5 Songs for Summer Vacation

Ah, summer! How we love to go to the beach, eat outside, and allow our coats to collect dust. If you want some music for your beach party—or for your winter-like refuge behind closed blinds with blasting AC—then we’ve got you covered!

Here are our top five favorite summertime songs:

1. “Beach Blanket Bingo” from Beach Blanket Bingo

This song, and the 1965 movie of the same title, has it all—parachuting, a kidnapped teen idol, and a mermaid! I first heard a bit of this catchy song at a New York Mets game a few years ago. I also got a free beach blanket at that game, which I used a few weeks ago. Beach blanket bingo: the gift that keeps on giving summer after summer after summer.

1. “Summer Nights” from Grease 

Tell me more, tell me more, like, what’s the next song on your list? Well, friends of Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson, it is the famed summertime song from Grease. It’s a classic—an ode to summer nights—and we love it!

1. “Sunny Afternoon” by The Kinks

Before summer nights, there are summer evenings, and before summer evenings, there are sunny afternoons. The Kinks song, “Sunny Afternoon,” is not nearly as playful as “Beach Blanket Bingo” and “Summer Nights.” Instead of the summer lovin’ in Grease, the lyrics talk about how the tax man’s takin’ all your dough. Actually, on second thought, this song isn’t playful at all. Still, it is a great song, and we’ve all been lazing on a sunny afternoon in the summertime… but hopefully with higher after-tax savings.

1. “In the Summertime” by Mungo Jerry

Mungo Jerry’s famous summer classic is possibly my favorite summertime song. The lyrics aren’t just about summer… the song itself feels like summer! The tune from 1970 is a timeless testament to lighthearted summer days and I’ll be listening to it on loop as I drift off to sleep while catching some rays.

1. “Beyond the Sea” by Bobby Darin

Bobby Darin, you have such a smooth voice…smooth enough for perfect sailing on the sea! Darin sings of a hopeful future where he reunites with his loved one. It’s romantic, it’s beautiful, and it’s beachy. Beachy? Well, I like to imagine that he’s singing this on a beach, perhaps sitting on a beach towel. Maybe he won that beach towel at the same Mets game I was at years ago! He was born in New York, after all.

Bonus: “School’s Out” by Alice Cooper

I’m throwing this classic Alice Cooper song on the list because I know the answer to the following question: who here wasn’t absolutely thrilled when the school year ended as a kid? (Or now, for that matter.) I can imagine a few music teachers humming this under their breath as they walk out of the music room for summer vacation. 

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