Favorite Summer Songs

 Consider this a never-ending list of my favorite Summer songs.  I've also included songs that may not be about Summer, but have the feel of the season.

All Summer - Little Big Town

All Summer Long - Beach Boys
All Summer Long - Kid Rock

Beach Baby - First Class
Beautiful Morning - Rascals

Boys Are Back In Town - Thin Lizzy 
Boys of Summer - Don Henley
Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
California Girls - Beach Boys
California Sun - Rivieras

Constructive Summer - Hold Steady

Cool For The Summer - Demi Lovato
Cruel Summer - Bananarama

Cruel Summer - Taylor Swift 

Cruise - Florida Georgia Line
Crystal Blue Persuasion - Tommy James & The Shondells
Dancing In The Moonlight - King Harvest
Dancing In The Street - Martha and the Vandellas
Daydream - Lovin' Spoonful

Doin' Time - Lana Del Rey
Everybody Loves The Sunshine - Roy Ayers
Fourth of July - Dave Alvin
Fun, Fun, Fun - Beach Boys
Good Times - Chic
Good Vibrations - Beach Boys
Grazing In The Grass - Friends of Distinction
Groovin' - Rascals

Heat Wave - Martha & the Vandellas

Heat Waves - Glass Animals 
Hot Fun In The Summertime - Sly & The Family Stone

Hot In Herre - Nelly
I Live For The Sun - Sunrays
In The Summertime - Mungo & Jerry
Island In The Sun - Harry Belafonte
It's A Great Day To Be Alive - Travis Tritt
Lazy Day - Spanky and Our Gang
Margaritaville - Jimmy Buffett

Melting In The Sun - ELO
Miserlou - Dick Dale

Mr. Blue Sky - ELO

Night Moves - Bob Seger

No, Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems - Kenny Chesney

One Summer Dream - ELO

Other Side of Summer - Elvis Costello
Palisades Park - Freddy Cannon

Pontoon - Little Big Town

Rock Lobster - B-52's
Rockaway Beach - Ramones

Saints - Breeders
Saturday In The Park - Chicago
Sealed With A Kiss - Brian Hyland
See You In September - Happenings
School's Out - Alice Cooper
(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay - Otis Redding
Sitting In The Park - Billy Stewart

Sleep All Summer - Neko Case & Eric Bachmann 
Sleepwalk - Santo & Johnny

Smooth - Santana & Rob Thomas
Soak Up The Sun - Sheryl Crow
Southern Nights - Glen Campbell
Steal My Sunshine - Len
Stoned Soul Picnic - Fifth Dimension

Suddenly Last Summer - Motels

Summer and Lightning - ELO
Summer Song - Chad & Jeremy
Summer Wind - Frank Sinatra
Summer Nights - John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John

Summer - Bobby Goldsboro
Summer - War
Summer Breeze - Isley Brothers
Summer Breeze - Seals & Crofts

Summer Looks Good On You - Cheap Trick
Summer In The City - Lovin' Spoonful
Summer Madness - Kool & The Gang

Summer Means Fun - Bruce & Terry
Summer of '69 - Bryan Adams
Summer Rain - Johnny Rivers
Summertime - Billy Stewart

Summer's Comin' - Clint Black
Summertime - DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
Summertime Blues - Eddie Cochran

Summertime Girls - Y&T
Summertime Sadness - Lana Del Rey
Summertime Summertime - Jamies
Sunny Afternoon - Kinks

Sunroof - Nicky Youre & Dazy

Sunshine On My Shoulders - John Denver
Surf City - Jan & Dean
Surfin' U.S.A. - Beach Boys

That Summer Feeling - Jonathan Richman

Theme From "A Summer Place" - Percy Faith

Theme From "Summer of '42" - Peter Nero
Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer - Nat King Cole
Thunder Island - Jay Ferguson

Toes - Zac Brown Band

Under The Boardwalk - Drifters

Vacation - Connie Francis
Vacation - Go-Go's
Walking On Sunshine - Katrina & The Waves
Watermelon Sugar - Harry Styles

Wipe Out - Surfaris 

Playlist for 5/31

Willie Nelson - Dream Chaser

Black Keys - Peaches 

BTS - Arirang 

Robyn - Sexistential

Ashley Monroe - Dear Nashville 

Charley Crockett - Age of the Ram 

Arlo Parks - Ambiguous Desire

Billy Idol Should Be Dead (Documentary) 

Smokey Robinson Songbook - Various (Ace)

Poll: May 1982 Songs

  May 1982. One month away from graduating.  Not the strongest list I've voted on.  But brought back memories of my last months in High School.

"Don't You Want Me", Human League : 1

"Get Down On It", Kool & the Gang : 2
"Rosanna", Toto : 3
"I Love Rock 'N Roll", Joan Jett & the Blackhearts : 4
"The Other Woman", Ray Parker, Jr. : 5
"We Got The Beat", Go-Go's : 6
"Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go", Soft Cell : 7
"Edge Of Seventeen (Just Like The White Winged Dove)", Stevie Nicks : 8
"Don't Talk To Strangers", Rick Springfield : 9
"'65 Love Affair", Paul Davis : 10
"Open Arms", Journey : 11
"Heat Of The Moment", Asia : 12
"It's Gonna Take A Miracle", Deniece Williams : 13
"Love's Been A Little Bit Hard On Me", Juice Newton : 14
"If It Ain't One Thing...It's Another", Richard "Dimples" Fields : 15
"One Hundred Ways", Quincy Jones featuring James Ingram  : 16
"Do You Believe In Love", Huey Lewis & the News : 17
"Always On My Mind", Willie Nelson : 18
"Chariots of Fire (Titles)", Vangelis : 19
"867-5309/Jenny", Tommy Tutone : 20
"Did It In A Minute", Daryl Hall & John Oates : 21
"Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)", Elton John : 22
"Freeze-Frame", J. Geils Band : 23
"Make A Move On Me", Olivia Newton-John : 24
"Circles", Atlantic Starr : 25
"That Girl", Stevie Wonder : 26
"Man On Your Mind", Little River Band : 27
"Run For The Roses", Dan Fogelberg : 28
"Key Largo", Bertie Higgins : 29
"Ebony And Ivory", Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder : 30
"Hang Fire", Rolling Stones : 31
"Pac-Man Fever", Buckner & Garcia : 32
"Should I Do It", Pointer Sisters : 33
"You're My Everything", Santa Esmeralda : 34
"Crimson And Clover", Joan Jett & the Blackhearts : 35
"Making Love", Roberta Flack : 36
"Goin' Down", Greg Guidry : 37
"Friends In Love", Dionne Warwick & Johnny Mathis : 38
"Body Language", Queen : 39
"(Oh) Pretty Woman", Van Halen : 40
"The Beatles' Movie Medley", Beatles : 41

"I've Never Been To Me", Charlene : 42 

Bob Dylan 85 Years Old

   Back in 2014, I participated in an online poll ranking Bob Dylan's songs/albums/cover versions by other artists.  Now on his 85th birthday I'm gonna repost my rankings.  I've decided to keep the rankings as they were originally published.  Maybe on his 90th birthday, I'll update it.

Songs

1.  Like A Rolling Stone

2.  Positively 4th Street

3.  Tangled Up In Blue

4.  Knockin' On Heaven's Door

5.  Don't Think Twice, It's Alright

6.  Lay Lady Lay

7.  Masters of War

8.  Subterranean Homesick Blues

9. Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall

10.  It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding

11. Highway 61 Revisited

12. Shelter From The Storm

13. I Want You

14. Ballad of A Thin Man

15. It Ain't Me Babe

16. You Ain't Goin' Nowhere

17. Mr. Tambourine Man

18. Blowin' In The Wind

19. Maggie's Farm

20. Just Like A Woman

21. I Shall Be Released

22. All I Really Want To Do

23. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight

24. If Not For You

25. All Along The Watchtower

26. Visions of Johanna

27. Stuck Inside of Memphis

28. Love Minus Zero/No Limit

29. My Back Pages

30. Tombstone Blues

31. Simple Twist of Fate

32. Tomorrow Is A Long Time

33. Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll

34. She Belongs To Me

35. You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome

36. Chimes of Freedom

37. Desolation Row

38. Blind Willie McTell

39. To Ramona

40. Gotta Serve Somebody

41. Brownsville Girl

42. Times They Are A-Changin'

43. Tight Connection To My Heart

44. Dirty World

45. Things Have Changed

46. Hurricane

47. Forever Young

48. Tweeter and the Monkey Man

49. Rainy Day Woman #12 & 35

50. Isis

Top 20 Albums

1.  Highway 61 Revisited

2.  Blonde On Blonde

3.  Blood on the Tracks

4.  Another Side of Bob Dylan

5.  Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

6.  John Wesley Harding

7.  Basement Tapes

8.  Bringing It All Back Home

9.  Love and Theft

10. Nashville Skyline

11. Desire

12. New Morning

13. Bootleg Series Vol. 4 (Live 1966)

14. Times They Are A-Changin'

15. Slow Train Coming

16. Time Out Of Mind

17. Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3

18. Modern Times

19. Before The Flood

20. Bob Dylan s/t (1962)

Covers by Other Artists

1.  All Along The Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix

2.  Mr. Tambourine Man - Byrds

3.  Tomorrow Is A Long Time - Elvis Presley

4.  I Shall Be Released - Band

5.  You Ain't Going Nowhere - Byrds

6.  If Not For You - George Harrison

7.  It Ain't Me Babe - Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash

8.  Blowin' In The Wind - Stevie Wonder

9.  It's All Over Now, Baby Blue - Them

10. Mighty Quinn  - Manfred Mann

11. Tomorrow Is A Long Time - Rod Stewart

12. She Belongs To Me - Ricky Nelson

13. Emotionally Yours - O'Jays

14. Make You Feel My Love - Adele

15. Knockin' On Heaven's Door - Warren Zevon

16. Highway 61 Revisited (Live 30th Anniversary) - Johnny Winter

17. Absolutely Sweet Marie - Jason & The Scorchers

18. All I Really Want To Do - Byrds

19. Tears of Rage - Band

20. Masters of War (Live 30th Anniversary) - Eddie Vedder 

Playlist for 5/15

Kacey Musgraves - Middle of Nowhere 

Ringo Starr - Long Long Road

Band of Heathens - Country Sides

Black Crowes - A Pound of Feathers 

Lemon Twigs - Look For Your Mind

Tedeschi Trucks Band - Future Soul 

Luke Combs - The Way I Am 

New Pornographers - Former Site of

Ranking: Songs from Billy Joel - The Stranger

  It took Billy Joel 3 albums on Columbia before number four broke him in a big way.  Today The Stranger is a diamond selling album.  Its fate when first released in 1977 was far away from those sales projections.  But the lead single, "Just the Way You Are" peaked at #3 and the album had three more top 40 singles.  The momentum carried over in to 1978 when 52nd Street became his first number one album.  Never a critics favorite, Joel's music was often dismissed by critic during his peak as slight.  But listeners, including me, disagreed.  The Stranger remains my favorite Billy Joel album.

1.  Only The Good Die Young

2.  Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)

3.  Just The Way You Are

4.  Vienna

5.  Songs From An Italian Restaurant

6.  She's Always A Woman

7.  The Stranger

8.  Get It Right the First Time

9.  Everybody Has A Dream

Best Mother's Day Songs

Updated for 2026

When most people think of Mother's Day songs, sentimentality usually wins out.  I've got a few of those listed below, but also some that avoid the teardrops.
                                                                                                                                             

Anais Mitchell - Little Big Girl

Anthony Hamilton - Mama Knew Love

Beatles - Julia
Bill Anderson - Mama Sang A Song

Boyz II Men - Song For Mama

Brandi Carlile - The Mother

Bruce Springsteen - Wish
Carrie Underwood - Mama's Song
Dolly Parton - Coat Of Many Colors
Electric Light Orchestra - Mama
Elvis Presley - Mama Liked The Roses
Gerry Rafferty - Mary Skeffington
Gregory Porter - Mother's Song
Intruders - I'll Always Love My Mama
Jamie O'Neal - Somebody's Hero
Judds - Mama He's Crazy

John Lennon - Mother

Joni Mitchell - Little Green

Junior - Mama Used To Say

Kacey Musgraves - Mother

Lefty Frizzell - Mom and Dad's Waltz

Lenny Kravitz - Thinking Of You

Linda Ronstadt - Sweetest Gift
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Simple Man
Merle Haggard - Mama Tried
Miracles - Shop Around
Miranda Lambert - Mama's Broken Heart
Outkast - She's Alive
Paul Simon - Loves Me Like A Rock
Pink Floyd - Mother

Randy Travis - Angels

Romy - Enjoy Your Life

Ruth Brown - Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean
Shirelles - Mama Said
Sizzla - Thank U Mamma
2Pac - Dear Mama
Spinners - Sadie
Sufjan Stevens - Fourth Of July
Taylor Swift - Best Day