By Grace Hogsten
Copy Editor
Imagine you are scrolling on TikTok in your dorm, listening to catchy clips of different songs, each of which enthusiastic users tout “the song of the summer.” As you turn up the volume to combat the hum of your air conditioner, you start to wonder: which one truly defines the season, and who gets to decide?
According to CNN, “The song of the summer is the pesky earworm you hear blaring at the beach, the pool, and the cookout. It’s the infectious hit endlessly remixed…all over TikTok.”
These hits expose feuds, celebrate new flings, and explore the opportunities of reinvention, and as soon as the weather starts to get warmer, the search begins.
On April 12, TikTok user @relatetomusic posted a clip of Sabrina Carpenter’s newly released “Espresso” music video with the words “Song of The Summer” across the screen. Summer was still over a month away, but, according to some, the music that would define it had already arrived.
According to Rolling Stone, “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter, “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar, “Von Dutch” by Charli xcx, and “Joyride” by Kesha are all serious contenders for the title.
Like “Espresso,” however, most of them were released well before the change of seasons; when “Joyride,” the newest addition to the list, came out on July 4, “Not Like Us” was turning exactly two months old, and “Von Dutch” had been streaming for twice as long.
After months of gray skies and slush, listeners want music that shakes up the monotony of work and school, offering excitement and intrigue instead. They are eager to hear Lamar’s response to Drake, speculate about Carpenter’s latest fling, and enjoy new hits from established artists like Charli xcx and Kesha.
However, the phenomenon of “the song of the summer” encapsulates not just the music consumers want, but the music that performers promote.
“Every singer-songwriter on TikTok comes out of the woodwork to make a video…about how they think they just wrote ‘the song of the summer,’” TikTok user Keara Sullivan said in a video on the trend. “They press play, and you hear the worst pop song you’ve ever heard.”
More established artists use the phrase “the song of the summer” to promote their work too. On TikTok, Chappell Roan, Lizzo, and Luke Bryan have all used its hashtag to promote their music.
While the concept of “the song of the summer” feels intrinsically tied to social media and short-form videos, it far predates the internet.
According to a June 1910 New York Tribune article quoted by E! News, the history of the phrase dates back over a century: “In the words of the almanac, ‘About this time look out for the summer song.’ What will it be this season?”
The contemporary “song of the summer” harkens back to the origins of recorded music.
According to Vox,“[T]he search for a summer song has been around almost as long as commercial music itself.” The invention of the phonograph created “conditions in which a single song could become the ‘song of summer.’”
With so much new music to enjoy at any given moment, it is impossible to choose one song to define an entire season. However, the characteristics of a memorable summer song are far less difficult to determine. Listeners look for music that promises a future of warm evenings and blue skies in the midst of a chilly spring lets them release their inhibitions during afternoons at the beach or nights under strobe lights and transports them back to sunny days when summer vacation is over.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Photo Caption: Social media users often discuss which song will become most popular over the summer.