If you stop to think about it, “summer break” is a pretty cruel joke we play on ourselves. Since the moment we get into school, we dream about the three months of freedom, and like clockwork it comes every June. What they don’t tell you is to live it up because there’s no such thing in the working world. Yet we’ve been so well trained, like Pavlov’s dogs, we start to drool when Memorial Day hits. The anticipation that lingers from our school days only makes it worse, like the dog hearing the bell but never getting the treat. As the hot months roll by, we’re still stuck at the mercy of our paychecks/studies crying a little on the inside.

What I wouldn’t give for another summer break…

As always though, there’s music for this moment. No matter how you spend your summer, there’s a universal feeling that comes along with it. It’s a liberating time and the possibilities for anything seem to be everywhere. You take advantage of life more, as if all those things that held you back all winter no longer matter. Musicians know this feeling well and have been writing about it since words have been put to music. They’re songs that don’t just sound good, they feel good. There’s nothing complicated, no underscoring social agenda, or need to blow minds with genre bending hubris. These songs are about the best times of your life and what it feels like to let go of the world, and isn’t that what summer is all about?

10. Apollo Sunshine –  “Today is the Day”

It’s a newer track, but its words make it absolutely perfect for random acts of summer. It caries an adolescent carefree quality that tells you to quit stressing, relax, and be yourself. No suits, ties, or meetings allowed. Just sprinklers, front lawns and smiles, and yes, now would be a good time to call in those sick days.

9. Dr. Dog – “The Breeze”

The song speaks for itself. It’s terrible to feel stuck, like there’s no way out of your circumstance. But you can’t let that beat you, not when you’re the maker of your own destiny. “Put that needle to the groove, and sing” they tell us. A little naive yes, but sometimes it takes a bit of that to get out from under the rock that pins us. Everything is temporary, and don’t let life pass you by, right? If only it was as easy as Dr. Dog makes it out to be.

8. The Avett Brothers – “At the Beach”

Some of the best times happen when we just let go and get caught up in the moment. The Avett Brothers let you know just how good it can get with a song about “leaving it all behind” and getting back to the ones you love the most. It’s when you’re back in touch that you feel a sense of release, like everything’s going to be all right.

7. Grateful Dead –  “Scarlet Begonias”

A song about finding that perfect hippy queen, the island blues goes perfectly to describe the love and endless party that can be summer. “Once in a while you get shown in the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right.” The funky harpsichord is perfect for barefoot dancing in a field with “trees swayin’ in the wind playing tea for two.” It’s hard to beat the feel good vibes, and even if the love is fleeting, just like summer, she’ll be back around soon enough.

6. Simon and Garfunkel – “The 59^th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)”

Remember that time in your life when you had no real responsibilities, and it was so easy to just live in the moment? The duo captured this moment perfectly in this song about having no expectations and really nothing important to do but hang out and enjoy life. The song is short and sweet in that lighthearted folk style that’s irresistible and comforting. I wish I had more days to talk to a lamp post and watch the flowers, but at least I can sing about it.

5. The Beach Boys – “All Summer Long”

This list would be crap without The Beach Boys somewhere on it. Their music is as synonymous with summer as shorts and heat. Naturally, you couldn’t go wrong with any of their songs, but for this list, another melody of summer love from the band fits perfectly. Even if the idea of finding that magical three-month romance is more of a fairytale than a reality, The Beach Boys made all of us believe in it.

4. George Gershwin/DuBose Heyward -  “Summertime”

I’m guessing the first time you heard it Bradley Nowell was at the mic, and it was called “Doin’ Time”. This song’s actually older than some of your grandparents, but with countless renditions (over 100), you can take your pick. Personally I’ll take Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong’s version over Sublime’s any day, but Janis Joplin blows it up big herself. It’s deceivingly relaxing as you sink into its words like a hammock swaying in a warm breeze, but it’s a darker song in reality. That feeling of overcoming life’s negative forces, though, is what makes the song. Just keep your chin up and it will be all right.

3. The Lovin’ Spoonful – “Summer in the City”

Yes, this is a track about the tough times faced in New York in the late sixties, but even more important is the message to not let the negativity control you. Simply, it’s a song about looking hot, partying, and shaking off the crap. Even better than the hot sweaty days are the amazing summer nights. There really is nothing better than a summer night wandering around a city doing everything, yet nothing at all. It’s a different world when the sun goes down, and with this track it’s the summer of ’66 all over again.

2.  Nina Simone – “Feelin’ Good”

A song of self-renewal, Simone’s classic is absolutely stunning. It’s another that’s been covered countless times, and rightfully so. Its attitude is calm, cool, and confident like a person learning from the other side of a rough patch. Over and over, she tells you that no matter what happened she’s still “feelin’ good,” and no matter what, nothing will stop her from staying that way. Its name says it all, and that’s exactly what it will do to you as the summer heat rolls on. It just feels good.

1. The Beatles – “Here Comes The Sun”

Could there be a better song for this list? It’s almost too obvious, but even so, there’s no other place for it. Every time the clouds break or I watch a sunrise, it plays in my head, that bright and sunny guitar intro. They sing over and over to the sun that saves us from the “long and lonely winter.” Like coming out of hibernation, it’s a song for letting go, being yourself, and how it really doesn’t take much to make us smile. The mood is pure happiness and relief, or in other words, summer in three minutes. No, it doesn’t get much better.