Songs are some of the strongest ways we immortalize summer memories in our minds and hearts. Every year, our vacations, day trips and leisure time with friends and family have a special soundtrack that freezes those moments in time, and this year is no different.
The list below has the Top 8 Songs of the Summer as identified by mainstream media outlet Pitchfork Media. Have you heard these songs? Check out the observations by our friends at Axis, who regularly produce commentary on mainstream culture. They weigh in on these hit tunes with a perspective you might not have considered.
1. "Can't Stop the Feeling" by Justin Timberlake: Extremely catchy; about the supremacy of feeling good in the moment. It's a natural outflow of our postmodern world's emphasis on experience and feeling.
2. "Controlla" by Drake: About a romantic relationship that's based solely on sexual desire and controlling each other. 17 songs from Drake's album
VIEWS are currently climbing the charts.
3. "This Is What You Came For" by Calvin Harris ft. Rihanna: About getting the attention of a powerful, popular woman. Rihanna's name is also on 5 other hugely popular songs now, which are mostly about relationships in which one person wants commitment and the other just wants sex.
4. "Into You" by Ariana Grande: Also about a relationship, hoping the guy is ready to make sexual advances. From her new album
Dangerous Woman, which promotes female "empowerment" by associating it with high-risk behavior.
5. "Toothbrush" by DNCE: Frontman Joe Jonas invites a woman to stash toiletries at his house to help integrate casual sex more easily into the rest her life. If your teen was a fan of the Jonas Brothers, ask him/her what he/she thinks about DNCE.
6. "Me Too" by Meghan Trainor: About feeling confident, being envied, and not needing a guy for affirmation. Key lyrics: "
I thank God every day / I woke up feeling this way / And I can't help loving myself / And I don't need nobody else."
7. "HandClap" by Fitz and the Tantrums: Catchy and weird; about--surprise!--a sexual relationship. At one point, he either prays to James Brown or tells James Brown he's praying to God to be able to make a girl's "hands clap."
8. "Go!" by M83: Indie track about trying to keep the spark in a long-distance relationship. Key lyrics: "
Gonna find you in the night / Gonna make it or die" and "
I'm done without you."
Many of these songs tend to elevate the gifts (sex, relationships, good feelings, etc.) over the Giver of these gifts, divorcing them from the context for which they were intended. Our culture bristles at the idea that sex should be confined to heterosexual marriage, and we forget that the God who makes this restriction is also the God who, by the way, invented sex in the first place! Talk to your kids this week about God as a giver of good gifts, who knows best how and when those gifts should be received.
If you're looking for some good pop songs to define your summer, check out our
NRT Music+ Playlist on Spotify here!
Want to learn more about Axis or read more cultural commentary?
Check out their site, or check out their
Family Conversation Kit here.
