July may be coming to an end and Walmart may have school supplies well stocked, but the Oklahoma summer is far from over. With highs being expected to creep into the temperature of Satan’s armpit this week, we are reminded that we have at least 8-12 more weeks of sweat-drenching, clothes-sticking summertime, followed by two weeks of fall and then winter. So to make the rest of the season at least a little more enjoyable, I have complied a playlist of the best songs by Oklahoma musicians to pair with Oklahomans’ favorite summer activities. You’re welcome.
How do you like me now?
“How do you like me now” is a classic Toby Keith song featuring the Bob Dylanesque lyrics, “I only wanted to get your attention, but you over looked me somehow.” This is the perfect song for rolling in a little too hot with your Ford F250 into the Sonic parking lot off of main drag on a Friday night while wearing a Hooey cap and flaunting the last $72 of your Schlumberger paycheck.
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The last one to know
With heart-wrenching lyrics like, “But I believed you really loved me, why can't I believe you've said goodbye,” let our Blessed Mother Reba McEntire sooth your aching heart when you move back to your hometown for the summer after your freshman year in Stillwater and find out on Instagram that your long distance college boyfriend has also moved… onto at least 3 other girls.
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She don’t use jelly
This song by The Flaming Lips is best for standing outside of some hipster joint in Paseo on a smoke break between craft brews while wearing flannel and a beanie, despite the 90-something degree weather, and hoping your Tinder date doesn’t call out your bullshit as you try to intellectualize song lyrics such as, “I know a girl who thinks of ghosts, she'll make ya breakfast, she'll make ya toast.”
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Save me
Only Hinder’s wordsmithing could bring us stanzas such as, “I've cut my demons loose. Get out of my face, I don't need you to save me.” This song is best listened to while flexing in your parents’ bathroom mirror in a way that shows off both your Monster Energy Drink logo tattoo and the illusion of a defined bicep as you take a picture to send to the chick you’re trying to convince to join you at the Norma Jean concert this Wednesday at the Diamond Ballroom.
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Boys from Oklahoma
Back in the summer of 1999 Cross Canadian Ragweed gave us the chorus, “Them boys from Oklahoma roll their joints all wrong. They're too damn skinny or way too long.” For some reason this is still the anthem of all 27 to 45-year-olds in bandanas and cutoff t-shirts out on any Oklahoma lake on any given weekend between Memorial Day and Labor Day. The only difference now is that they use vapes, so you know they probably really would roll their joints all wrong.
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Dirty Little Secret
With whimsical and suggestive lyrics by The All-American Rejects like, “I'll keep you my dirty little secret. Don't tell anyone, or you'll be just another regret,” this song is best listened to at a modest volume 8 in your Suburban as you reminisce about the youthful optimism and vitality of your senior year in high school and try to block out the squeals and screams of the 3-5 children under the age of 10 you are currently hauling to White Water Bay.
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Use Somebody
In this Kings of Leon song, the chorus begs, “You know that I could use somebody,” eight goddang times. This song is usually listened to when you are laying belly down on the couch recovering from a blistering sunburn because you don’t have the strength to withstand the pain it would take to reach over to the coffee table to hit “skip” on Spotify.
Hayley doesn’t understand the hoopla associated with Kings of Leon. Follow her on twitter @squirrellygeek
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