My Travel Soundtrack: The Summer Soundtrack Edition

Do you remember that scene in "The Beach", when Richard gets a view of THE Beach for the very first time, and it's beautiful and he's so amazed by what he's seeing, and Moby's "Porcelain" starts playing? That's probably one of my favorite movie moments ever. And ever since that movie, when I hear the song "Porcelain", I think of nothing but fine white sand and blue water.

Every travel moment should have a soundtrack, because music is a perfect companion when traveling - I'd even go as far as to say that the iPod is probably the second best thing to human travel buddies (so if you're ever traveling solo, you mustn't board your flight without one!).

The summer is a season for trips, trips, trips, so I thought I'd share a portion of my summer soundtrack in this post, with sixteen of my favorite summer songs. It was incredibly difficult to cut the list down to 16, as I had about 50 songs on my playlist - maybe I'll post the rest of the songs next year. For now, I hope you like these!

Also, what are your favorite summer songs? (I'm a music junkie, so please, I hope you can recommend some for me!)

1. "No Stopping Us" - Jason Mraz

Just a bright, happy song to cheer you up when you're on the road. Jason Mraz is made of pure awesome, and he has a lot of bright, happy songs which I love. Also try "Make It Mine" and his version of "Melt With You" from the "50 First Dates" soundtrack.

2. "Whoo! Alright - Yeah...Uh Huh" - The Rapture

This one totally screams "Pool Partay!" to me, which probably has to do with its music video:



3. "Romeo and Juliet" - Clazziquai Project

This is a new favorite, and quite frankly, I'm a little addicted to it! I've had this one on repeat on my iPod for a while now. It's from a KPop experimental group called Clazziquai Project. The vocals on this are awesome. More importantly, this song makes me want to wear a sundress and put flowers on my hair. That's how summer-y it is.

4. "Strawberry Swing" - Coldplay



5. "Insomnio" - Cafe Tacuba


Here's one from a road trip movie called "Y Tu Mama Tambien", the first of two on this list from that soundtrack.



6. "Kiss Kiss Kiss" - Ananda Project feat. Heather Johnson

From the Hed Kandi Beach House 04.03 compilation. This has been on my iPod for ages, and I still love it.



7. "Fallin' For You" - Colbie Caillat

Colbie Caillat's music in general reminds me of the summer, which is why I love her records. This one is a fave among many.



8. "Chasing Cars" - Snow Patrol

I put this on here mainly because this song reminds me of that time when my friends and I slept on the beach in Bantayan Island, Cebu on our last night there. It's one of my favorite memories from my travels so far.

9. "Waves" - Marjorie Fair

I first heard this song on some random compilation they were playing in a record store, and I thought it was lovely.

10. "We Give In Sometimes" - Up Dharma Down

"Sand and the sea, meet in between. Fire and ice, you and I..." I absolutely love this song and this band. If there's one song I'd like everyone who's read this post to listen to, it'd be this song, because it's from an awesome Filipino band that deserves global recognition (which they've already received, mind you - they were featured on Time Magazine once!). And check out the awesome video!

11. "Ocean In Your Eyes" - Smokey and Miho

This one's also from the "Y Tu Mama Tambien" soundtrack. Apparently the girl was from Cibo Matto, and the guy is from Beck! I had no idea.



12. "Better Together" - Jack Johnson

You knew there had to be a Jack Johnson song here somewhere, right?



13. "Put Your Records On" - Corinne Bailey Rae

This song is here because of the line that goes "Sipping tea at a bar by the roadside (just relax, just relax)."



14. "Here Comes The Sun" - The Beatles

I grew up watching black-and-white Beatles performances, and I remember having one of my very first little girl crushes on the very young Paul McCartney in those videos. I read somewhere that this song came to George Harrison as he was walking around the garden on a beautiful spring day. I think that if a beautiful spring day were a song, it really would sound like this.

15. "Summertime" - The Sundays

Probably one of the oldest songs on this list, and a timeless favorite for me. A long time ago, in another blog, I wrote this to describe it: "Catchy tune, interesting lyrics, totally feel-good - it's the perfect non-love song for the summer."

16. "Walkin' on Sunshine" - Katrina and the Waves

I was born in the 80's, but unfortunately, as I was too young, I have no memories of that decade. But I do remember discovering music from that time when I got a little older, and this one is definitely one of my favorites. It's just so fun to listen to! You can't not cheer up after listening to this song.

Everyone and their mother probably has a casette tape of this stashed somewhere so I won't be putting a link to the song here, but I am posting this video from one of my favorite books and movies, "High Fidelity", where a hilarious Jack Black plays "Walkin' on Sunshine" and just goes crazy. Happy summer everyone!