As someone who still drives a car from 2001, I am familiar with the fine art of CD burning. I have made playlists of every variety - 80's, Rainy Day, and even Halloween. But when the CD player in my car decided to suddenly stop working and hold all of my favorite tunes hostage, I had to come up with another plan. When my husband got Spotify Duo, I was mesmerized. I had never used a music service like that before, and I found it to be just as fun and much less time consuming than burning CDs. With that in mind, I was able to extend one of my favorite playlists (my Summer Road-trip Playlist) to double its previous size. Here is what I learned (I will include the playlist at the end).
1.) There Needs to be a Flow
A truly excellent playlist is not the sort of thing you can just put on "shuffle." There needs to be a story - an odyssey of different songs. I usually follow the double peak philosophy. Start your playlist with something medium-tempo and mellow, then build up to more intense bops, then come back down (all the way down to sad songs in minor if you like). Then you do it again to build a second peak, and end on some soft songs. This helps prevent jarring transitions between songs, and in my opinion is quite fun. I love organizing things, and Spotify makes it very easy to edit your playlists to put them in a certain order.
2.) Not Every Song Needs to Be Explicitly About "Summer"
I've tried it before, and it doesn't work. My playlist used to start with "Under the Boardwalk," then get into the "Boys of Summer," and end on "Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini." Turns out there aren't a lot of songs explicitly about summer or the beach, and your playlist will end up being 6 songs that you don't particularly care for. It's too exhausting to try and keep with that limited of a theme, so you will have to add in some unrelated songs. My recommendation is choosing some music that has a peppy tempo to fill in the gaps between summer songs. Classic rock also works very well for this purpose.
3.) Pick Your Old Favorites
Well-known songs that are fun to sing to are the best for a road trip playlist. When you and your buddies are listening to nostalgic songs while on the way to the beach it can help you make all kinds of great new memories. Make sure that you love the songs on your playlist, because they will be the soundtrack to your summer.
Now, without further ado - here is my playlist...
Spotify Link:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6Ujpx3k9mN6Wyp0EAKNtKw?si=wQNBBRJjSI2pvgjhNrWRtA
Summer Road Trip Playlist 2020:
"Send Me On My Way," Rusted Root
"Everywhere," Fleetwood Mac
"You Can Call Me Al," Paul Simon
"Soak Up The Sun," Sheryl Crow
"Island In The Sun," Weezer
"Riptide," Vance Joy
"Dog Days Are Over," Florence + The Machine
"Fun, Fun, Fun," The Beach Boys
"Jump in the Line," Harry Belafonte
"The Sweet Escape," Gwen Stefani / Akon
"I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)," The Proclaimers
"Summer of '69," Bryan Adams
"You Shook Me All Night Long," AC/DC
"Pour Some Sugar On Me," Def Leppard
"The Boys Of Summer," Don Henley
"Santeria," Sublime
"Once in a Lifetime," Talking Heads
"Home," Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
"Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard," Paul Simon
"Karma Chameleon," Culture Club
"Brown Eyed Girl," Van Morrison
"Margaritaville," Jimmy Buffett
Three Little Birds, Bob Marley & The Wailers
"Take Me Home, Country Roads," John Denver
"Ocean Man," Ween
Hopefully you can draw inspiration from my list. Please feel free to leave your own favorite summer songs in the comments below. Have a great summer!