Courtesy of Spotify
I keep all of my annual playlists in a Spotify playlist folder.It was June 6, and I had just finished my last final of sophomore year. I walked home happily, but I’m not just happy that school is over. I’m happy because I can finally listen to my summer playlist.
Every May, when finals week approaches, I begin to carefully curate my annual summer playlist. Since my birthday is on July 10, I like to make a playlist every summer to commemorate the year. The playlist is a collection of my favorite songs at the time, alongside other popular songs from that summer.
For instance, the summer of 2022 was the same summer that “Stranger Things” Season 4 was released. My playlist that year featured songs such as “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” by Kate Bush, reflecting my “Stranger Things” obsession.
Highlights of the 2023 summer include season two of “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” the “Barbie” movie and Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. My playlist that year followed suit, featuring songs such as “This Love (Taylor’s Version)” by Taylor Swift and “Dance The Night” by Dua Lipa. Additionally, this was the summer that “vampire” by Olivia Rodrigo was released, and the song quickly became my obsession.
Last summer, I was listening mostly to artists like Sade and Gracie Abrams. Songs such as “Cherry Pie” by Sade and “21” by Gracie Abrams were some of my favorites. I would also consider the song of the summer in 2024 to be “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter — it was absolutely everywhere, from social media and radio stations. Eventually, it was so overplayed I got extremely sick of it and couldn’t listen to it anymore.
This summer, my favorite artist was Kali Uchis, a Columbian-American singer who blends R&B, pop, indie and Latin rhythms. I listened to a lot of her songs, especially new ones from “Sincerely,” her most recent album. Some of my favorites are “Endlessly”, “Flight 22” and “Simple”. My personal song of the summer this year was “OTRO CAPÍTULO” by Becky G — I think that Becky G is an extremely underrated artist and her music always makes me want to start dancing.
I really love having these playlists to look back on and remember what my favorite music was at the time. I hope that I can continue this tradition for a long time and keep up with my music. In the future, I want to be able to show my kids the kind of music that I liked as a teenager, and I think that my Spotify playlists are a kind of time capsule and the perfect way to capture these moments.
