The Summer of 2014 has been full of fun memories, from vacationing to exotic places, to lounging poolside in the sunny weather. People everywhere love the summer season and the carefree days and memories it brings, along with catchy hit songs to jam to during car rides and continuously hear on the radio. Whether it was upbeat and quirky or slow and emotional, there have been plenty of hit summer songs that topped the charts week after week, making listeners want to sing or dance along every time the songs were played.

“I absolutely love the remix to Calvin Harris’ song, ‘Summer’,” said freshman, Kennedy Crowder. “The beginning of the song just gets to me every time, while the base drop is just epic.” Besides the obvious title, the funky rhythm and groove make listeners think of tropical palm trees and clear, blue water, as the song ended up number eight on Billboard’s Songs of the Summer Chart. In contrast, the heart-wrenching tune, “Stay with Me,” was just four spots away from the top of the charts, but was still a proud moment for breakout artist, Sam Smith. The song is nice to relax to during a nightly stroll in paradise even though it was a slower jam compared to the others.

Additionally, there was one song that never failed to be repeated hourly. “Rude”, by Magic!, had seemed to be summer’s number one most talked about tune, but surprisingly only reached number two in the Billboard charts. However, in the end, the number did not seem to matter, since millions of people still liked the Jamaican-like theme and melody! When asked about the popular song “Fancy”, by Iggy Azalea, junior, Brianna Vansickel, stated, “I would say it’s the top summer song of the year”, and she was correct! The head-swooping jam captured the ears of young kids to teenagers to adults, and never failed to satisfy the inner-rapper inside of everyone.

A hit summer song doesn’t necessarily have to be liked by everyone, as long as its a hit to a listener. Senior, Julia Stratton had stated that her hit song of the summer was “Stolen Dance” by Milky Chance. The song is something different from the usual top forty, but still was her favorite and a hit in her heart.