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!
- A collection of summer-like songs: tracks that go perfectly with summer, like the sea and the sky.
- [July Songs] A selection of Japanese summer tunes perfect for the start of the season!
- [Classics] Timeless Summer Hits Recommended for All Ages [Summer Songs]
- [2026] A summer song that tightens your chest with bittersweet feelings. A classic summer tune that touches the heart.
- [Masterpieces to Enjoy During Summer Vacation] A collection of summer songs bursting with summer vibes
- Recommended summer songs for people in their 20s: classic and popular J-pop tracks
- [Oldies] Summer Songs Recommended for People in Their 50s [2026]
- 1990s J-Pop to listen to in summer: classic and hit summer songs
- A song by a rock band bursting with exhilarating energy and a sense of speed that you want to listen to in the summer.
- Get fired up for the hot season! Summer songs recommended for Gen Z
- Summer songs sung by idols: a roundup of classic hits about the sea and love
- Famous and popular Japanese summer songs you’ll want to sing at karaoke
- Tear-jerking summer classics: recommended popular songs
Summer songs with great lyrics. Summer tunes that make your memories even more wonderful (91–100)
Wake Me Up!SPEED
A summery dance song, “Wake Me Up!” is also recommended.
This track, released by SPEED, leans heavily into hip-hop elements.
Even so, their vocals convey a soft, girly vibe.
The lyrics are upbeat, singing about hope for the future and the refreshing spirit of youth.
It’s sure to get everyone hyped at karaoke.
There are also call-and-response sections, so you can have fun getting everyone to join in.
sparklingaiko
A love song with delicate lyrics and melodies that capture snapshots of summer.
With aiko’s characteristically unique turns of phrase, it conveys both the heartache and the hope of a lost romance.
Everyday moments and memories are depicted with a warmth that resonates and invites empathy.
Released as a single in August 2005, it was also used as the theme song for a Fuji TV drama and in a Toyota commercial.
It’s perfect for anyone who has experienced a summer fling or a breakup, a song you’ll want to listen to while gazing up at the summer night sky.
Why not let aiko’s voice envelop you and sink into nostalgic memories?
Summer songs with great lyrics. Summer tunes that make your memories even more wonderful (101–110)
AspenKuramubon
Aspen is also recommended for those who want to try a ballad with a relaxed vibe.
This song is by the three-piece band clammbon.
It depicts a quiet summer night, and its lyrics are crafted with a distinctly poetic touch.
As you read into the words, you can sense the protagonist’s emptiness, vulnerability, and affection for someone close.
The sound is kept simple, creating a somewhat dreamlike atmosphere.
It’s perfect for cooling down at karaoke, too.
Okinawa Sunshine DayBEGIN
It’s an irresistibly cheerful summer tune that conjures up piercing blue skies and a pleasant sea breeze.
The buoyant rhythm that fuses ska and reggae naturally gets your body moving just by listening.
The track was inspired by guitarist Masaru Shimabukuro—who wrote both lyrics and music—after seeing his friends having a great time back in his hometown.
The lyrics convey the liberating feeling of driving under a cloudless sky and the positive vibe of surrendering to island rhythms and forgetting your worries.
Featured on Taiyo, the band’s first album in seven years set for release in July 2025, the song captures the warm, live energy of being recorded in one take on Ishigaki Island.
Perfect for summer drives, it also makes the ideal BGM whenever you want a quick mood refresh.
paprikaFoorin
If you’re looking for a summer song for kids, I recommend Foorin’s “Paprika.” This track was released as the official song supporting the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics on NHK.
Believe it or not, the lyrics and music were written by Kenshi Yonezu.
Perhaps because it was for a summer games event, pay attention to the lyrics—they evoke a sense of summer nostalgia.
Coastline CiderKetsumeishi
A melody reminiscent of the sound of waves brings back memories of summers gone by.
It’s a track from Ketsumeishi’s digital single released in June 2025, chosen as the theme song for ABC-MART’s “SUPER SUMMER SALE” commercial.
Set to a comfortable rap, it vividly portrays the bittersweet memories of youth.
Within it lies the mindset of a protagonist who, while immersed in reminiscence, strives to look ahead.
Listening to it while driving along the coastline at dusk might just put you in a nostalgic mood.
sodasumika
This is a song by sumika that tightens the chest with a bittersweet regret, like the end of summer.
Born from songwriter and composer Kenta Kataoka’s real-life experience, the piece overlays the frustration of a relationship that ended without saying what needed to be said onto the image of fizzing soda that pops and disappears.
The memories of ordinary days in which emotions were never even thrown at each other serve as a compelling touch that further highlights the song’s poignancy.
Included on the mini-album “I co Y,” released in November 2014.
It’s a track you’ll want to listen to when you find yourself feeling a sudden loneliness while reminiscing about fun summer memories.