People say that country music is mostly for summertime, and I completely agree with that statement. Summertime is all about relaxing under the sun, drinking cold drinks and having no worries. Students are out of school, the weather is warm, and it’s just time to let loose. All of those resonate with themes of a lot of country songs, which make everyone want to listen to country music even more during summer.
Personally, 90% of my summer playlist consists of country music songs. Even if I didn’t actually make an effort to make a country music playlist, country music is playing everywhere I go during summer- in stores, on the radio, at the beach, just everywhere I can think of. Avoiding country music is almost impossible, especially given that I live in the state of Texas. Including Texas, “the dirty South” in general, became home of country music and people in the south are crazy about country music, and I think it could be that summer lasts just a bit longer in south than it does in other regions,
Before I really began to listen to country music, I always thought country music was just slow and had depressing lyrics; obviously, I was very wrong. I now know that many country singers release their albums in summer or around spring break time when the weather is just getting warm, and those songs are upbeat and have fun-to-listen-to or relatable lyrics. On that note, my list below mostly consists of those songs that were made for summertime and quite honestly, even when it’s not summer, I listen to those songs and they just make me happy in general. So, here we go:
- “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” & “Anywhere With You” (2011) – Jake Owen. “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” is first number one hit and this was the fastest-rising single in Jake Owen’s career. The album that these songs were in was released in August of 2011. There is no music video for “Anywhere With You,” but and the music video for “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” was taken at the beach, simply depicting the laid-back summer days hanging out by the water during the day and singing and drinking at night.
- “Springsteen” (2012) – Eric Church. This song was what made Eric Church known as a country singer nationwide. It was the first song of Eric Church to enter top twenty in Billboard Country Music, and got him nominated for Grammy Awards. The song is about teenage love and the main verse has a catchy, easy-to-sing-along melody. Even though the song wasn’t specifically made for summertime, verses like “stars in the sky,” and “flip-flops and cut-off jeans,” create summer-like images.
- “Beat This Summer” (2013) – Brad Paisley. The title of this song already gives away that it is about summertime. This song has a pretty up-tempo and the light guitar sound, which make the listeners just smile. The lyrics are fun, as the song is about a boy meeting a girl on a summer vacation. The music video is also fun to watch; it takes place on a boardwalk, and a little boy falls in love with a girl.
- “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem” (2002) – Kenny Chesney. This is one of my go-to beach songs, and one of the only few “old” country songs that I listen to. (I usually don’t listen to any country songs that came out before 2010.) The guitar sounds remind me of Hawaiian music, which of course, makes me think of the beach. Kenny Chesney’s “twang” (bizarrely) goes really well with the Hawaiian sounds, and the lyrics are just so laid-back, as you can tell from the title, which makes it more perfect for a beach song.
- “Knee Deep” (2011) – Zac Brown Band. The beats are simple yet a fun and even maybe a little bit funky, and the lyrics are well written. I like how it is solely beach-themed and it feature Jimmy Buffett. I find every single verse beautiful, but my favorite verses are, “Sunrise there’s a fire in the sky,” “It’s a sweet sweet life living by the salty sea,” and “When you lose yourself, you find the key to paradise.”
- “Cruise” (2012) – Florida Georgia Line. This song is probably one of the most famous modern country songs. Florida Georgia Line became very popular with this song, and there were even remix versions of this song, which also became successful. The two brothers (Florida Georgia Line) make great harmony and this song has a repetitive main verse with a catchy melody, which I think were the main reasons why this song was such a big hit. The lyrics and the original music video were about spending summer days in little country towns with a girl. This song is the best-selling country digital song in of all time in the United States and the remix music video featuring Nelly has over 25 millions views.
Minsu: You might be right that country music has lots of summer anthems because the summer lasts longer in the south. The south also has lots of beaches, making it a hot destination for tourists who want to come drink margaritas and sing those songs they heard on the radio. I can’t believe you called the Kenny Chensey song “old.” It came out during my first year at college, and so I still feel like it’s pretty new. I can’t think of many songs older than that, that talk about enjoying the hot weather. Maybe something by Jimmy Buffet or Alan Jackson’s “Chattanooga.”
I really love that you pulled all these fantastic songs together to make the ultimate summertime playlist. You are absolutely right when you say that these songs have the ability to make you feel happy and carefree, which is ultimately how you want to feel during the summer! Personally, I’ve always enjoyed listening to upbeat country music during the summer over any other genres of music, because honestly, county music just gets it! I’d also add “Pontoon” by Little Big Town onto this list, because it really reminds me of being out on the lake in a boat, tanning the hot summer day away.
Country music is perfect for every time of the year but summer time more than any other. I love the songs you picked out because those are some of my favorites to listen to on a hot summer day while I am out by the pool drinking my ice cold sweet tea. I just love country music. Just like you, I listen to country music everywhere I go. I do listen to other genres too but somehow I always find myself right back at my country music playlist. There seems to be a country sing for every occasion, even something as simple as making a trip to the grocery store. Really enjoyed your post and I’m going to check out some of the songs on your listen that I haven’t heard before.