listen to the harmonies, and it might actually blow your mind.

93. Rock Lobster / The B-52s, Time Capsule: Songs for a Future Generation

So we’ve come to the beach at last. You know what else they have at the beach? Lobsters, and campy science fiction aesthetics, that’s what. All manner of sea creatures, actually. We’ve come this far, we should really let loose now.

94. Super Mario Kart – Koopa Beach / The OneUps, The OneUps, Volume 1

Way more relaxing than you would expect for the background to a cutthroat go-kart race on the sand. This is a straightforward jazz take, with some cool solos from the whole ensemble. Video game music really thrives in a jazz setting, if you ask me.

95. Hang Loose / Alabama Shakes, Boys & Girls

Here’s a real beach anthem, an ode to getting away from your cares. This song has a really delicious guitar texture, suggestive of surf music without having to go so far as to say “we’re going surfing.”

96. Surf Wax America / Weezer, Weezer (the blue one)

And now, “we’re going surfing.” There is a little bit of irony in the lyrics, but you can’t argue with rock and roll. The breakdown in the bridge is also lovely, almost Beach Boys-esque.

97. Surfin’ USA / The Beach Boys, The Beach Boys in Concert

I chose the live version because it rocks harder.

98. Summertime / Sex Bob-omb, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Sex Bob-omb, the fictional band at the center of Scott Pilgrim, are not very good, which is what makes them great. This is especially true since their songs in the movie are actually written by Beck, who is actually good. It’s some dumb old garage rock with whacked out lyrics, and I love it.

99. The Last Rose of Summer / Kathryn Stott and Yo-Yo Ma, Songs of Comfort and Hope

At position 99, it’s time to bring the playlist in for a soft landing. Piano and cello, traditional Irish folk tune, a title that conveys finality to this stage in the yearly cycle. In the real world we’re still a few months from saying goodbye to summer, but it’s enough to make you wistful.

100. Title Theme / ZREO: Second Quest, Fair Winds & Following Seas feat. ATLYS

Remember what I said, about how the best summer playlist will flow right into the next one? This here is music for starting a new voyage. Off the top of my head, I can think of dozens of songs that I would have liked to include, if only you could fit more than 100 tracks in a 100 track playlist. I hope you find them.