Hey, Tigers! Welcome back to another issue of The Tiger! This is Melony Howe and Veronica Konarkowski here for our last article of the school year. We are very sad to let you all go. It’s been so fun to write for you all, but, like all good things, it must come to an end. For our last article, we thought it’d be fun to do something similar to the way we started the year in this class. Our first article was a 2024 Homecoming Playlist and here we are today a 2025 Summer Playlist. Summer’s around the corner, so let’s get this party started! We hope you enjoy this playlist and article as much as our first. Without further delay, here are our top songs of the summer!
We asked our fellow Tigers to share their song suggestions via a Google Form and received a total of 16 song suggestions that we put into a Spotify Playlist (which will be shared with you at the end of this article). We then followed up with a multiple choice Google Form to see whish of these recommendations were the top 5. We will give our personal review of each of these songs. Let’s just say this article is very opinionated and a bit funny and sarcastic, but just know that we are VERY serious when it comes to these reviews.
1.) Heat Waves – Glass Animals
“Sometimes all I think about is you, late nights in the middle of June”… Oh. Great job, Tigers! We can relate…sometimes all we think about is why you guys would choose this to be the number 1 song of the summer. We definitely cannot say that we expected this…We thought you all had better taste in music. Yes, it mentions the month of June, but we know you all can do so much better. I thought we had better music taste than this. Don’t get us wrong, it’s an amazing song, but as the number 1 choice??!!! That’s a bit crazy if you ask us. Let’s dive in and see why some of the students chose this song. We got a few responses, like “It’s a good song” or “I feel like I’m on the beach when I hear this song”, but these are some very boring responses. However, don’t worry, we still added this song into the playlist below.
Veronica : Every time I hear this song I IMMEDIATELY press skip. It literally just sounds like dying cats screaming into a microphone. When this song came out it was actually decent, but overtime it was played way too much everywhere I went. When I will be listening to the EPHS Summer Playlist, I will be skipping this song being that I rate it 1.5 stars out of 5. It’s definitely not one of my favorites and not worthy of first place.
Melony : Okay, guys, welp… this is interesting. This is definitely not a 5 star song…more like 2.5 stars…but that’s okay, I’m not judging. I know I can’t be the only one…but whenever I hear this song my mind goes instantly to “Never Have I Ever”.
2.) California Girls – Katy Perry
Wow, Tigers! We actually agree with you on this one. We are not disappointed in this song choice and are extremely glad to see that your music taste is beginning to improve. “California Girls” by Katy Perry basically screams summer and is a very good classic sing along. The lyrics are very exciting and fun to sing. Can’t you just imagine driving in a car to get ice cream with your friends with the windows down on a hot summer day screaming “California girls we’re unforgettable. Daisy Dukes, bikinis on top. Sun-kissed skin, so hot. We’ll melt your Popsicle. OH-OH-OH-OH-OH-OH-OH” at the top of your lungs? We definitely can and we probably will be doing so this summer. This song was definitely added onto the playlist. So let’s melt down into our personal reviews.
Veronica: This song brings back so many childhood memories. It reminds me of singing karaoke with my cousins in the summer. I think I can still go bar for bar with the lyrics of this song. This is a classic, and it deserves a 4.5 out of 5 stars. This song will never get old to me.
Melony: I give this song 4 out of 5 stars. It is a classic, fun song. This is definitely a step up from the last song you guys chose. The lyrics are so catchy and it’s just so entertaining. I can’t wait to be blasting this while in the car this summer.
3.) Slide – Calvin Harris ft. Frank Ocean, Migos
Finally, an almost perfect summer song. Well, this song is probably as close as we can get with you guys and your very interesting taste in music. We for sure think this song deserved to be first, not third. When the song begins, the intro isn’t the most exciting but it’s one of the songs where you just have to take a leap and trust the process. We just wanted to take the time to let you know that we really appreciate you guys trying to make this playlist easier on our ears this summer. Frank Ocean definitely carried this song, as he carries all of his songs, with his popular verses that anyone can sing along to. We literally have the song stuck in our head; it’s just so good. Let’s slide into our personal responses. (Did you guys see what we did there??)
Veronica: Finally, a song that doesn’t sound like dying cats in my ears. I really wished you guys rated this song higher. I actually just added this song into my personal playlist. I rate it a 4.5 out of 5 stars. I can definitely see myself listening to this song while tanning on the beach.
Melony: WOW, TIGERS!!! I REALLY LIKE THIS SONG PREFERENCE, but I still am a bit disappointed if I’m being honest…disappointed that it ONLY GOT 3RD PLACE. This definitely deserved first. This song has been on my playlist for weeks now and I sing it all of the time, so thank you guys for blessing us by bringing this into the playlist. I rate this song 4.5 out of 5 stars.
4.) Forever Young – Alphaville
This article is getting a little bit long, so let’s keep this brief…j/k…if you know us, you know we never keep things brief…not when writing our articles and definitely not when spilling tea. We are just wondering…is this 2025 or 1980? Hahaha, just kidding (again!!!). The classics are always the best. The lyrics are very relatable, and we really do want to be “forever young”. There’s nothing like being a teenager enjoying your summer with no worries in the way. This song reminds us of a peaceful summer night that you never want to forget. It’s good to see that your guys’ taste is not getting worse. This song was such a good hidden mystery until it got popular on TikTok and is now known as a “TikTok” song, even though it’s more than just that. Let’s dive deeper into our personal reviews.
Veronica: This song isn’t bad…it just reminds me of something my dad would listen to when he was a teenager. I actually think my dad put me onto this song. I love the dad, 80’s style music but definitely not for summer. Overall, this song is a 4.5 out of 5 stars, but as a summer song, I give it a 3.
Melony: I give this song 3.5 stars out of 5. I actually like this song, and I think I might be adding it to my playlist this summer. I believe fourth place is a good fit, but it still shouldn’t be below “Heat Waves”.
5. Dark Thoughts – Lil Tecca
Last but not least, we have song number 5: “Dark Thoughts” by Lil Tecca. This was another surprising song that was on the list, but it’s not necessarily surprising in a bad way. This isn’t a bad song to listen to in the summer; we just never really thought of it. From the title alone, you wouldn’t think of it as a summer song, but I guess that’s why people always say to never judge a book by its cover. It’s not really a sing along, but it’s a good song to just chill to and vibe with. This song isn’t a WOW, but it’s not horrible. This song definitely won’t be a favorite for your parents or older people…it doesn’t give the best message…but if you enjoy rap, then this might be the summer song for you.
Veronica: I am still stuck up on the fact that “Heat Waves” beat all these songs, especially this one. I personally really enjoy rap, though this isn’t an actual rap song…but it’s close enough. I rate this song a 4 out of 5 stars.
Melony: Rap is so fun to listen to, especially with friends. If you don’t have any interest in rap, then this might not be for you. I give this 4 out of 5 stars. Just don’t listen to this in front of your teachers or family!
Overall Combined Review:
In the end, we both came to the realization that we are just “Heat Waves” haters and definitely think that all the other songs should’ve placed higher. We also both discovered we really love the song “Slide”, so thank you guys for helping us come to this conclusion.
Playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1QvCDVjRLHdghypOF7jvei?si=UeME1OtHTECJ5MNwmqRc5w
Conclusion
We truly cannot believe that this semester is over! This year flew by and we are sad to be saying goodbye to The Tiger. We have enjoyed writing articles for all of you and have really had so much fun this year because of Intro to Journalism. This was a great learning experience and we were able to discover that we have a profound love for writing. This article has been much more fun and easy to write than our first article. Yes, rating only 5 songs compared to 10 has been much easier, but we actually put more thought and effort into this last article, which has hopefully been more entertaining for you all to read. Goodbye, Tigers! You will be missed.
