Songs you want to listen to at the end of summer: Late-summer classics to look back on the season

Shadows of SummerMrs. GREEN APPLE

Mrs. GREEN APPLE “Summer Shadow” Official Music Video

Mrs.

GREEN APPLE, known for popular songs like “Lilac” and “Dancehall,” released a perfect end-of-summer track in August 2025.

It’s their first summer-themed song in about seven years since “Ao to Natsu.” The lyrics capture an indescribable, sentimental feeling that comes with the changing seasons.

There’s a bittersweetness in the way the protagonist blames their pounding heart and hesitation on the summer heat and the lengthening shadows.

Give it a listen as you savor the passing days of summer.

silver vineSato Chiaki

Chiaki Sato – Matatabi (Lyric Video)

Chiaki Sato—known as the former vocalist of Kinoko Teikoku and a multitalented solo artist—released Matatabi in July 2024, the theme song for the film Bake Neko Anzu-chan.

Set to warm, country- and folk-tinged guitar tones, the song gently sings of summer days gone by.

Images like festival sounds and lukewarm ramune soda are sure to stir listeners’ unforgettable memories of summer.

It’s a gem of a track to revisit cherished memories with, especially as the days begin to grow shorter.

Blue Hawaiitota

Blue Hawaii / Tota – Blue Hawaii / Tota

This song depicts a faint summer romance.

Released in August 2022, it sets the unspoken, frustrating feelings toward someone you love to a warm band sound.

Some listeners may find themselves overlaying their own bittersweet memories of love onto the image of someone who feels the cicadas’ chorus is far louder than their own feelings.

Featured as an insert song in the dating show “Koisuru ♥ Shūmatsu Homestay 2023 Natsu” and used in a Kao “Essential” commercial, this track invites you to listen while basking in your summer memories.

Crazy SummerKIRINJI

Crazy Summer

It’s a late-summer classic by KIRINJI.

The track appears on the EP “Sweet Soul ep,” released in March 2003, and is distinguished by Yasuyuki Horigome’s soft, translucent vocals—he also wrote the lyrics and composed the music.

If you listen to it on a sentimental night when you’re thinking of someone you can’t forget, it just might bring back the air of that day, still warm with heat.

It’s a song I especially recommend to anyone who has experienced an unforgettable, passionate love.

cotton candyback number

back number – Watagashi (full)

Set against the backdrop of a summer festival, this track portrays the frustrating ache of unspoken love.

You can’t help but relate to the protagonist, who, while gazing at their crush’s profile, can think of nothing but how to find the courage to hold hands.

Released as a single in July 2012, it was chosen as the opening theme for TBS’s “COUNT DOWN TV.” It’s a song that accompanies those sentimental feelings of lingering over a fleeting summer and basking in the memories of a delicate romance.

Fireworks in Augustmurasaki ima

Fireworks in August

It’s an emotionally rich ballad that gently stays by your side through that indescribable loneliness at summer’s end.

Composed by Shikon, it was released in August 2025.

The fleeting fireworks that bloom and fade in the night sky are layered with memories of a summer that will never return.

Her signature husky vocals intertwine with the mellow melody, tightening something deep in the listener’s chest.

On a night after the bustle has faded, try listening in quiet solitude, lost in thought.

You from that summerSugiyama Kiyotaka

You from that summer

This is a summer song for adults, created to mark Kiyotaka Sugiyama’s 30th anniversary since his debut.

Included on the album “OCEAN,” released in July 2016, the piece recounts unforgettable summer memories spent with a loved one in days gone by.

The imagery—so vivid you can almost feel the sea breeze and hear the surf—blends with Sugiyama’s refined vocals, gently resonating in the listener’s heart.

Many listeners say that when they hear this song, their hearts time-travel back in time.