8 Summer Songs You Won’t Be Able to Get Out of Your Head

Summer is the perfect season for swimming, staying out late, and sailing up the music charts with a big hit. Many musicians have found the right hook and the right audience, and seen insane summer success. Even if you don’t like these summer songs, we bet you’ll have trouble getting them out of your head. Do yourself a favor and learn more than just a few lyrics; it’ll keep you from driving yourself crazy later if you only know one line and it’s stuck on repeat in your head.

1. “Call Me Maybe”

   Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, But here’s my number so call me maybe.

   This song is pretty much the soundtrack of the summer, so you’ve probably been unlucky enough to get it stuck in your head at some point. With multiple viral videos based around it, the Carly Rae Jepsen hit is impossible to avoid. We’re just going to warn you: if you try this line on anyone during your summer vacation, expect them to groan and walk the other direction.

2. “In the Summertime”

   In the summertime, when the weather is high, you can stretch right up and touch the sky.
   When the weather’s fine, you got women, you got women on your mind.

   Mungo Jerry knows how to capture summertime in a song. Listen to this song once at the beginning of the summer, and it’ll stay with you until the school year rolls back around. You’ll be dancing and singing, and if you don’t know the words, you can provide the rhythmic “Chh, chh chh, UH” in the background.

3. “Summer Girls”

   New Kids On The Block had a bunch of hits.
   Chinese food makes me sick.
   And I think it’s fly when girls stop by for the summer, for the summer.

   If you were a child of the ’90s, this 1999 LFO song, with its terrible lyrics and all, is going to bring back some summer memories. How can a song that makes so little sense be so darn catchy? Do you need more examples besides Chinese food making the band sick? Check this out:
   Like the color purple, macaroni and cheese,

   Ruby red slippers and a bunch of trees.

   Call you up but what’s the use?

   I like Kevin Bacon, but I hate Footloose.

   Now just try to get it out of your head.

4. “Kokomo”

   Aruba, Jamaica, oh, I want to take you.
   Bermuda, Bahama. Come on, pretty mama.
   Key Largo, Montego, baby, why don’t we go?

   Doesn’t this song just make you want to jump on a plane to an island somewhere? We can practically feel the breeze right now. If you can’t get out of work or summer school long enough to make it down to the Caribbean, you can instead hum this song at your desk and annoy everyone around you. Kokomo is supposedly a poolside tiki bar in the Florida Keys (or just totally fictional), but you could always go instead to the lovely town of Kokomo, Ind., if that’s all your summer vacation time allows.

5. “Summer in the City”

   Hot town, summer in the city,
   Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty.
   Been down, isn’t it a pity?
   Doesn’t seem to be a shadow in the city.

   If you need an anthem to celebrate summer nights (besides Grease‘s “Summer Nights,” another contender for this list), this Lovin’ Spoonful diddy is your go-to track for the next few months. And if you live anywhere in the South or in a big city where you have to walk everywhere, you can definitely relate to the feeling of walking around half dead, hotter than a match head during the day. Once the sun goes down and you find some relief, crank this song up and enjoy the cooler temperatures while they last.

6. “School’s Out”

   School’s out for summer.
   School’s out forever.
   School’s been blown to pieces.

   Come on. You can’t tell us you didn’t sing this song every year growing up when summer came around. Not as sugary-sweet as some of these other catchy tunes, this song might cleanse your palette a little if Alice Cooper is more your style than Carly Rae Jepsen. It’s perfect for recalling those days when you couldn’t wait to be rid of your teachers and will bring back that good ol’ summer feeling no matter what age you are.

7. “California Gurls”

   California girls, we’re unforgettable.
   Daisy Dukes, bikinis on top.
   Sun-kissed skin, so hot,
   we’ll melt your popsicle.

   Are girls in California really that much better? The Beach Boys and Katy Perry seem to think so. This 2010 hit was blasted from radios across the country and we’re betting it got stuck in your head more than once. Even if you’re not from California (or even a girl!), take this opportunity to put on your Daisy Dukes and bikinis, and hang out poolside with this tune blaring.

8. “Baby Got Back”

   I like big butts and I cannot lie.
   You other brothers can’t deny,
   when a girl walks in with an itty-bitty waist and a round thing in your face…

   Everybody’s favorite 1992 summer hit, Sir Mix-a-lot’s song made it OK to like big butts. You may have different taste in women than the rapper, but when you hear this song, you can’t help but think about the 5’3″ girl with 36″-24″-36″ measurements. Learn all the words and this could be your new summer karaoke song!