Summer Of My Youth
My Mixtape’s A Masterpiece is a weekly feature in which a guest compiles a playlist around some theme. This week, Alexis Collazo assembles 12 songs from summers past. Read Alexis’ thoughts on each song and listen along to the Spotify playlist on top and/or the YouTube playlist at the bottom of the post.
Summer has always been my favorite season. Mostly because of the warm weather, but also there’s the laidback, chilled-out mood associated with the time of year. Yet, as much as I love the season, I seem to have reached a point where it has little to no effect on my day-to-day life. I don’t remember the last time I spent a day at the beach, swam in a pool, or enjoyed a late summer night out with friends.
Lately that’s made me overwhelmingly nostalgic, longing for my younger days when summer really meant something. I’ve channeled my sentimentality into a playlist that takes me down memory lane. Mostly it’s favorites from my teens and twenties, with a few summer anthems and songs I remember partying to.
1. “Smoke Two Joints” by Sublime
I spent most of my summers in daycamp, then started working there when I aged out. Along the way I made a friend that introduced me to Sublime while splitting 40’s of Old E hanging out on long summer nights. Literally, every one of their songs has a laidback summer vibe, this one just sums up my life aspirations in my twenties.
2. “Get The Party Started” by Pink
Not that she still isn’t, but early 2000s Pink was the shit and this was the song that got me hyped for every weekend out, summer after summer.
3. “Hot In Herre” by Nelly
When this came out, there was no escaping it and I absolutely hated it. A decade later, I must admit it’s damn genius and I can’t resist the urge to get up, up on the dance floor and give that man what he askin' for.
4. “In Da Club” by 50 Cent
I know for a fact that I wasn’t clubbing anywhere near the time this song was released in 2003. Yet, somehow, it’s been jangled up into memories and I immediately associate it with the times in my life when I was very much hitting the clubs regularly.
5. “Riot” by Three Days Grace
My early- to mid-twenties, I was recovering from a disastrous relationship that left me angry at everybody and everything. This turned out to be the song that amped me up for many a night out at the bar.
6. “Rich Girl” by Louchie Lou & Michie One
I'm 99.99% sure that I’ve heard this song every single time I’ve been in club. But even before I was old enough to hit the club, there was not a party in sight—block parties, house parties, backyard barbecues—that was complete until this jam got played and every girl ran screaming to the dance floor. While I was very obsessed with Gwen Stefani, and liked her cover with Eve, it’s just not the same.
7. “Cruel Summer” by Ace Of Base
I might be rewriting history, but I remember buying a used CD copy of the Cruel Summer album from Disco-O-Rama while wandering around one summer day. But I do know for a fact that the CD got played to death my last couple summers in high school.
8. “Tik Tok” by Ke$sha
Another post-breakup jam. But by the time this song came out, I’d cycled out of anger into acceptance and was happily partying my nights away. I like to think of it as the official theme song for most of my twenties.
9. “Gasolina” by Daddy Yankee
When I dropped out of college and got back to Brooklyn in 2001, Reggaeton had just started gaining popularity. Mostly, I remember it being played at a house party where I was totally blitzed and doing some NSFW dancing. A couple years later, it gained some mainstream popularity, and you couldn’t escape this song.
10. “The Boys Of Summer” by The Ataris
I've always love the original ‘80s version of this song. But, for some reason, this one gives me so many more feels.
11. “Pon De Replay” by Rihanna
Literally the summer jam of 2005. Still an instant party starter in my book.
12. “Barbie Girl” by Aqua
Couldn’t help myself with all the hype around the movie at the moment. But also I owned a cassette tape (does that make me officially old?) of the album featuring “Barbie Girl,” Aquarium. Played the hell out of that, too, and, in my head, it’s directly connected to summer—just can't remember how or why though.
