3 Songs That Embody the Sticky, Hot, and Boring Dog Days of Summer

The dog days of summer are slow, scorching, and to some, absolutely miserable. In a sense, marching towards the end of summer is the equivalent of one willingly marching to their own death. Okay, well, that might be an extreme example, but you get the gist.

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To say the least, it’s rough, and it’s rough because it is the ending of something, and depending on how your summer went, it’s the ending of something magical. Well, to celebrate or condemn the bittersweet ending of summer, here are three songs that embody the sticky, hot, and boring dog days of summer.

“Tuesday’s Gone” by Lynyrd Skynyrd

Lynyrd Skynyrd‘s 1973 classic, “Tuesday’s Gone,” is generally about the overarching theme of moving on from the ending of something. That being said, it couldn’t be more appropriate for this list. It’s an easy listen and a cathartic track that makes the ending of something all the more poetically romantic. In other words, it is a song that lets you know the party is over.

Also, Skynyrd’s bluesy sound encompasses the slow, sweaty, and gelatinous movement that the dogs days of summer imitate. While this song is not particularly about the dog days of summer, it is the perfect fit for it. And it’s one that just might help you leave summer on a high note.

“Summer’s End” by John Prine

John Prine always had a way of making even the saddest of things seem so pleasant. To quote Nicole Kidman from the AMC advertisement, “heartbreak feels good in a place like this.” Well, it feels good when you listen to a John Prine song, and when you listen to this one, you might tear up about summer’s end, but they will be tears outlined with a shimmer of joy.

Prine uses some stunningly simple and relatable imagery to relay the feeling the dog days of summer entail. The song depicts the moment we live through every year, once a year, and despite the commonality of the occurrence, Prine turns it into a profound metaphysical event.

“Wake Me Up When September Ends” by Green Day

In this soothingly sentimental Green Day single, Billie Joe Armstrong employs the age-old songwriting tactic of using the changing of seasons to signify the changing of emotions. Cliché, maybe, but for a reason, as the poetic vehicle hits more often than not, and it surely does in this Green Day staple.

Contrary to the other two songs on this list, “Wake Me Up When September Ends” is not bittersweet. Rather, it’s just bitter, but hey, not everything has to have a tint of joy, because in reality, joy is sometimes just completely absent in certain aspects of life. And for Armstrong in this song, it was completely absent during this particular summer’s end.

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