The Best Summer Songs, Ranked
Rank the ultimate summer songs head-to-head, Summer of '69 vs Cruel Summer and more, then see which song the community crowns song of summer. Early results (n = 14): too few finished brackets to call a leader yet. Your first pick is right here. No sign-up.
Size
Watermelon SugarHarry Styles
The Boys of SummerDon Henley
Tap a poster to make your pick. Crowd numbers appear after you choose.
Rank all 24: the song sorter, about 81 picks for your full order, 1 to 24. All 24: a bracket, 23 picks, with tied places.
Summer Songs: early results
Early results (n = 14). Win rate across 266 head-to-head picks from 14 finished brackets. n is the number of matchups behind each win rate; only entrants with 30 or more are listed.
| # | Summer song | W–L | Win rate | vs .500 | Titles | n |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20–11 | 64.5% | 1 | 31 | ||
| 2 | 18–12 | 60% | 1 | 30 | ||
| 3 | 18–13 | 58.1% | 1 | 31 |
Summer Songs: an early tier list
Early results (n = 14) Too few finished brackets to call yet; the tiers settle as more people play. Placed by win rate, steadied toward 50% for entrants with few matchups: S is 75% or more, A 60%, B 50%, C 40%, D 25%.
Stier, win rate 75% or more
- Nobody yet
Atier, win rate 60% or more
- Good Vibrations
- Africa
Btier, win rate 50% or more
- Party in the U.S.A.
- Walking on Sunshine
- Espresso
- Hot in Herre
- California Gurls
- Summer of '69
- Island in the Sun
- Surfin' U.S.A.
- + 3 more
Ctier, win rate 40% or more
- Cruel Summer
- Watermelon Sugar
- Dancing in the Moonlight
- The Boys of Summer
- Steal My Sunshine
- One Dance
Dtier, win rate 25% or more
- Hot Girl Summer
- Kokomo
- Summertime
- Summertime Magic
- In the Summertime
Ftier, win rate 0% or more
- Nobody yet
How the Summer Songs bracket works
This summer song ranking is played, not dragged into rows. You get one matchup at a time — Summertime Magic or California Gurls? Cruel Summer or Summer of '69? — and after 15 picks the bracket has a champion, with everything else placed by how far it got. The awkward pairings are the point: they are the calls a drag-and-drop tier list quietly lets you avoid.
This bracket runs 4 rounds at the default 16-slot size (Round of 16, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Final), drawn from a pool of 24 songs. The draw is seeded: the same for everyone today, different tomorrow, and different again whenever you press New draw. You can also play it at 8 or 24 slots for a shorter or longer run.
15 picks, 4 rounds
- Round of 168 matchups
- Quarterfinals4 matchups
- Semifinals2 matchups
- Final1 matchup
Roughly 1-2 minutes start to finish at the default size.
All 24 entrants
All 24 entrants are listed below, including Summertime Magic, California Gurls, Cruel Summer and Summer of '69. Updated
- Summertime MagicChildish GambinoListen on Apple Music
- California GurlsKaty PerryListen on Apple Music
- Cruel SummerTaylor SwiftListen on Apple Music
- Summer of '69Bryan AdamsListen on Apple Music
- Hot Girl SummerMegan Thee StallionListen on Apple Music
- Watermelon SugarHarry StylesListen on Apple Music
- The Boys of SummerDon HenleyListen on Apple Music
- Surfin' U.S.A.The Beach BoysListen on Apple Music
- SummertimeDJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh PrinceListen on Apple Music
- Blinding LightsThe WeekndListen on Apple Music
- Party in the U.S.A.Miley CyrusListen on Apple Music
- Good VibrationsThe Beach BoysListen on Apple Music
- KokomoThe Beach BoysListen on Apple Music
- Hot in HerreNellyListen on Apple Music
- In the SummertimeMungo JerryListen on Apple Music
- Steal My SunshineLenListen on Apple Music
- Dancing in the MoonlightKing HarvestListen on Apple Music
- Walking on SunshineKatrina and the WavesListen on Apple Music
- Lovely DayBill WithersListen on Apple Music
- Island in the SunWeezerListen on Apple Music
- One DanceDrakeListen on Apple Music
- EspressoSabrina CarpenterListen on Apple Music
- LevitatingDua LipaListen on Apple Music
- AfricaTotoListen on Apple Music
Tier list instead?
Load all 24 into the tier list maker and sort them into S through F yourself: same entrants, no matchups.
Open the tier list makerMissing something?
Build your own summer song bracket with exactly the entrants you want, then share the link.
Open the bracket makerGetting a ranking you actually agree with
- Go with the one you would rather hear right now — instant reaction beats a considered take.
- Start at 16 slots. If the result feels too obvious, replay at 24 so more of the 24 songs make the field.
- Use undo the moment you regret a pick. One reflex answer in an early round can knock out a favourite before it gets going.
Questions people ask
How many songs are in the Summer Songs bracket?
The pool holds 24 songs. A default run uses 16 of them and takes 15 picks across 4 rounds: Round of 16, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, Final. Other field sizes are available too — 8, 16, 24 slots.
Which songs are included?
Summertime Magic, California Gurls, Cruel Summer, Summer of '69, Hot Girl Summer, Watermelon Sugar, The Boys of Summer, Surfin' U.S.A., Summertime, Blinding Lights, Party in the U.S.A. and Good Vibrations, plus 12 more. Every entrant is listed further down this page with its artwork.
How long does the Summer Songs bracket take?
About 1-2 minutes — 15 choices at the default size, or 7 if you drop to an 8-slot bracket. There is no sign-up, and your progress is saved on this device after every pick.
Is this a summer songs tier list or a ranking?
Both are here, and the bracket is closer to a tier list than it looks. It ends with a champion, a runner-up and then every other song grouped by the round it went out in — which is exactly a set of tiers, decided by 15 direct comparisons rather than by your first guess at a layout. What it deliberately does not do is claim a precise gap between two songs that never met. If you would rather place the songs into S through F rows yourself, the tier list maker loads all 24 of them at bracketranker.com/tier-list-maker.
Is there a community summer songs ranking?
Every completed bracket feeds the Summer Songs community results page, which aggregates win rates across all plays and tracks how often each of the 24 entrants takes the title. It updates continuously, so it moves as more people play.
Can I change which songs are included?
Use the bracket maker: add your own songs, name it, and share the link so other people play the same field. That is the route to take when this pool of 24 is missing something you would have picked, or when you want a version scoped to one era, label or franchise.