music

the poshdeluxe song of the summer challenge

you guys it’s still summer!!! i’m so glad!!!

today’s post is about a v. v. v. vital topic. cos everyone knows that the most deciding factor of whether or not you’ll have an awesome summer is, of course, HAVING AN AWESOME SUMMER SONG.

you cannot, i repeat, cannot have a great summer without the proper soundtrack. first of all, cos there’s nothing better than the moment The Song of the Summer comes on at a bar/club/dance party and you jump up and down while squealing, “OMGGG! IT’S THE SONG OF THE SUMMER! I LOVE YOU GUYS!” second of all, cos you need a song that can store up all of yr summer memories, so that when you hear it, perhaps in the dead of winter, or maybe even a year or two later, you’ll smile and think, “ahhh… this song takes me back to that fantastic tubing trip/night at mugshots/night at warren’s/round of kings/random dance party in the parking lot/time that henri tried to rap battle strangers on the street*.”

therefore, you can see why the Song of the Summer must be selected v. v. carefully. you can’t just trust what you hear at the club or what yr music blog tells you. you have to FEEL the song. you have to know, from the v. first time that you hear the rousing chorus, that this song is going to take care of you all. summer. long. this song BELIEVES in you. this song INSPIRES you to greater and greater levels of awesomeness. when it comes to fun, this song doesn’t take “no” for an answer!!!!

so yeah, that’s a lot of pressure to put on a song. which is why i usually rely on vulture’s song of the summer chart to guide me through the peaks and valleys of popular music. thanks to vulture, last summer i discovered estelle and “american boy,” which quickly became my Song of the Summer 2008.

this year, though, the pickings have been preeeeetty slim. i’m kind of worried, actually. esp. cos i’ve already started having SO MUCH FUN but without a song to capture it all!

so, i thought i would give you guys my contenders and see if you had any suggestions. please keep in mind that summer songs MUST be fun to listen to. i don’t want to be hearing any mopey business while i’m sitting by the pool, sipping on root beer vodka. i mean, save the whining for the winter where it belongs, ok?

my first contender is more for the “indie” song of the summer and less for the Ultimate Champion. it’s a fantastic song, actually, but you can’t really dance to it, and that’s key. still, i love listening to it, and it’s definitely going on my summer 2009 mix. also, um the video is all up on the heebie jeebies, so try not to let that affect yr opinion of the song.

grizzly bear, “two weeks”

next is a song that, again, you can’t really dance to, but it’s DEFINITELY up there on the Car Singing Charts. also? it’s by mandy moore, my future best friend, and if you think that influences my opinion then you are BIG DUH.

i can’t embed the video, cos the record label is dumb, but go here to watch and listen (the video is majorly cute!!!! just like mandy!!!).

ok, so this next song is by the weekend warriors, who i like to call “the van halen of 2009.” if you don’t like van halen, you will NOT like these guys. also, i am sad for you. anyway. this is the kind of band that was BORN to make music played at waterparks. and also cheesy bars. in fact, this song is really stupid and terrible. but also? awesome. and that’s exactly what a Song of Summer is all about.

on the electronic/dance side of things, i have to throw in royksopp & robyn’s “the girl and the robot.” it’s cool, it’s dance-y and the video is way way way fantastic. the only problem is that it’s not really sing-along-y, which will ultimately prevent it from achieving official Song of Summer status.

ok, now i’ll get to the two front runners (so far) in the Poshdeluxe Song of Summer Challenge. I KNOW YOU GUYS ARE DIZZY WITH ANTICIPATION!!!!! YR SUMMERS ARE ABOUT TO BE CHANGED FOREVER!

first, the sounds with “no one sleeps when i’m awake.” i have the feeling that this will not be everyone else’s pick, esp. cos it’s not dancey really. but what it lacks in booty shaking, it makes up with fist pumping. GAH this song makes me PUMP MY FIST SO HARD. plus i’m a sucker for the whole “girl rock singer” thing. so yeah, this isn’t a song for the club BUT it’s a good memory collector, in my opinion.

and, finally, a song that was introduced to me JUST YESTERDAY by the lovely julia, who shares my whole summer-is-to-inner-teen-as-moon-is-to-werewolf complex. now, when i tell you who sings this song, you will most definitely roll yr eyes. you’ll think, “wow, that YA addiction has finally sent sarah OVER THE EDGE.” and, my pantsers, you would be right. cos this song is by jordin sparks, and that is RIDICULOUS.

ridiculous and TOTALLY GREAT. esp. cos not only is the song sung by a member of the miley cyrus brat pack, but it’s also a TOTAL rip-off of “love is a battlefied.” and i realize that some of you are going to be v. v. angered by what you see as an act of blasphemy against pat benatar, The Goddess of the Teen Runaway. but do me two favors before you listen to the jordin sparks version.

first, think about the lyrics of “love is a battlefield.” once you do, you will realize that “WE ARE YOUNG!” is just as silly as “GET YR ARMOR,” which is a line from the jordin version (trust me, you WILL be chanting it, over and over). second, realize that the kids of today need their own version of “love is a battlefield.” every generation must discover the universal truth that love hurts and, from there, make it their own! which, in todays terms, means a rousing, repetitive, kelly clarkson-esque power pop extravaganza.

uhh… i think i just described THE PERFECT INGREDIENTS FOR THE SONG OF THE SUMMER. now listen and see if you think i’m right or if my inner teen really HAS taken over and is now holding me hostage for a ransom of wet ‘n’ wild nail polish and sour cream & onion pringles.

I KNOW, RIGHT?!! i really think i may have found the Song of the Summer, 2009. it’s fun, it’s dumb, and it is in no way respectable.

but, hey, the summer isn’t over yet, which means the competition is still open. if you have any suggestions, leave ‘em in the comments!

*this actually happened during my birthday weekend, but i have no doubt that it will happen again this summer.

LINKS

j sent me this delightful little interview with emma, a nine-year-old who made a movie about vampires. my second favorite part is about garlic potato chips. my first favorite part is this quote: “i typed the script in red to make it scary.”

you guys. check out the new dance moves of the summer. we have a LOT of work to do before we step up 2 the streets!!!!

john krakinski interviewed maya rudolph and DANG IT I WANNA BE FRIENDS WITH THEM SO BAD!!!!

one of my fave YA authors, john green, made a “fat sandwich” and ate it. gross! but, you know you want to watch it.

© 2009 Poshdeluxe.