We hate to break it to you, but summer is nearly over.
Ideally, you’ve spent the last few months blasting good tunes by the pool or beach while working on your tan, or maybe with your windows rolled all the way down in the car. But alas, we’ve reached the final weeks of the summer season. The temperature is beginning to drop, the days are getting every so slightly shorter and before long, autumn will fully sink in — unless, of course, you live somewhere where the weather is more or less summer all year long, in which case, good for you.
For those of us facing the impending colder months, it’s time to shift gears, and to help do that, we’ve compiled a list of 40 End of Summer Songs.
“Maggie May,” Rod Stewart
From: Every Picture Tells a Story (1971)
The end of summer, for many people, also spells the beginning of the academic year, which Rod Stewart acknowledges in 1971’s “Maggie May,” the song that essentially made the singer a household name. “It’s late September and I really should be back at school.”
“Boys of Summer,” Don Henley
From: Building the Perfect Beast (1984)
Sometime in the early ’80s, Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers brought the song “Boys of Summer” to Petty for possible inclusion on their next album. Petty wound up turning it down, so Campbell passed it off to Don Henley, who added lyrics about driving by the empty beach, reminiscing about his sun-kissed lover.
“Urge for Going,” Joni Mitchell
From: 1972 B-Side
Not all summer loves are meant to last. Joni Mitchell wrote what is possibly the most poignant song about this. “I had me a man in summertime / He had summer-colored skin,” she sings in “Urge for Going,” but the cruel hands of time continue. “I’d like to call back summertime and have her stay for just another month or so / But she’s got the urge for going so I guess she’ll have to go.”
“Summer’s End,” John Prine
From: The Tree of Forgiveness (2018)
John Prine’s “Summer’s End” is made even more touching when one learns it was included on Prine’s last album before his passing in 2020. “Summer’s end is around the bend just flying,” he sings. “The swimming suits are on the line just drying / I’ll meet you there per our conversation.”
“The Last Day of Summer,” The Cure
From: Bloodflowers (2000)
The Cure isn’t exactly a happy-go-lucky, summertime band. It makes a lot more sense that they wrote a song about summer ending instead of having fun during it. “The last day of summer never felt so cold,” Robert Smith laments. “The last day of summer never felt so old.”
“September,” Earth, Wind and Fire
From: The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1 (1978)
Let’s make this perfectly clear: astronomically, summer does not officially end until the latter half of September when the autumnal equinox begins. This means that Sept. 21, the date mentioned in Earth, Wind & Fire’s 1978 hit “September,” is still a part of summer. So go ahead and keep blasting it.
“Wake Me Up When September Ends,” Green Day
From: American Idiot (2004)
When he was 10 years old, Billie Joe Armstrong’s father passed away in September of 1982 A little over 20 years later, Armstrong finally put some of those childhood feelings into the song “Wake Me Up When September Ends. “Summer has come and passed,” he sings at the top of the American Idiot track. “The innocent can never last / Wake me up when September ends.”
“Summer’s Almost Gone,” The Doors
From: Waiting for the Sun (1968)
Interestingly, the Doors’ “Summer’s Almost Gone” was a song the band had already made a demo of prior to guitarist Robby Krieger becoming a member of the group. As keyboardist Ray Manzarek would put it in 1997 box set liner notes, it was “a cool Latino-Bolero kind of thing with a Bach-like bridge. It’s about the ephemeral nature of life. A season of joy and light and laughter is coming to an end.”
“All Summer Long,” The Beach Boys
From: All Summer Long (1964)
The end of summer doesn’t have to mean the end of listening to the Beach Boys, but even they understand all good things must come to a conclusion at some point. After a few months of spilled Coca Cola, cut off shorts and miniature golf, it’s time to accept reality, this song emphasizes.
“We’re Going to Be Friends,” The White Stripes
From: White Blood Cells (2001)
Here’s another “end of summer” meets “back to school” song: “We’re Going to Be Friends” by the White Stripes. “Fall is here, hear the yell,” declares Jack White, painting a sweet, nostalgic portrait of school days gone by. (A fun fact: this was the very first White Stripes song to appear in a film, 2004’s Napoleon Dynamite.)
“The End of Summer,” Frank Black
From: Fast Man Raider Man (2006)
Leave it to Frank Black to write an awfully depressing end of summer song. “Save me, the end of the summer,” he sings in “The End of Summer” from his 2006 album Fast Man Raider Man. “Save me, I’m not feeling whole.”
“The Other Side of Summer,” Elvis Costello
From: Mighty Like a Rose (1991)
Another way of putting it: the other side of summer. “The arrangement is a pastiche of the Beach Boys after the fashion of the Beatles‘ ‘Back in the U.S.S.R.,’ Elvis Costello explained of this track in 2002 liner notes. “The words are a catalog of pop conceits, deceits, hypocrisies and delusions. I include myself in this parade of liars and dupes.”
“Summer Nights,” John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John
From: Grease: The Original Soundtrack From the Motion Picture (1978)
“Summer Nights” is sort of like the teenybopper version of Henley’s “Boys of Summers” — nothing but cute, warm-weather moments with your honey. “Summer days drifting away,” John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John sing together. At least they have the memories.
“Night Moves,” Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band
From: Night Moves (1976)
Bob Seger’s “Night Moves” was inspired by his adolescence in Ann Arbor, Michigan — a coming of age story of sorts in which a shy kid comes out of his shell bit by bit with the help of music. “Nobody has ever told about how it was to grow up in my neck of the woods,” Seger recalled thinking to himself just before writing the song, with its lines about “sweet summertime” and “autumn closing in.”
“Hot Fun in the Summertime,” Sly and the Family Stone
From: 1969 Single
Sure, Sly and the Family Stone’s “Hot Fun in the Summertime,” an enormous hit for the band, is an ode to warm-weather fun, but there’s also a few lines about the end of it all. “First of the fall / And then she goes back / Bye, bye, bye, bye there / Them summer days / Those summer days.”
“Summer Days,” Bob Dylan
From: Love and Theft (2001)
“Summer days and the summer nights are gone,” Bob Dylan declares in 2001’s “Summer Days,” a rockabilly-style tune. But fear not, he knows “a place where there’s still somethin’ going on.” And don’t miss the lines referencing The Great Gatsby, a story about summer extravagance if ever there was one.
“Summer’s Gone,” The Kinks
From: Word of Mouth (1984)
Turns out there’s quite a few songs about not only feeling sad that summer is over, but also about remembering happy summers from previous years. The Kinks’ “Summer’s Gone” is one of those. “When I think about what we wasted, makes me sad,” Ray Davies sings. “We never appreciated what we had.” Let this song be a lesson: savor every second of summer you can.
“Last Rose of Summer,” Judas Priest
From: Sin After Sin (1977)
Judas Priest singer Rob Halford appreciates the fact that 1977’s “Last Rose of Summer” can be interpreted different ways. “If you say to somebody, ‘the last rose of summer,’ that’s not only the changing of the seasons, but it could also be the changing of a relationship. It could be the completion of something,” he once explained to Songfacts. “It’s just got a multi-faceted opportunity, and I like it.”
“All Summer Long,” Kid Rock
From: Rock n Roll Jesus (2007)
If you have ever considered what Warren Zevon‘s “Werewolves of London,” Bob Seger’s “Night Moves” and Lynyrd Skynyrd‘s “Sweet Home Alabama” might sound like mashed together, Kid Rock already has you covered with his 2007 song “All Summer Long.” It is, to date, the biggest hit of his solo career.
“Indian Summer,” Al Stewart
From: Live/Indian Summer (1981)
Indian summers are becoming more and more common, periods of unseasonably warm and dry weather that carries over from summer into fall. It’s not entirely clear which part of the world Al Stewart is referring to in his 1981 song “Indian Summer,” but wherever it is, one can see the Northern Lights, the aerial phenomenon that begins to show itself at the end of August into the winter months.
“Summer Soft,” Stevie Wonder
From: Songs in the Key of Life (1976)
Here’s another song about the end of a summer love, snuffed out by autumn’s arrival. “Summer soft wakes you up with a kiss to start the morning off,” Stevie Wonder sings gently over a smooth groove. “But it breaks your heart in two when you find it’s October.”
“Come Monday,” Jimmy Buffett
From: Living and Dying in 3/4 Time (1974)
As previously noted, summer technically goes until the latter half of September, meaning Labor Day weekend isn’t really the end. And yet, it’s still awfully symbolic of the changing seasons, something Jimmy Buffett touched on in the first few lines of 1974’s “Come Monday,” one of his biggest hits — “Headin’ out to San Francisco / For the Labor Day weekend show.” Time to pack away the margarita supplies…
“Summer Is Over,” Dusty Springfield
From: 1964 Single
Well, the title of this 1964 single by Dusty Springfield sums it all up. “The grass that was green is now hay,” she sings, backed by an orchestral arrangement. Springfield wasn’t the only person to cover this song, originally written by Tom Springfield (her brother) and Clive Westlake, but her version went to the Top 10 in the U.K.
“I Didn’t Have Any Summer Romance,” Carole King
From: 1962 Single
While other people on this list are singing about a summer love who has left them, Carole King apparently never had one to begin with in 1962, the year she released “I Didn’t Have Any Summer Romance” as a B-side single. “No one could be as blue as I was in the fall,” she sings at the end. “‘Cause I didn’t have any summer romance at all.”
“End of the Summer,” New York Dolls
From: Dancing Backward in High Heels (2011)
“End of the Summer” is not only a song about the conclusion of a summer fling, written by David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain, it also serves as the very last track on the New York Dolls’ very last album, which certainly gives new meaning to lines like “regrets lose their luster in a carnival of time.”
“Indian Summer,” Poco
From: Indian Summer (1977)
“Indian Summer” is actually the title track to Poco’s 10th LP, released in 1977, so really it’s a whole album experience. But “Indian Summer” in particular is notable for being one of two tracks on the album that feature Donald Fagen of Steely Dan playing synthesizer.
“September Song,” Lou Reed
From: Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill (1985)
Lou Reed is not the only person to have covered the American standard “September Song” — Lindsey Buckingham did so in 1981, Jeff Lynne in 1990, etc. — but his version is especially memorable for Reed’s spoken word style of singing against an excellent arrangement. “These few golden days,” Reed says, “I’d like to spend them with you.”
“Nightswimming,” R.E.M.
From: Automatic for the People (1992)
R.E.M. might win for the most poignantly painted image of late August with 1993’s “Nightswimming,” an ode to those late summer evenings with a striking string arrangement by John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin. “Nightswimming, remembering that night,” Michael Stipe muses. “September’s coming soon.”
“Summer’s End,” Foo Fighters
From: Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (2007)
Like nearly all of the song’s on Foo Fighters’ 2007 album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, “Summer’s End” is a co-write between all four members of the band then: Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel and Chris Shiflett. Both Grohl and Hawkins are credited as adding piano to this track, while Drew Hester, a longtime collaborator of the band’s, provided the extra percussion.
“Flaming September,” Marianne Faithfull
From: A Secret Life (1995)
In 1995, Marianne Faithfull joined forces with the composer Angelo Badalamenti, not long after his work appeared in the American TV series Twin Peaks, for her 12th album, A Secret Life. This was a much more classically-based project than many of Faithfull’s previous albums, and tracks like “Flaming September” definitely have the mysterious touch of Badalamenti. “The summer dying,” Faithfull sings. “September lives in flames.”
“Waiting in the Weeds,” Eagles
From: Long Road Out of Eden (2007)
As a Los Angeles-born band, it’s hard to feel bad for Eagles considering it’s basically summer all the time in their neck of the woods. In any case, 2007’s “Waiting in the Weeds” highlights the idea of, well, waiting for someone or something that simply never arrives. “Another summer’s promise almost gone,” Don Henley sings. “And though I heard some wise man say / That every dog will have his day / He never mentioned that these dog days get so long.”
“U.S. Blues,” The Grateful Dead
From: From the Mars Hotel (1974)
The Grateful Dead’s “U.S. Blues” gives off a more patriotic than end-of-summer vibe, but there is that line about “summertime done, come and gone.” This song was a co-write between Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter, and the leading track to 1974’s From the Mars Hotel.
“(Only A) Summer Love,” REO Speedwagon
From: R.E.O. (1976)
What is it about warm weather romances never seeming to stretch into fall? Guitarist Gary Richrath penned REO Speedwagon’s “(Only A) Summer Love,” which appeared on their 1976 album R.E.O. “I guess it was only a summer love,” he sings. “Nothing too serious and nothing to last / I feel like a fool to be longing for that lyin’ summer love.”
“Famous Last Words,” Billy Joel
From: River of Dreams (1993)
“Famous Last Words,” the final track on Billy Joel’s last rock album, serves as something of a broader metaphor. In it, Joel describes the cleanup after the Labor Day parade, the remaining tourist souvenirs and the boat moorings being pulled up, all of which is traded for “the apples in the early fall.” It’s an accurate description of a seaside town winding down for the summer, but also for the closing of one chapter of Joel’s life, to be replaced by another.
“These Are the Days,” Van Morrison
From: Avalon Sunset (1989)
Hats off to Van Morrison for writing possibly the only song on this list about savoring summer while you can and living in the moment, instead of lamenting its inevitable conclusion. “These are the days that will last forever,” he insists. “You’ve got to hold them in your heart.”
“Footprints,” Squeeze
From: Babylon and On (1987)
What’s a summer without some great parties? Certainly Squeeze would agree with that sentiment, having penned 1987’s “Footprints” about spending too much money and doing “much damage deep in our insides” — we’ve all been there. “Now the summer is over I can count the cost,” Glenn Tilbrook admits. “Footprints on the beaches are now footprints in the frost.”
“We Just Got Here,” Carly Simon
From: Have You Seen Me Lately (1990)
“The beach is a haze and old love’s a ghost,” Carly Simon sings in “We Just Got Here,” conjuring up an image of an empty strand of sand that once hosted people in swimsuits and sunscreen. Now come the signs of fall, arriving just as quickly as summer left. “The apples are ripe and the corn is past / Everyone says summer goes by so fast / And we just got here.”
“Leaves That Are Green,” Simon and Garfunkel
From: Sounds of Silence (1966)
Arguably one of the most beautiful signs of the end of summer is the shift in color the leaves undergo, from a lush green to red, orange, yellow, brown and much in between. This is the metaphor Paul Simon adopted for “Leaves That Are Green,” which fade to brown and “crumble in your hand” like the love he once had for a girl.
“Kingdom of Days,” Bruce Springsteen
From: Working on a Dream (2009)
Oftentimes in his songs, Bruce Springsteen explores the uglier sides of love. But not in “Kingdom of Days” from 2009’s Working on a Dream. “I don’t see the summer as it wanes,” he says to his loved one, “just a subtle change of light upon your face.” Actually, the lyrics seem to emphasize, there’s something especially romantic about this time of year: “My jacket ’round your shoulders, the falling leaves / The wet grass on our backs as the autumn breeze drifts through the trees.”
“Time of No Reply,” Nick Drake
From: Time of No Reply (1987)
The song “Time of No Reply” by Nick Drake was released in 1987, over a decade after his death at the age of 26 in 1974. Drake has become posthumously famous for his wise-beyond-his-years lyricism and enigmatic songwriting. “Time of No Reply” sees him noting the sort of liminal space just before summer fully ends and fall begins — “Summer was gone and the heat died down / And Autumn reached for her golden crown.”
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