Summer Songs to Real Soul Rest

Contentment That Lasts Beyond the Summer

The summer playlist is included at the end. 🎶☀️🎤

Summer is more than a season—it’s a feeling. It’s the sound of the ice cream truck, a bike ride, cool water on a hot day, young love at summer camp, and sleeping in. Better yet, it’s forgetting what day it is. But the summer subject we all love is music.

Summer Songs

2025’s Billboard Songs of the Summer runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day, so time will tell which songs will define this year’s season. But 2024 was on blast. I never thought I’d be rocking a guy named Shaboozey! But I am. His song “A Bar Song” has a rhythm that resonates with something deep within my soul. I was skeptical at first, but I’m all in on country-rap. Special recognition goes to “I Had Some Help” by Post Malone. Bop.

Music experts analyzed hit summer songs and found that they often share a musical identity—major keys like C Major or C# Major, tempos around 100–130 beats per minute, and instruments such as acoustic guitar, steel drums, and modern electronic synths. It’s Kenny Chesney’s “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems,” am I wrong?

Musicians are the poets of our day, and our songs capture the longings of our souls. So, if songs are the expression of our hearts, let’s take a moment to consider what the spirit of summer reveals about us.

Freedom & Escape

We long to get lost on summer road trips, driven by an intense desire to break free from routine. During the dog days, we want to escape responsibilities. Lyrics often reference flying away or letting go. I used to belt “School’s Out” with all the vehemence of telling Satan to get behind me. Others may have hummed “Escape (The Piña Colada Song),” and yes, I love Piña Coladas and getting caught in the rain. But what are we trying to escape to?

Love & Romance

Young love is a common theme in summer songs. I remember a summer crush in elementary school on a girl I met at 4-H camp. After I got two bull’s-eyes in archery, I went to the dance and experienced the magic of love at first “I like you”. We probably danced to “Achy Breaky Heart” and shared a slow dance to “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You.” But today’s kids have to settle for “Call Me Maybe” and “California Gurls.” These songs capture the fleeting nature of summer love—a fling that always turns flop.

Relaxation & Leisure

Summer singing is a call to vacation. I lost count of how many times I’ve heard and asked, “What are you doing over the summer?” We’re all wondering, “Where are you going to find rest?” Maybe it’s Jimmy’s “Margaritaville,” Weezer's “Island in the Sun,” Maggie Rogers’s “Alaska,” or a fam fav, Fulton Lee’s “Sunrise.” But vacations always end, and when you return home nursing a sunburn, you often feel like you need a vacation from the vacation.

Bummer In The Summer

Summer represents our annual quest for contentment. Like birds, we make an annual migration, traveling to distant places in search of that elusive something. The summer that promises freedom, love, and relaxation. But has it ever been delivered in full? Have we ever come back fully satisfied? Like songs, vacations get old, and after what feels like 3 minutes and 30 seconds, they end.

No amount of vacation or music will cure our constant exhaustion. You can’t outrun your sin. “The Weight of Lies” by The Avett Brothers captures this perfectly: “When you run, make sure you run to something | And not away from | 'Cause lies don't need an aeroplane | To chase you down.”

Here’s the truth: God created summer as just one of the four seasons, but each serves its purpose. And vacation is a welcome break, but it’s not a lifestyle. I admire those who work as God works. They rest one day in seven, then do the work of creation the rest of the week.

As you listen to the songs of summer, hear the echo of our hearts reaching for contentment, and remember that only Jesus brings real rest. You don’t need escape, romance, or relaxation to find lasting peace. Right where you are—in your current season, in this moment—Christ offers the rest you’re longing for.

In Philippians 4:12, Paul’s life is a vivid example of this truth. Whether he was hungry or full, imprisoned or free, his contentment wasn’t defined by his circumstances but by Christ. He discovered the secret: Christ is our sufficiency, and entering His rest begins with confession.

So today, let’s stop striving for control or comfort and turn afresh to the One who invites us into real rest. Let’s honestly confess our tendency to seek contentment in circumstances and receive His grace anew. Join me in a prayer of confession. Let’s pray:

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Confessing Sin

Lord Jesus, we confess our restless hearts that chase after fleeting contentment. You alone are our sufficiency and rest. Teach us to lay down our striving and to enter Your peace. Renew our hearts with the grace of confession, and grant us joy that endures beyond the summer’s end. Amen.

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Thanks for praying! God bless you. We’ll read and pray again next Saturday at 8:30 a.m.

Summer Songs Playlist:

• “A Bar Song” by Shaboozey

• “I Had Some Help” by Post Malone

• “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems” by Kenny Chesney

• “School’s Out” by Alice Cooper

• “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” by Rupert Holmes

• “Achy Breaky Heart” by Billy Ray Cyrus

• “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” by Bryan Adams

• “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen

• “California Gurls” by Katy Perry

• “Margaritaville” by Jimmy Buffett

• “Island in the Sun” by Weezer

• “Alaska” by Maggie Rogers

• “Sunrise” by Fulton Lee

Other Unforgetables:

• “Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison

• “Brazil” by Declan McKenna

• “When the Sun Goes Down” by Kenny Chesney

• “Surfin' U.S.A.” by The Beach Boys