songs of summer.

my dear friend t. and i had a a girly movie night/music-swapping sesh at my apartment on saturday night (complete with pizza and coldstone! mmm), and it got me thinking a lot about music. soundtracks are as important to summer as reading lists, i think. below is a sample of what's on repeat on my ipod.

"speed of sound," coldplay (i have a very specific memory attached to this one -- see below.)
"viva la vida," coldplay
"green," brendan james (more late spring, but i count it as early summer, too.)
"running on sunshine," jesus jackson
"insensitive," jann arden (another memory-specific song. more on it another time.)
"crazy love," van morrison (because what's more romantic than summer love?)
"summer girls," lfo (such an oldie but goodie!)
"the boys of summer," ataris version
"summer of '79," ataris
"back to you," john mayer
"suspension," mae
"du wop (that thing)," lauryn hill
"always be," jimmy eat world
"chase this light," jimmy eat world (really, the whole chase this light album is fantastic.)

and now for an explanation of one of the songs i noted above:

"speed of sound": picture this, if you will. it's about 11 p.m. on july night in northeastern pennsylvania, circa 2005. i'm 22 years old, about to graduate from college that december and feeling alternately invincible and terrified of the future, which translates into an unquenchable nervous excitement. the sky is clear, the moon casting a pale glow over the stillness; the weather a brisk 70 degrees. i'd been driving home from a coffee date with a friend and had lowered the car windows, loving the rush of the breeze as i whipped around corners and down hills. as i turned onto my grandparents' street, the first strains of this song began to play and i turned up the volume to the point where i felt the song surround me. as i slid the car into its spot in front of my grandparents' house and opened the door, the music swelled ("if you could see it then you'd understand..."), and i turned and saw my favorite boy in the whole world (and my grandparents' neighbor) sitting on his front porch with his mother, their faces lit by fat scented candles, and smiling at me as i got out of the car. a rush of emotion surged through me -- the quiet night, the perfect weather, the music, this person who i'd been infatuated with since i was 13 -- and from that moment on, i knew i would always associate that song with that night, that moment. and i do.

tell me: what's on your summer playlist? what summer songs mean the most to you?

(photo above from bohemiangirl on flickr.)