Other music bloggers can make lists of their favorite summer songs but can they make a list of summer songs that they wrote? All of the “songs of the summer” articles (here, here, and here) are about other people’s songs. BORING! Here are the best songs of the summer that I wrote. Will one of them become your summer jam? Only if you want summer 2017 to be AMAZING! Here we go:
1.) One Plus One, from A/B
The second single from the project that became A/B, this song was written specifically as a summer jam with lyrics making fun of how simple the lyrics are for summer jams (hence “One Plus One”). It’s peppy, poppy, and just annoying enough to be catchy!
The video, shot at Coney Island, was a blast to make and irony or no, fills me with happy summer vibes whenever I watch it. Shot by the amazing video making team of Peggy & Steve, featuring the Wonder Wheel, MCU Park where the Cyclones play, and the Coney Island Boardwalk!
2. $9 Cupcake, from A/B
The year before I did the One Plus One video I made a video for my song “$9 Cupcake” wherein I attached a cupcake to my video camera and walked around ever-gentrifying Brooklyn. I suppose you could call it a “first person baker?” So while lyrically it may not have the same middle school crush angle that most summer songs have, the video is a window into a summer weekend afternoon in NYC. And the song is also very poppy, which is a must.
3. Stoop Sale, from A/B
Three summer songs on one album!? I know, right? Especially since I’m more of a fall. Stoop Sale is a mellow, acoustic groove in the vein of Jack Johnson or G. Love, about selling stuff on the street and clearing out the clutter of your life. Though I love the album arrangement, here I’m posting a live version I just rediscovered, which is from FumpFest 2016. The audience sings along, I crack a few jokes before and after, and it exemplifies the theme of being in the moment.
4. Somewhere Else, single 2017
Traveling through Europe this summer? If you’re an American and want to avoid talking about Trump, take this song’s advice and tell people you’re from Somewhere Else! Video directed by Victor Varnado!
5. On Our Side, from Keep Your Jazz Hand Strong
Boy Bands! SuperPACs? This song imagines a world where a SuperPAC has created a boy band to win over young future voters. It’s early 2000s pop meets politics, with 5-part harmonies! This one’s a deep cut, but no list of my songs would be complete without something totally bizarre.
Did I miss a song of mine that could be a song of the summer? A deep track I may have forgotten about? Microwave Burritos from Don’t Crowd the Plow? Disco Nights from American Cheese?
