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3. Silver Jews: “People”
“It’s sunny and 75, it feels so good just being alive,” sings the late, great poet and songwriter David Berman on this standout from “American Water,” the 1998 album by his band the Silver Jews. This song is, admittedly, about a lot of other things too, but it’s always my personal soundtrack for those early and enlivening good weather days: “Come on, baby, don’t stay inside — everybody’s coming out tonight.”
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4. Roy Ayers Ubiquity: “Everybody Loves the Sunshine”
From Roy Ayers and his group’s luminous 1976 album of the same name, this song is an immaculate vibe, guided by one long, sustained synth note that warms the rest of the track like a beam of light.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
5. The Velvet Underground: “Who Loves the Sun”
The occasional V.U. vocalist Doug Yule claims not to worship the sun (“who cares what it does since you broke my heart?”) on this opening track from the band’s 1970 album, “Loaded,” though the galloping beat and cheerful harmonies suggest otherwise.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
6. Harry Styles: “Daylight”
Similarly, Harry Styles curses the daylight on this dreamy highlight from the 2022 juggernaut “Harry’s House,” but the song itself is as bright and warm as a spring day. “If I was a bluebird,” Styles sings, “I would fly to you.” Not quite the sentiment one expects from someone pining for the nighttime.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
7. Herbie Hancock: “Sunlight”
The jazz great Hancock used a Sennheiser VSM-201 vocoder all throughout his 1978 album “Sunlight” to convey radiance and luminosity, as heard on this funky title track.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
8. Dum Dum Girls: “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out”
Another fun and spirited cover of a familiar favorite, this 2011 rendition of a gloomy Smiths anthem offers a fleeting dream of eternal sunshine.
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