"Summer" is a song by Scottish DJ

Calvin Harris Adam Richard Wiles (born 17 January 1984), known professionally as Calvin Harris (and sometimes under the stage name Love Regenerator), is a Scottish DJ, record producer, singer, and songwriter. His debut studio album, ''I Created Disco'' (2007 ...

, released on 14 March 2014 as the second single from his fourth studio album, ''

Motion In physics, motion is when an object changes its position with respect to a reference point in a given time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed, and frame of reference to an o ...

'' (2014). Like his earlier single " Feel So Close" and his later single "

My Way "My Way" is Paul Anka's English-language lyrical adaptation of the French song " Comme d'habitude", released by Frank Sinatra in 1969. The original song was written by Jacques Revaux, Gilles Thibaut, and Claude François, and was first recor ...

", Harris returns as a vocalist on "Summer". The accompanying music video was directed by

Emil Nava Emil William Capper Nava (born 29 March 1985) is a British music video director. After leaving school at 16, Emil started his career as a chef. He shot to fame after directing Jessie J's song " Do It Like A Dude". He has since directed over 1 ...

and premiered on 6 April 2014. The song debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Harris's sixth UK number-one single. It peaked at number seven on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming his second top ten hit as a lead artist and third overall, and had sold over a million copies in the United States within 4 months of its release. "Summer" has received nominations for British Single and British Artist Video of the Year at the

2015 Brit Awards Brit Awards 2015 was held on 25 February 2015. This was the 35th edition of the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The awards ceremony was held at The O2 Arena in London, presented by Ant & Dec. This was their second tim ...

Background

On 11 March 2014, Harris posted fifteen-second clips of the song on

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up until 14 March, when it was released digitally in certain territories and made its radio debut on Capital FM. "Summer" is composed in the key of

G major G major is a major scale based on G (musical note), G, with the pitches G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D (musical note), D, E (musical note), E, and F♯ (musical note), F. Its key signature has one sharp (music ...

and has a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 128

beats per minute Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of in ...

. It follows the

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural, or simply changes) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from ...

C–Em–D–Am–G/B–C. Harris'

vocal range Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of stud ...

spans from G₂ to G₄.

Critical reception

The song received mixed reviews. Lewis Corner of

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rated "Summer" three-and-a-half out of five stars, calling it "a bright and vibrant banger destined to soundtrack the warmer months". Jamieson Cox of ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine felt that the song "doesn't have much lyrical meat on its bones, but coming on the heels of one of the most severe winters in recent memory, listeners are likely hungry for anything that suggests a warmer, sunnier season. One of Harris' trademark gigantic synth hooks doesn't hurt its digestibility, either." Robbie Daw of

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viewed the track as "a shameless bid at nabbing an '

Umbrella An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is usually designed to protect a person against rain. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally used when protec ...

'/'

California Gurls "California Gurls" is a song by American singer Katy Perry from her third studio album, '' Teenage Dream'' (2010). It was released as the album's lead single on May 7, 2010, through Capitol Records. The song features rap verses from Snoop Dog ...

'/'

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'-like Song Of The Summer anthem". In September 2014, "Summer" was named the song of the summer by

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; it was the most listened-to track since June 2014 with more than 160 million plays. ''Time'' listed "Summer" as the fourth worst song of 2014.

Music video

The music video for "Summer" was directed by Emil Nava and premiered on 6 April 2014, with a cameo appearance by English actor

Jason Statham Jason Statham ( ; born 26 July 1967) is an English actor. He is known for portraying tough, gritty, or violent characters in various action thriller films, and has been credited for leading the resurgence of action films during the 2000s and 2 ...

Track listings

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2014 singles 2014 songs Calvin Harris songs Columbia Records singles Dutch Top 40 number-one singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Number-one singles in Finland Number-one singles in Russia Number-one singles in Scotland Song recordings produced by Calvin Harris Songs written by Calvin Harris UK singles chart number-one singles Electronic dance music songs