The romance of the summer song is too great to ever let go, even though I'm not often in the kind of places where ordinary songs turn into definitions of one season of one year. But it's still in me to look for those shared experiences and cultural touchstones, even if I'm not sharing or touching them.

With that, here's the twelve songs that, if I were writing the world, would be the songs that remind everyone of the summer of '09 as much as they will me.

You song(s) of this summer? That's what God invented comments for.



Animal Collective, "Summertime Clothes"
Do you live in an alternate universe? Lucky, because there, "Summertime Clothes" is THE song of the summer, with it getting played so much in so many places that everyone's sick of it, but it has enough hold to be a classic for years. In this world, it's just stuck in a purgatory of indie love/hate, assumed to be known by everyone and not known by enough. Anyway...it's perfect.

Phoenix, "Lisztomania"
As summer a song as they come.

Beck, "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat"
Beck soundtracked your street swagger years ago with "E-Pro" and even "Devil's Haircut", but now he reworks a Dylan song into the soundtrack for the start of a roadtrip, those precious moments when you're still glad to be in the car and aren't sick of everyone else you're roadtripping with.

Mos Def, "Quiet Dog"
In that alternate summer universe that Animal Collective rule, this is the song that rules the sweaty dance clubs, where the floor goes from throbbing to exploding.

Dirty Projectors, "Stillness Is The Move"
A song that's as intense as it is dreamy sounds impossible, and yet...here it is. The chorus melody is like putting butter on sugar cake.

Of Montreal, "First Time High (reconstructionist remix of "An Eluardian Instance")"
A wistful summer vibe is easy for a song that mentions "our last summer of independence", but when a sound matches up with the words, it's some kind of magic.

Camera Obscura, "French Navy"
Forget for a moment that "French Navy" hits on all sorts of tweepop stereotypes, but with convergences of line and melody as blissful as "we met by the moon and the silvery lake, you came my way", they can suck their teddy bears' thumbs for all I care.

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, "Inspiration Information"
Trust me: the hot, tight brass of this Shuggie Otis cover makes any sweltering heat feel like the refreshing cool of all the best beer commercials. Speaking of, can you grab me a beer while you're up?

Vetiver, "More Of This"
I never ride a bike, so why does this song remind me of riding a bike in the welcome hot of a summer weekend day? I blame the magic of chill pop hooks.

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, "I Am Goodbye"
Country, alt-country, Americana...whatever you want to call it, the constant is this: you can sing it when you're blitzed drunk.

Iron & Wine, "The Trapeze Swinger"
It's a long song, but you're sitting on that dock with the fireflies and a cooler of beer and your supposed best friend--and ride home--heading off to the woods with the girl you just spent two hours chatting up. You're not going anywhere for a while. Enjoy.

The Decemberists, "Isn't It A Lovely Night"
Instant pop song success: title a song with a phrase that fits an often occasion. Why yes...it is a lovely night. Thanks a lot, assholes.