feeling some Summertime Sadness? Listen When Sad because Summer Love began the Summer You Were Mine!

Hello, my favorite Monday peeps! Can you believe we’ve already reached the very last day of August?! Seriously, where did this month—or the whole summer, for that matter—go?

As usual, the weekend flew by way too fast, but it was a fun one that included a hubby gig! 🎶 We had a great time, and I’ll have more to share about that tomorrow. 😉

For now, I’m just trying to wrap my head around the fact that we’re about to flip the calendar to September!

This week is a theme week for Monday’s Music Moves Me, and the timing couldn’t be more perfect: “It’s the end of the month, summer is drawing to an end unofficially. Share songs that make you think of the end of summer.”

So that’s exactly what I’m doing! I’ve gathered four songs that take us through a few different sides of summer—from looking back on those carefree summers when we were young and feeling a little sad that the season is slipping away, to remembering a summer romance and that one special summer when someone was yours.

There’s a little nostalgia, a little sadness, and a little love mixed in—pretty much the perfect recipe for saying goodbye to summer. So let’s hang onto it for just a few more songs, shall we?

Summer is supposed to be sunshine, vacations, warm evenings and carefree fun…so why can it sometimes make us feel a little melancholy? That strange combination of happiness and sadness is exactly what inspired this song. While staying with a friend in Santa Monica, the singer remembers being outside beneath telephone wires, hearing them sizzle in the California heat.

Everything around her felt warm, beautiful and alive, yet at the same time there was an unmistakable sadness to it. She wanted to capture that feeling of trying to soak up every bit of summer while knowing it can’t last forever.

She also had a very specific sound in mind, wanting the music to combine cinematic orchestration with the feeling of early Bruce Springsteen in summertime. The result became dreamy, dramatic and just a little haunting—pretty much the musical equivalent of watching the sun go down on the last beautiful evening of summer.

The original found success around the world, but a dance remix released the following year introduced it to an even bigger American audience and sent it soaring up the charts. Who knew feeling a little blue about summer could sound so good?

Give a listen to Lana Del Rey with “Summertime Sadness”:

Remember when you were 16 and summer seemed to last forever? There were friends, late nights, driving around with the music cranked up, and absolutely no thought that someday you’d look back and wonder how those years disappeared so quickly.

That’s the nostalgic feeling behind this brand-new song, which looks back at those endless teenage summers through the eyes of someone who’s now old enough to realize just how fleeting they really were.

The guys behind it wanted more than nostalgia in the lyrics—they wanted the music itself to take them back. They reunited with the producer who worked on their records from their early days, along with several musicians and engineers from that era. Even the story has a wonderfully early-2000s touch: a girl gives a boy her phone number written on a burned CD she made for him, telling him to play it whenever he’s feeling down and then give her a call.

Remember making CDs for someone you liked? 😂 Talk about a blast from the past! It’s a sweet little reminder of summers when life felt simpler, possibilities seemed endless, and sometimes a homemade playlist said everything you were too nervous to say. 

Give a listen to Jonas Brothers with “Listen When Sad”:

Of course, summer isn’t all about nostalgia and watching the season slip away. Sometimes it’s about meeting someone who makes the temperature rise for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with the weather. 😉 This one takes us back to a hugely successful mid-2000s album and tells the familiar story of an instant attraction that starts out looking like a carefree seasonal fling—but just might turn into something worth keeping once summer is over.

The way it came together is almost as carefree as the song itself. During the recording sessions, the singer and his two producers weren’t following some carefully mapped-out plan; they were basically jamming, experimenting with riffs, melodies, and beats while recording everything.

One of the producers later recalled that the singer didn’t even sit down with a notebook to write. He’d wander around, talk, eat and listen while apparently putting the whole thing together in his head—then simply announce he was ready, step into the booth and sing it! 😂

Apparently some people don’t need a notebook…or seventeen crumpled pieces of paper like the rest of us. The song went on to become a Top 10 hit without ever having an official music video—not bad for a little summer romance!

Give a listen to Justin Timberlake with “Summer Love”:

And now we come to the perfect bittersweet ending for our end-of-summer playlist. This brand-new song looks back on a summer fling that both people probably knew wasn’t going to last forever—but knowing something is temporary doesn’t necessarily make saying goodbye any easier.

A photograph brings all those memories rushing back, and suddenly she’s remembering rainy kisses, time spent together and wondering whether the person who shared that summer with her ever looks back and misses it too. It’s upbeat and fun rather than heartbreakingly sad, but there’s just enough wistfulness underneath to make it feel exactly like that last evening of summer.

But here’s where things get REALLY interesting! After the singer’s debut album arrived on August 21, listeners began saying something about this track sounded awfully familiar. Turns out they were right: it interpolates a huge 1998 country hit by The Chicks!

The connection was intentional and properly cleared before the album came out, but a streaming-platform error initially left original songwriters Tia Sillers and Mark Selby off the credits, creating a little mystery until the record label cleared things up. Sillers actually loves the idea that a new generation might hear this song and then go discover the older one that helped inspire it.

Here’s Stella Lefty with “Summer You Were Mine”:

Hope you enjoyed your love sandwich! 😅 That’s a wrap for this week – have a great Monday! See you on the dance floor!

Now, onto the particulars of Monday’s Music Moves Me:

I have the supreme honor and privilege of being a co-host with the inimitable Xmas Dolly and our musical cohort, the awesome Cathy from Curious as a CAThy, and Alana of Ramblin’ with AM!

Want to join in the fun? It’s easy – just find a tune that rocks your boat, post it, and link up! Check out the other music lovahs and let’s jam!