August

Sarah Garrett

August, by Flipturn, emphasizes the sadness of wishing for summer to never end, a feeling I resonated with before and even during this school year. One of the main lines from the chorus is “But now you’re a stranger, and I’m still July.” I not only love this line for the entertaining word play, but also because I was able to relate to it in a quite literal sense. As someone who was plagued with COVID-19 for two weeks in July, when August came around I was not ready for the upcoming school year, at least not yet. In general, I felt that the song reflected my feelings on how my summer break full of friends and fun had passed faster than ever. And while this sounds very melancholy, the lyrics aren’t only filled with gloom. The lyric “August, honey, you were mine” reminds the audience about the memories from the past. In the end, while the song is metaphorically using the months as a way to reflect on a past relationship, I was happy to find music that I could literally relate to, perfectly summing up the bittersweet beginning of my school year. 

Miles Ahead by The Strike

Sanwi Sarode

Released in 2020 by The Strike, “Miles Ahead” is a song about young love and the feeling of outrunning forever. The song follows the narrative of a shy boy finding a new beginning in his admiration of his brave, beautiful crush. However, he knows that this phase in his life can never last, and he wishes there was a way to catch up to forever, which is “miles ahead.” With summer vibes being the epitome of fresh starts that come to an end, this song fits with this season perfectly, and the pure relationship portrayed between the two lovers throughout the song is simply refreshing. The song’s nostalgic lyrics, catchy beat, and yearning tone makes “Miles Ahead” nothing less than perfect for summer.

First Day of My Life

Lili Xiong

First Day of My Life by Bright Eyes was my song of the summer. Yes, it was released in 2002, and yes, I discovered it in 2022. There’s something about the gentle acoustic guitar in the background and the song’s delicate, simple lyrics that bring me a sense of nostalgia for the roadtrips, cicadas serenading me on summer evening walks, and the sometimes questionable summertime shenanigans you get into as a kid that defined my childhood summers. I’d describe this song as sleepy (but in the absolute best way possible) — the lyrics roll off the lead singer’s tongue like he’s mumbling peacefully in his sleep, and when I listen to it, I can almost hear the lazy smile emanating straight into my ear phones. The lyrics ‘I think I was blind before I met you / And I don’t know where I am, I don’t know where I’ve been / But I know where I want to go’ embody the experience of summer days blending into a slew of indistinctive days of spending time with the people you love instead of grueling over the College Board.

Surf

Katie Busby

“Surf”, by Mac Miller and released posthumously in early 2020, is my song of the summer. I may have listened to a
huge variety of music this summer, but this song made it onto almost every one of my playlists, and I never got tired of it. The acoustic guitar, drums, and raspy vocals became the soundtrack to my drowsy summer mornings and long sunny days. I had a lot of hard moments over the summer, but the airy, calming feel of this song always reminded me to get out of my head and look around. Lyrics like “And I know that somebody knows me, I know somewhere there’s home” brought me comfort and made me believe that everything will eventually work out. This song feels like the summer breeze and green leaves, like you’re sitting under a tree just watching the world go by. Figuring out that healing isn’t linear and life is ever changing. “Until we get old, there’s water in the flowers, let’s grow.”