Monday Morning Mixtape 031: I Got That Summertime, Summertime Sadness

Welcome to Monday Morning Mixtape, a PoYB Contributor-curated playlist of songs, made just for you at the start of each week.

We were on the drive to the shore and one of the highways had a flashing sign from the department of transportation. The first part said "you got that summertime sadness" and the second part said "...if you drink and drive." Shoutout to NJ DOT for referencing this week's Monday Morning Mixtape.

"I Got That Summertime, Summertime Sadness"

Summer songs that make you sad (no Lana Del Rey, please)

chosen by Zach

Spotify

YouTube

"Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning)" by Vertical Horizon

from Everything You Want, 1999

Vertical Horizon is one of those late-'90s bands that everyone knows, one of those bands that you can't imagine has very many good songs. They have that corny kind of band name that seemed very clever at the time, I'm sure. I'm on the fence if this one is a wintry sad song or a summertime sad song, but I'll break the tie and go with it because I want to pick it. A cruise ship, in the distance, traveling further and further away as two lovers wave goodbye to one another.  —Zach


"The Ice Is Getting Thinner" by Death Cab for Cutie

from Narrow Stairs, 2008

I always felt bad for Ben Gibbard, because I felt like he was the Joseph Gordon-Levitt character in (500) Days of Summer. Then my brother told me he saw him around Seattle, and he does ultramarathons, and he's doing fine women-wise, and I didn't feel so bad about his divorce from Zooey Deschanel anymore, even though I am pretty sure this song is about their relationship. (500) Days of Summer was one of the most painful movies I've ever watched. It felt too real. I will never watch it again. And, even though she's successful and beautiful, I will never date Zooey Deschanel. Unless she asks me out. Then I won't be able to say no. And I shouldn't have felt bad for Ben Gibbard. Wealth and success don't insulate anyone from emotional pain.  —Zach

"A Sunshine Fix" by the Olivia Tremor Control

from California Demise EP, 1994

I am determined choose the correct side of the optimism/pessimism divide in these blurbs! We have been asked for sad songs, but we refuse to be sad! I am not sad! I am not sad! It's summer! I am getting my fix of sunshine! The horns feel a little more downcast than they might usually on an Elephant 6 song, but that's okay! Still a good song! Still room for joy! No sad! No!  —Joe


"You Could Make a Killing" by Aimee Mann

from I'm with Stupid, 1995

Can anyone listen to this song without crying? If you can, teach me your ways. At the same time, I wish I could cry more often. Let the tears flow, let the emotions run all the time. To cry over the ending of a friendship, over death, over slicing your finger while chopping an onion. It's all fair game.  —Zach

"Summer in the City" by Regina Spektor

from Begin to Hope, 2006

When I think about summertime sadness, I think about staring into someone's eyes on our last night together before I fly away or move away somewhere far away. We're crying and we can't let each other go. We feel like the night will last forever, and at 10 PM, it feels like it will, but at 7 AM, we know that it won't. That final goodbye is awful and devastating. I'm sick of all that. I've gone through so many romantic endings in my life. Sometimes I feel like I'm addicted to it. Sometimes I feel ready to be done with them. Sometimes I love the excitement of a new person in my life. I don't have any answers, other than the fact that I know I hate summertime sadness. But "summer in the city / means cleavage, cleavage, cleavage" is an awesome lyric, and I feel absolutely sad, similar to the way I described above, when I hear this song.  —Zach


"Fade into You" by Mazzy Star

from So Tonight That I Might See, 1993

I can't say this song has played a significant role in my life, but to me, it brings out rolling hills, endless interstate highways, dreaming of a future that never happened. Someone who wanted to fade into someone, but never did. Life has so many possibilities, and only a few of them happen. Love is the most powerful emotion, and it's unrealized or frustrating 99 percent of the time. Why did God make such a painful world? A beautiful world, yes, but a painful one, too? I don't have an answer, but we are here, and we can argue with God, yes, and put God on trial, just like (I've heard) happens in The Brothers Karamazov. But at the end of the day, we can't be the ultimate prosecutors. I don't understand this world, and I don't pretend to, but I do believe.  —Zach

"I Hate Summer" by Fucked Up

a split single with the Dirtbombs, 2012

The question of whether we should send 'em to summer camp is always a question that unfortunately comes down to money, i.e. no we cannot afford summer camp. Which means that Memorial Day always feels pretty daunting and Labor Day always feels like such a relief, that it's over, summer. I will look back, like always, thinking it was a Great Summer, but also, ya know, I'll be a little ragged. And I'm not even with the kids full time! And I'm still fucking exhausted! Ugh, no! No pessimism! No sad! So... I won't say the title of this song, but I sure wouldn't mind it if Fucked Up came up with another nifty hardcore song titled "I Love Autumn."  —Joe


"Anlatmam Derdimi" by Altın Gün

from Gece, 2019

I've been listening to a lot of Turkish psychedelic music this summer. This song is about the duality of things, and how you cannot have the good without the bad. I know the lyric translations from the original Turkish are probably lacking, but even the translations are beautiful and worth reading. It starts off by saying, "I won't tell my woes to one with none / They wouldn't know the worth of a problem / my woes have become my cure without me noticing." Combine words like that with a funky, poolside beat, and I think this fits the bill for summertime sadness.  —Gloria

"The Pool" by Shy Boys

from Talk Loud, 2020

We are wrapping up our 23rd summer at my parents' pool. It's an above-ground rectangle with blue plastic deck surrounding it; many of you have cannonballed into its cool waters. Like a grandparent at Christmastime talking about themselves, every year my dad is talking about the pool like it's the last one before it kicks the bucket. Honestly, it's not really that fun now that the whole time I'm supervising children so they don't drown. No! No! Optimism! It's nice to cool down on a hot day. For real. I'll miss it when it's gone.  —Joe


"Sunny Day" by Abandoned Pools

from Humanistic, 2001

If I had made a list of all the "cliché high school moments as portrayed by pop culture" in high school, then one that I would not have been able to cross off that list is "have a party or gathering at the bottom of an abandoned swimming pool." Is that actually a thing that kids across America often do, or is it one of those movie things that exists only in the movies and not in real life? Man, maybe I did not live life to the fullest as a teen. No! Stop that shit! Of course I did! Optimism! I had many wonderful summers and many more to come, with or without abandoned pools!  —Joe

"Boyfriend" by Best Coast

from Crazy for You, 2010

Back in the days when Pandora was a thing, this song came up all the time, as did Coconut Records's "West Coast." I'd get these two songs confused all the time, because I only know one Best Coast song, and I only know one song called "West Coast." Does Pandora still exist? I'm not going to look it up now. If it does, I feel like it's mostly for easy-listening Boomers, playing their "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay" Radio as they cook bacon in the air fryer in the morning, with their stupid dogs running around.  —Zach


"Everlasting Everything" by Wilco

from Wilco (The Album), 2009

TO BE HANDWRITTEN AND LEFT AT HER DOOR:

Dear Noa,

It's the night before I move out. It's time. I'm excited to have my own space. I know my decision will lead to so many more wonderful things happening in my life.

But there's no question I'm going to miss our miklat times. We all survived something together. You, Noa, especially—you helped make my experience so much better. I always knew you'd be down there with a friendly smile (though probably before I even got out of bed—my reputation precedes me). You came with positive energy, and care, and fun.

What I am trying to say, Noa, is that you're a really special and unique person. I don't go around asking out everyone I meet. There's just something really special in you—some kind of beyond-words feeling. I hope you know that.

Our ultimate life paths may not cross, and that's OK. I respect your reality more than anything. I just want to thank you for being my neighbor and friend, in good and bad times.

I'm sure we'll be seeing each other around. You'll always get positive energy from me.

And if you ever think about changing your mind... well, just remember that maybe you'll actually have a good time? We barely know each other. Who knows?

Only good things, and I'll be thinking of you and the whole crew the next siren—save a seat for me just in case.

Love,

Zach

     —Zach

"Green Eyes" by Coldplay

from A Rush of Blood to the Head, 2002

Coldplay has a catalogue of songs that make you sad, mostly from their early days. "The Scientist" should be banned for pandering to that kind of sadness. But "Green Eyes" is a simpler song, and it's another tearjerker. Sometimes I feel I'm overly nostalgic. Why can't I let things go, like other people seem to be able to? My high school girlfriend put this song on the mix she made me before we went to college, and that mix still feels special for me, even more than twenty years later.  —Zach


"Happy Ending" by Mika

from Life in Cartoon Motion, 2007

I was trying to avoid picking this song, but it's the quintessential summertime sadness song for me, so I had to do it. In a way, I like PoYB's guideline about not picking YSC songs for this, and I prefer to adhere to it. But this one is just too strong. It connects directly to my Coldplay Kiss Cam story, and it's the only song I know how to play on piano. Do I wish I could go back to being 22 again? Not really, but also, yes really. Life was pretty different then, and everything was in front of me. But everything is also in front of me now, and I don't know what to do with it.  —Zach

"Hellhole Ratrace" by Girls

from Album, 2009

See, Girls know what I'm fuckin' talkin' about! They don't wanna cry, they wanna laugh! They don't wanna die, they wanna dance! This is what summer is all about! Too many summer days spent crying. Optimism! Yes! No pessimism! So what if I'm still petrified of dancing! They don't mean literally! They are singing about figuratively dancing! Live every summer day like you could dance! Yes! Yes! This is NOT a hellhole, even though the kids' bedtimes have sure felt like it this summer! No! I'm not sad! This is good! I am happy! I got that summertime, summertime happiness!!!!!  —Joe

"Rainy Day" by Guster

from Lost and Gone Forever, 1999

I'm a little sorry for picking a downer prompt, but I'm also not sorry, because I've always wanted to have a sad playlist to listen to that captures a basic emotion that's been present in my life—that of August, and the feeling of the days getting shorter, and summer ending. It's marked by the end of the Tour de France for me, but I didn't even watch the Tour this year. It's marked, often, by some kind of a transition. A breakup, moving apartments, starting grad school. This year, in theory, things are looking up—I'm moving and not working, and these are two things I've wanted for a long time. But life always throws things at you. My back has been killing me lately, out of the blue. And now it's hard for me to even write this because I feel my back barking. Is it emotional? Maybe. I don't know. But the last songs of albums always get me, and this Guster song is one of them.  —Zach

"Beachtowel" by Typhoon

from Offerings, 2018

I have had the same beach towel for eighteen years now. It's a yellow-and-white-striped towel with the name of my high school emblazoned at the end of one side. I remember the first time using it. Musta been senior week. I only went to the beach once. We were in a beach town but it wasn't really a beach week. It was more of a "drink all day in the privacy of your friends' rental homes" kind of week. We went down to the sand once though. I don't even think I wore my bathing suit. I had Lionshead bottles in a backpack, clinking around, getting warm. It was one of those large swarms of high schoolers on the beach, the ones you see on the news now, but this was before the phenomenon was sensationalized. It was chill. I knew like 25% of the kids there. I remember getting shit for my "shoulder pads." Puberty finally hit its full stride that year, and the hair that now covers my body in embarrassing ways back then only covered my upper arms in an weirdly more embarrassing way. I shoulda just shaved that shit. I'm looking down now as I type this and I'm thinking I shoulda just shaved this shit too. Feeling fat. I don't want to shave when I'm fat because the idea of a smooth potbelly freaks me out for some reason. Wait, how did I get down this depression hole after trying to write about a goddamn towel?! It's so easy to reach for pessimism, man. But no! It's summer! I need to be happy! I need to pull myself out of this shit! I need to smile! It's summer! I'm at the shore! I'm with loved ones! The weather is beautiful! I should be feeling good! I should be! I am! I am! Yes! Happy! Happy happy happy!!!!  —Joe

NEXT WEEK: "BATTLE OF THE SEXES!!!" — Choose songs with the word "girls" and/or the word "boys" in the title, and we'll all collectively decide afterward which gender has the better songs (chosen by Joe)