LISTEN: The ultimate playlist to keep your cool this summer
While summer can be cruel for Taylor Swift, sad for Lana Del Rey, and cold for Francis M., one thing is certain: It's a period when the heat's so punishing, so much so that it leads to discomfort, boredom, lethargy.
Aside from air conditioners, loose clothes, beach trips, and ice-cold drinks, you can also deal with the heat by listening to songs that have catchy melodies and playful lyrics.
Here are PhilSTAR L!fe's chosen songs for the summer period or dry season that are meant to make you bop your heads and sing along, if not make you forget about the heat—even just for a while.
Every Morning – Sugar Ray
This alternative rock song features acoustic guitars, DJ beats, whistles, blending, overlapping vocals, and lyrics about a dearly beloved—the formula for the quintessential summer track.
Dati – Tippy Dos Santos, Sam Concepcion, Quest
This OPM song's lyrics scream batang '90s: star-crossed lovers reminisce about their days of street games, siesta, and afternoon television. Tippy and Sam's sweet voices are complemented by Quest's smooth rapping.
Summer Paradise – Simple Plan
This rock song opens with "ASMR" sounds of crashing waves, then becomes even more chill with a ska-style guitar riff and yet another whistling.
It also has two versions that feature Jamaican artist Sean Paul and Somali-Canadian musician K'Naan.
La Isla Bonita – Madonna
As the title already suggests, this pop song has Latin influences with its Cuban drums, classical guitar, maracas, and harmonicas. The lyrics, which contain Spanish, talk about a singer's desire to go to the dreamy La Isla Bonita (or the beautiful island).
Tamis – Alisson Shore feat. GFAB
This OPM song, which has RnB and rap elements, includes synthesizers, piano, and drum pads that make it such an earworm.
The lyrics, written in Filipino and English, make use of metaphors about sweetness to show the singers' appreciation for a special someone.
Tala – Sarah Geronimo
This OPM song is considered a precursor of P-Pop, especially with its music video featuring Sarah Geronimo's tribal-inspired costume and alluring dancing moves.
Though it wasn't much popular upon its release in 2016, the song eventually became a hit in 2019 and has gone viral on social media.
Ma Boy – SISTAR19
This K-Pop song from the subunit of second-generation girl group SISTAR is such a banger—especially with its dance practice video that featured the iconic "chair dance."
El Efecto – Rauw Alejandro and Chencho Corleone
This reggaeton song features Spanish lyrics that talk about seizing the day, even as it has suggestive elements.
Spanish actress Ester Expósito of Elite fame also helped popularize the song with a video of her belly-dancing to the song.
Walking on Sunshine – Katrina & The Waves
This New Wave song would make you not just walk (on sunshine) but dance to the beat (even in one's room) with its drums, saxophone, trumpets, electric guitars, and enthusiastic lyrics about hoping for a dearly beloved's visit.
Samalamig – Shehyee
This OPM song contains hip-hop elements and features synthesizers and trumpets.
Though written in a pre-pandemic setting, the song remains relevant as it talks about traffic woes and having the beloved Pinoy refreshment to beat the punishing heat and the inflaming situation.
Lose Yourself to Dance – Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams
You ought to do as the disco-funk song's title says, especially with its groovy bass, clean rhythm guitar from Chic's Nile Rodgers, crooning from Pharrell, and "robotic" voices from the duo of Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Cristo.
Rock Lobster – The B-52's
This surf rock song is the quintessential summer song, with its groovy bassline and eccentric lyrics about a beach party and marine animals, real and imagined.
It also features an electric guitar, organ, and drums.
Paligoy-Ligoy – Nadine Lustre
This OPM song was originally from the soundtrack of the 2014 movie Diary ng Panget: The Movie.
It has gone viral on TikTok last January as a dance challenge.
California Gurls – Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg
This pop song blends elements of disco, funk, and electronica.
The singers, who both hail from California, pay homage to their hometown and talk about its waters, palm trees, beaches, as well as the titular girls wearing daisy dukes with bikinis on top and their sun-kissed skin.
Check the rest of the playlist on Spotify.
