10 melancholy summer songs

In just a few weeks it will be time to crown the song of summer 2015.
I’ve been thinking lately about what it means to be a summer song.
Usually summer songs evoke vacations, the beach, partying, being young, acting crazy and falling in love. But some summer songs take a darker view of the season.
What follows is a list of 10 melancholy summer songs.

1. “Summertime Sadness” (2012) by Lana Del Rey 

Sample lyrics:

Kiss me hard before you go
Summertime sadness
I just wanted you to know
That, baby, you’re the best

2. “Cruel Summer” (1984) by Bananarama 

Sample lyrics:

It’s a cruel, cruel summer
Leaving me here on my own
It’s a cruel, cruel summer
Now you’re gone

3. “Summertime Blues” (1958) by Eddie Cochran 

Sample lyrics:

I’m gonna raise a fuss, I’m gonna raise a holler
About a workin’ all summer just to try to earn a dollar
Every time I call my baby, and ask to get a date
My boss says, “No dice son, you gotta work late”
Sometimes I wonder what I’m a gonna do
But there ain’t no cure for the summertime blues

4. “Suddenly Last Summer” (1983) by the Motels 

Sample lyrics:

One summer never ends
One summer never began
It keeps me standing still
It takes all my will
And then suddenly
Last summer

5. “It Must Be Summer” (1999) by Fountains of Wayne 

Sample lyrics:

It must be summer
Cause the days are long
And I dial your number
But you’re gone, gone, gone

6. “Our Last Summer” (1980) by ABBA 

Sample lyrics:

I can still recall our last summer
I still see it all
Walks along the Seine, laughing in the rain
Our last summer, memories that remain

7. “Lazy Old Sun” (1967) by the Kinks 

Sample lyrics:

Lazy old sun
What have you done to summertime?

8. “The Warmth of the Sun” (1964) by the Beach Boys 

Sample lyrics:

The love of my life she left me one day
I cried when she said, “I don’t feel the same way”

9. “Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer” (1971) by Stevie Wonder 

Sample lyrics:

I never dreamed you’d leave in summer
But now I find myself all alone

10. “’Til Summer Comes Around” (2009) by Keith Urban 

Sample lyrics:

Another long summer’s come and gone
I don’t know why it always ends this way
The boardwalk’s quiet and the carnival rides
Are as empty as my broken heart tonight