Summer songs with great lyrics. Tracks that make your summer memories even more wonderful.
Great lyrics enhance the tone and add even more color to a song, don’t they? Works that take a literary approach as well as a musical one often become classics.
This time, I focused my research on summer songs with outstanding lyrics! Of course, “good lyrics” can mean many things: lines that move you to tears, words that tug at your heart with bittersweet emotion, or lyrics that sparkle with a touch of humor.
From masterpieces that artfully paint summer scenes with words to one-summer love songs, we’ve got them all.
Be sure to find your favorite lyrics!
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Summer songs with great lyrics. Summer tunes to make your memories even better (71–80)
Summer Days of 1993class
Class’s “Natsu no Hi no 1993” features a memorable melody that evokes a refreshing summer.
Released in 1993 as Class’s debut single, it was used as the opening theme for the drama “Kimi to Itsu Made mo.” The song portrays someone who never thought much of a female friend, but falls in love when she shows a different vibe in the summer.
Summer brings more chances to show some skin or appear more mature in a yukata, so just like in this song, someone you barely noticed can suddenly seem wonderful.
It’s a track that captures a passionate love that begins and burns hotter than the summer heat.
Perfect for karaoke with someone who surprised you by revealing a new side of themselves!
cloversaidāgāru
When it comes to summer songs, it’s got to be this band—Cidergirl! In the opening of this track, the story depicts a protagonist who tries too hard and gets tossed around by hollow advice from those around them.
I bet many of us can relate to that.
While the song’s breezy, summery sound is incredibly pleasant, what truly hits home are the lyrics that, after confronting you with a harsh reality in the chorus, gently say, “At the very least, you be on your own side.” It’s a must-listen summer tune for anyone working hard at club activities or studying during the summer.
Midsummer FruitSazan Ōrusutāzu
Since their debut, Southern All Stars, a five-member rock band, have been known in the J-pop scene as a group that represents summer.
Their 28th single, Manatsu no Kajitsu (Mid-Summer Fruit), used as the theme song for the film Inamura Jane directed by the band’s frontman Keisuke Kuwata, is still recognized today as one of their signature songs.
Its sentimental lyrics and wistful vocals evoke the fading scenes of summer, stirring a sense of melancholy.
Widely covered both in Japan and abroad, it stands as a classic ballad that represents the 1990s.
Great summer songs with superb lyrics. Summer tunes that make your memories even more wonderful (81–90)
July 1stHamasaki Ayumi
Ayumi Hamasaki, who sparked a boom in the J-POP scene as Japan’s diva.
Accompanying her remarkable live performances over the years is the track “July 1st,” included on her 2002 album.
It’s an uplifting song that blends an up-tempo track with Hamasaki’s overwhelming vocal prowess.
With refreshingly bright lyrics perfect for a clear, sunny day, it’s a tune that seems destined to color the summer.
Summer memories scented by the windAAA
A song whose bittersweet yet beautiful melody seeps into the heart, like recalling an old love in a fleeting moment on a summer evening.
Don’t the memories AAA sings of—days of summer now gone and a fragile romance—spread through your chest like a pale watercolor? The track was included as the B-side to AAA’s single “Wake up!” released in July 2014, and later featured on the album “GOLD SYMPHONY” released the same year, as well as the following year’s best-of collection “AAA 10th ANNIVERSARY BEST.” It was used in Ito-Yokado’s yukata commercial, coloring the memories of many alongside the sights and sounds of summer.
For those who want to soak in a sentimental mood at summer’s end, this song will gently stay by your side, bringing you close to those sweet-and-sour memories of days gone by.
Crazy SummerKIRINJI
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.
Mock youthMEGA SHINNOSUKE
This song is a perfect fit for the nostalgic mood at summer’s end.
Its refreshing guitar sound is soothing, yet carries a faint melancholy that really sinks into the heart.
What the piece portrays is the fleeting beauty and poignancy of youth—those radiant days passing by as if they were nothing more than a game of make-believe.
If you listen to it on a night when you’re reminiscing about the fun of summer and feeling a touch wistful, those shimmering days may feel all the more precious.