I suppose it will be necessary, at the end of these two weeks of summer singles, for me to declare my pick for the official song of the summer.
The early favorites were Bruno Mars, whose ‘The Lazy Song’ perfectly captures the summer spirit in both sound and theme, and Katy Perry, who was seemingly genetically engineered to produce summer hits.
Lady GaGa had a good showing with her anthemic ‘Edge of Glory,’ a song I suspect we’ll hear all over NFL and NBA ads this year if those leagues get their act together and actually have seasons. And I have a soft spot for Nicki Minaj’s addictively twisted ‘Super Bass.’
But all of those artists will have to settle for runner-up status because an unexpected entry turns out to be the one ring(tone) to rule them all. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you LMFAO and their ‘Party Rock Anthem.’
LMFAO is a rap/DJ duo made up of Stefan and Skyler Gordy, the son and grandson of Motown boss Berry Gordy. This nephew-uncle combo is only 11 years apart in age and both appear to be mentally about age 11, so it seems to work out OK.
I don’t know anything about these guys, and everything I’ve read about them suggests I would find them annoying. But this song, and particularly its video, grabbed me instantly and put a big stupid grin on my face. The play on zombie films, with ‘Party Rock Anthem’ as the catalyst that has turned the world’s population into mindless shufflers, is hilarious.
So here’s my pick for the song of the summer. But beware, as the man at the beginning of the video warns… it will get in your bones!
Yeah, woo!
Party rock is in the house tonight
Everybody just have a good time
And we gon’ make you lose your mind
Everybody just have a good time
Party rock is in the house tonight
Everybody just have a good time
And we gon’ make you lose your mind
We just wanna see you
Shake that!
In the club, party rock, look’n for your girl?
She on my jock, non stop, when we in the spot
Booty move away like she on the block
What the track? I gots to know
Tight jeans, tattoo, cause I’m rock and roll
Half black, half white domino
Jagar money, out the door
Yo
I’m runnin through these hoes like drano
I got that devilish flow, rock and roll, no halo
We party rock, yeah, that’s the crew that I’m reppin
on our rise to the top, no led in our zeppelin
Party rock is in the house tonight
Everybody just have a good time
And we gon’ make you lose your mind
Everybody just have a good time
Party rock is in the house tonight
Everybody just have a good time
And we gon’ make you lose your mind
We just wanna see you
Shake that!
Everyday I’m shufflin’!
Shufflin, shufflin
Step up fast and be the first girl to make me throw this cash
We get money, don’t be mad, now stop, hatin is bad
One more shot for us, another round
Please fill up my cup, don’t mess around
We just wanna see you shake it now
Now you wanna be, your naked now
Get up, get down, put your hands up to the sound
Get up, get down, put your hands up to the sound
Get up, get down, put your hands up to the sound
Put your hands up to the sound
Put your hands up to the sound
Get up, get up, get up, get up, get up, get up, get up, get up, get up
Put your hands up to the sound, to the sound
Put your hands up, put your hands up, put your hands, put your hands up…
Party rock is in the house tonight
Everybody just have a good time
And we gon’ make you lose your mind
Everybody just have a good, good, good time
Oh (Put your hands up),
Oh (I can feel it baby!)
Oh (Put your hands up)
Oh (Put your hands up)
Shake that!
Everyday I’m shufflin’
Meet Me In Montauk 
Love, love, love this song. It is, in fact, in my bones. My students introduced me to this group this past year and they have a few pretty good songs. I can already see the kids in my school trying to imitate those amazing dance moves. Great choice.
We drove 2500 miles this summer, listening quite a bit to Hits 1, the Pulse and Disney, and I don’t recall this song being played once, so I’m not sure how it could qualify as the summer song for 2011. Now, perhaps because I generally am annoyed by dance music, I simply changed stations as soon as this came on, but I really don’t think so. I’m curious if my kids, who seem far more in tune with the hits, have this one on their radar.
To me, THE song of this summer is probably “Rolling in the Deep” which was sitting at or near number one on the Hits countdown through most of June and July. Other contenders would be “Edge of Glory,” “F**’kin Perfect” and “Tonight Tonight.” Also heard an awful lot of “Good Life” by One Republic and “Firework.” Those will probably be the songs I identify with this summer years from now.
As for this song, the video helps with the dancing, but the song doesn’t do anything for me. Then again, few dance songs do.
Here’s a chart from VH1 that compiles stats from a number of sources to numerically rank this summer’s songs.
Currently they have Adele’s ‘Rolling in the Deep’ tied with Katy Perry’s ‘Last Friday Night’ for first, with Bruno Mars’ ‘The Lazy Song’ and LMFAO’s ‘Party Rock Anthem’ at second and third, respectively.
I didn’t feature Adele these past two weeks because I have other plans for ‘Rolling in the Deep.’ I agree that song is dominating the airwaves the past month-plus. It doesn’t strike me as a “summer song” in spirit the way the rest on this list do, though.
Certainly has a perfect summer song vibe, but it isn’t on my radar more than slightly. Not surprisingly, I agree with Dana’s nominations, as we were listening to the same radio stations all summer long. Still, I like this and can see how easily it could get “in the bones.”
I don’t agree that “Rolling” isn’t a summer song. The fact is it was the biggest hit of the summer. It was blaring from more radios, computers, IPods, TV shows, etc….that makes it the summer hit, even if it has more substance than your average rap tune or dance pop song. In fact, I say kudos to America for making it the summer song of 2011.
It’s a bit like when a quality movie becomes a big summer hit. Do you not list it because it isn’t your typical summer movie like Jaws III or Rocky IV? No, you put the spotlight on that kind of art reaching such popular appeal over other popcorn movies that were marketed to do better in summer.
I agree with that point. And that’s not the reason I didn’t list ‘Rolling in the Deep’ here.
Still, if you’re listing the ultimate summer songs or summer movies, I do think they should reflect what “summer” implies — lightness, fun, frivolity, a carefree spirit.
If you had a Family Feud category asking for a great summer movie, you’d list Jaws, Spider-Man, Jurassic Park and that sort of thing before you’d say Pulp Fiction, even if that movie happened to make a big splash in a summer month.