There’s just something about a summer night that so easily evokes nostalgia, don’t you think?
It’s that moment when the day finally starts to cool off, the moment the sun starts kissing the horizon, the moment the cicadas and crickets start singing. And in those moments, it’s so easy to think back to those easy, long-ago summer nights of no worries and no cares—ones that held things like slow sunset walks on the beach, sitting around roaring campfires with friends, swinging on a swing or rocking in a rocking chair on a porch as stars begin twinkling above, and running around and laughing in lush fields at dusk, trying to catch fireflies in a jar.
They were the moments that were so beautiful they practically shimmered.
And the songs that we’re sharing on our Music Monday playlist today do just that: They shimmer. Although these songs are current and didn’t exist when we were children, their layered, lush melodies, gentle, delicate vocals, and lonesome, evocative sounds—those that come from instruments like banjos, mandolins, fiddles, and acoustic guitars—make these songs feel like the days of yesteryear. They become the perfect springboard to take us back in time, and put together, this playlist, 18 Nostalgia-Inducing Songs for Easy Summer Nights, seems like it could provide the perfect backdrop to a slideshow of snapshots that captured the easy summer nights of days gone by.
Enjoy this list, and then let us know: Have you heard of any of these songs? Do they feel like summer nights to you? What songs would be on your easy summer night playlist?
2) Nothing But Trouble – Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors
3) Beautiful Day – Joshua Radin
4) There Beneath – The Oh Hellos
5) Helplessness Blues – Fleet Foxes
6) Summer Skeletons – Radical Face
7) These Memories – Hollow Coves
8) Don’t Forget – Good Old War
10) Moon at Dawn – Blind Pilot
11) The Days That Are to Come – John Vincent III
14) Even the Darkness Has Arms – The Barr Brothers
15) Dream in Blue – The Stray Birds
16) Spirit Cold – Tall Heights
18) Living Proof – Gregory Alan Isakov
Want to catch up on all our Music Monday posts? Check them out here!
At The Nostalgia Diaries, our goal is to help you simplify, enhance, and engage your lives by focusing on the most important things: remembering, appreciating, believing, and becoming. It’s all about celebrating the past to create better days today.
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What an awesome summer playlist!
Thanks for sharing! A lot of these were new to me, but I love discovering new artists.
I have heard of exactly NONE of these, but am listening to Beautiful Day as I type this. I really like it. Thanks for the recommendations. Pinning this to go back to later.
I haven’t heard of these but excited to check out some new great songs!
I haven’t heard of these, but I am listening to Carry You by Novo Amor. I really like this song. Thank you for sharing! I’m definitely going to check out the other songs as well.
Fleet Foxes are a favorite of mine, fun to see them on the list! I’ll have to check out some of these other ones I haven’t heard of before!
I have not heard of a lot of these bands before…and my heart is leaping! I love discovering new ones! Know who I adore – spotify. They are amazing for helping me find new bands. I don’t work for them by the way! I just have the free app.
What a fantastic round-up! Songs I LOVE and new songs to add to my collection. Thanks for sharing 🙂
I’m listening along right now…..
What a great list! I love Passenger!
What a fun list! I haven’t heard of many of these so I’ll have to check them out!
These are such great songs for a Summer playlist!!
I don’t think I know any of these artists except for Bon Iver, so I definitely need to listen and broaden my horizons. 🙂
Anything by Bon Iver… yes, just yes!
Beautiful song choices. You’ve inspired me to make my own summer night tunes playlist – and I’ll be using a lot of these songs too 🙂
OK, I had not heard of any of these…but I have fallen in love with several of them! What a perfect summer playlist for sitting outside with a glass of wine!
I haven’t heard of any of these. I’m excited. I’m always looking for new music to sit on our covered porch with my glass of wine.
I don’t think I know most of these! Thanks so much for sharing. 🙂 Love a good playlist.
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net
I agree, summertime has a nostalgia that songs can def capture. but how do I not know so many of these songs!??!?!?
There is something so magical about summer nights! I will definitely have to play some of these for our next campfire!
I am so excited to give these a listen. These will all be new to me. My husband and I have a stack of cds – because we’re nostalgic – that we call the screen porch mix.
The only song I’m familiar with is the Bon I’ve song. Will definitely check this out!
I haven’t heard of many of these. Definitely adding some to my playlist!