The official start of summer is just a couple of days away, but for many, the season kicks off as soon as Memorial Day weekend hits. Regardless of when it actually begins, country music has several songs to celebrate the warm season. We picked four of our favorites.
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1. "Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset" by Luke Bryan
Luke Bryan released "Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset" in 2018, from his What Makes You Country album. Written by Zach Crowell, Ryan Hurd and Chase McGill, the nostalgic love songs says in part, "I turned those shutters the color of your eyes / 'Til the day turned into night / And took turns with a jar /Turned that boat dock into a bar."
"It talks about love in a summer and summer love," Bryan says (via Songfacts). "It doesn't get any better than summer love way back when. And then when you say 'Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset, Repeat,' that's what you do in the summer. You wake up. You go get your tan on, and the sun goes down and you do it over and over."
2. "Southbound" by Carrie Underwood
Carrie Underwood's "Soutbound," out in 2019 from her Cry Pretty record, was a refreshing release from Underwood. Known for hard-hitting songs like "Blown Away" and "Dirty Laundry," Undewood tapped into her fun side with "Southbound," a song she wrote with David Garcia and Josh Miller.
The song begins with "We got a pontoon boat with a Yamaha / People dressed like they're in Panama / Small town spring break every weekend 'round this place," leaving no question if "Southbound" is a summer anthem or not.
"It was looking for that extra piece to the puzzle that was missing. Coming in, being like, 'I know we kind of need something lighter and fun,'" Underwood recalls to The Boot. "A lot of [the songs on Cry Pretty] were more serious songs, more weighty songs or slower songs, and we just kind of needed that fresh piece."
3. "Summer Nights" by Rascal Flatts
There isn't a summer song better to hear live at a concert than Rascal Flatts' "Summer Nights." Written by lead singer Gary LeVox, along with Busbee and Brett James, the song came out in 2009 on their Unstoppable album. It fortunately continued their lengthy string of hits in that era.
Singing, "Let that Igloo cooler mark your piece of paradise / Summer nights / Everybody's feeling sexy / Holler if you're ready for some summer nights," the song was Busbee's first big hit.
"We wrote it on Gary's back porch," Busbee, who passed away in 2019, previously said. "He wanted to write a summer song and that's what came out. It happened pretty fast as Gary tends to know what he likes and Brett tends to be a fast writer. It's all we can all do just to keep up with him."
4. "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem" by Kenny Chesney
There likely isn't a song that celebrates summer more than Kenny Chesney's "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem." Out in 2003 as the title track of Chesney's sixth studio album, the song not only became a big hit for Chesney, but also became a bit of a mantra for his life, and his fans.
Written by Casey Beathard, the song says, "No shoes, no shirt and no problems / Blues, what blues? Hey, I forgot 'em / The sun and the sand and a drink in my hand with no bottom / And no shoes, no shirt and no problems / No problems." If there is ever a tune that sums up Chesney, it's this one.
But perhaps surprisingly, Chesney agreed to record the song before it was even finished.
"Kenny goes, 'Man, that's where I am right now in my life," Beathard recalls to The Tennessean, after Chesney heard just a portion of the song. "I've been just really spending a lot of my time in the Virgin Islands, just getting away, and that's me.' He said, 'Dude, you need to finish that song and get it to me.'"
