2011 Summer Song

Some places have beautiful weather virtually every day of the year but sadly I live in Toronto and that is definitely not the case.  Every summer there is a song that you will hear all of the time wherever you go and that song becomes synonymous with the good feelings associated with those summer days.  Whether you are at the mall, in the car or at a patio, this song will follow you. Sometimes this song ends up being somewhat timeless and actually decent but more likely it's just annoying regenerated pop music sung by Katy Perry (I am looking at you 2010 summer with California Gurls).  Regardless, let's get to the contenders for 2011's summer song. 

Rules and observations:
- The song doesn't actually have to be good
- It's usually a fun lighthearted pop song. Despite what some people think this observation does not necessarily follow the previous.
- There will probably be a dude rapping in the song to give it more cred.
- The artist will probably sing about their partying/summer experiences in the lyrics.
- The song has to be easy to sing and dance to.
- You are guaranteed to hear it once an hour on the radio.
- When in the car, people will not roll up their window when the song does come on the radio.  ie It cannot be embarrassing to be caught listening to it.

The 2011 contenders
Miscellaneous song by Katy Perry or Rihanna
This year Katy Perry is the contender with Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.).  The song sucks... Okay I am being too harsh as I still have not been able to come to terms with the success of last year's California Gurls.  Anyway, in the song Perry recounts about an evening of wild partying and apparently everything in the song (minus the menage a trois) is based on Perry's real life experiences. Particularly annoying to me is the "T-G-I-F!" chant towards the end of the song (which will probably be the highlight for anybody under the age of 16) with the highlight of the music video being Kenny G playing the saxophone.  I have always liked the use of a saxophone in music as it kind of reminds me of an old 80's pop song.  Although Perry does use the saxophone in Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.), it's still not the best 2011 summer song contender to do so...

The Edge of Glory
Lady GaGa
This is my personal favorite pop song of the summer and also the best summer song to use a saxophone.  You can stick Gaga's "The Edge of Glory" in 1986 and it would not be out of place.  Yes this song works now and could have worked back then meaning that in a weird way it could have been relevant for the last thirty years.  The song even has a little bit of Springsteen in it as Clarence Clemons, who was a prominent member of The E Street Band, performed the saxophone solo. (note: in a pure bullshit move, I have heard a version of the song without the saxophone on the radio) Heck I am probably stretching things here but even the music video kind of has a lil' bit of a Jackson (whether it be Michael or Janet) feel to it.  "The Edge of Glory" is a dance song that was inspired by the death of her grandfather and according to wikipedia, "speaks of the very last moments of living on Earth."  The song is catchy, simple and easy to sing along to (albeit probably not well).  Without a doubt, “The Edge of Glory” is the best song from her latest album and my favorite pop song of the summer.

Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall
Coldplay
I have no idea how we are going to remember Coldplay twenty years from now.  I was flipping though records at a store yesterday and the "A" section was littered with old Air Supply albums and I wonder if that is what Coldplay is going to be like in the future. I listen to Coldplay and it is hard to shake off that arena rock vibe.  Anyway, I actually have no idea how well received this song is other than I hear it being played frequently on the radio so I am assuming that people like it.  Regardless, the title of the song is a bit too much for me and makes me want to laugh. Seriously, if you asked me who sang a song called "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall" my first guess would be Meat Loaf.

Party Rock Anthem (feat. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock)
LMFAO
The most annoying song on this list to me which means there is a good chance that "Party Rock Anthem" is 2011's summer song.   Now I must admit that I have not listened to the entire song all at once but that is because the song is so unappealing to me that I cannot sit through even one listen.  Thanks to the radio and 16-year-old girls' requests, I do believe that I have probably listened to all of the song in separate 15 second parts. I actually do not know too much about the group and the rest of their stuff might actually be decent but I cannot say that I am a fan of "Party Rock Anthem."

Give Me Everything (feat. Ne-Yo, Afrojack & Nayer)
Pitbull
"Give Me Everything" is probably the most infectious song of all of the contenders with the problem being like a lot of other summer songs it gets way overplayed to the point where you quickly start disliking the song the more you hear it. This has to be the summer song of 2011 as you can easily see "Give Me Everything" being this summer's clubbing anthem. On the downside, the song is repetitive and there is only so many times you can hear a guy rapping about Lindsay Lohan and Ryan Seacrest but it's not Pitbull's fault that his song is being played every 5 min on the radio making the song's repetition all that more noticeable.  Still, the song has Ne-Yo in it and I kind of like how he's a huge MJ mark and anything is better than California Gurls so let's call the 2011 summer song an upgrade over the 2010 edition.