50 Songs for August

August: the last full month of summer. After that it’s back to school and the return of things like scarves and jackets.

But August still has lots to offer — long hours of daylight, beach day weather and one of the best periods of the whole year for stargazing.

So before you start back-to-school shopping or tracking down your autumn boots, we present you 50 Songs for August, each with a reference to the month in their lyrics.

1. “The First Day in August,” Carole King

From: Rhymes & Reasons (1972)

“On the first day in August / I want to wake up by your side / After sleeping with you / On the last night in July.”

2. “Cold Wind in August,” Van Morrison

From: A Period of Transition (1977)

“It was a cold wind in August / Shivers up and down my spine / And I was standing in your garden / In the California pine.”

3. “August October,” Robin Gibb

From: Robin’s Reign (1970)

“In August October the grass grew / The sky was blue and I want you.”

4. “August 7, 2:15,” Jon Bon Jovi

From: Destination Anywhere (1997)

“Tell me it was just a dream / August 7, 4:15 / God closed His eyes / And the world got mean / August 7, 4:15.”

5. “August Day,” Hall & Oates

From: Along the Red Ledge (1978)

“And the sky colored heavy gray / August day.”

6. “Stuck in the August Rain,” Jethro Tull

From: Roots to Branches (1995)

“Brings jasmine tea on a painted tray / And bends to kiss my frown away / But I’m still still stuck in the August rain / Stuck out in the cloudburst once again.”

7. “August,” Love

From: Four Sail (1969)

“I said August is all that I know / It’s with me where ever I go / It’s with me when I need a friend / It brings me good weather / It keeps me together / It picks me up when I’m down.”

8. “Blueberries for Breakfast,” The Mamas and the Papas

From: People Like Us (1971)

“Blueberries for breakfast / Love in the afternoon / Butterflies in my trousers / Under the August moon.”

9. “Spirit of America,” The Beach Boys

From: Little Deuce Coupe (1963)

“With a J-47, a jet for his power / Craig Breedlove had averaged four-o-seven per hour / Both man and machine had given fair warn’ / They’d set a new record on that warm August morn’.”

10. “Cool an’ Green an’ Shady,” John Denver

From: Back Home Again (1974)

“August skies are lullabies, promises to keep / Dandelions and twisting vines, clover at your feet / Memories of aspen leaves trembling on the wind / Honeybees and fantasies, where to start again? / Some place cool an’, green, an’ shady.”

11. “Bus Stop,” The Hollies

From: Bus Stop (1966)

“All that summer, we enjoyed it / Wind and rain and shine / And that umbrella, we employed it / By August, she was mine.”

12. “August Winds,” Sting

From: The Last Ship (2013)

“When August winds are turning / The fishing boats set out upon the sea / I watch ’til they sail out of sight / The winter follows soon / I watch them drawn into the night / Beneath the August moon.”

13. “St. Elmo’s Fire,” Brian Eno

From: Another Green World (1975)

“Brown Eyes and I were tired / We had walked and we had scrambled / Through the moors and through the briars / Through the endless blue meanders / In the blue August moon / In the cool August moon.”

14. “Friday Night, August 14th,” Funkadelic

From: Free Your Mind… and Your Ass Will Follow (1970)

“I know that I probably should not / Matter of fact I probably could not / Buy all the good time meant for me / Friday night, August the 14th.”

15. “Told You Once in August,” Dion

From: Blues With Friends (2020)

“Well I told you once in August / Told you once in May / Well don’t say I didn’t warn you now, child / Don’t say you got no say.”

16. “Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show,” Neil Diamond

From: Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show (1969)

“Hot August night and the leaves hanging down / And the grass on the ground smelling sweet / Move up the road to the outside of town / And the sound of that good gospel beat.”

17. “Endless Highway,” The Band

From: To Kingdom Come: The Definitive Collection (1989)

“When ya get half crazy from the August heat / Or on a frozen, rotted road / With no one to complain to about your achin’ feet.”

18. “Who Killed Marilyn?,” Glenn Danzig 

From: 1981 Single

“5:25, August 5th, 1962 / Found her lying on her chest / Her face all turning blue / You think it was an overdose? / But could it have been the pack? / Could it have been the Kennedys? / Was it LAPD?”

19. “Rainmaker,” Harry Nilsson

From: Harry (1969)

“First day in August / The last rain was in May / When the rainmaker came to Kansas / In the middle of a dusty day.”

20. “The Analog Kid,” Rush

From: Signals (1982)

“A hot and windy August afternoon / Has the trees in constant motion / With a flash of silver leaves / As they’re rocking in the breeze.”

21. “Picture Book,” The Kinks

From: The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (1968)

“Picture book, a holiday in August / Outside a bed and breakfast / In sunny Southend.”

22. “August and Everything After,” The Counting Crows

From: 2019 Single

“You look into her eyes / And it’s more than your heart will allow / In August and everything after / You get a little less than you expected somehow.”

23. “Manhattan Project,” Rush

From: Power Windows (1985)

“Imagine a man / When it all began / The pilot of ‘Enola Gay’ / Flying out of the shockwave / On that August day / All the powers that be / And the course of history/ Would be changed for evermore.

24. “The 33rd of August,” Joan Baez

From: Blessed Are… (1971)

“Its the 33rd of August and I’m finally touching down / Eight days from Sunday finds me Saturday bound.”

25. “Sure Don’t Feel Like Love,” Paul Simon

From: Surprise (2006)

“I remember once in August 1983 / I was wrong, and I could be wrong again / I remember one of my best friends turned enemy.”

26. “Zero and Blind Terry,” Bruce Springsteen

From: Tracks (1998)

“Old timers cry on a hot August night / If you look hard enough, if you try / You’ll catch Zero and Terry and all the Pythons.”

27. “Magna of Illusion,” Blue Oyster Cult

From: Imaginos (1988)

“August the first 1893 / The charmed ship Plutonia / Sailed like a ray into Cornwall / And none too soon it seems.”

28. “Frogs,” Alice in Chains

From: Alice in Chains (1995)

“At 7:00 a.m. / On a Tuesday in August / Next week, I’ll be 28 / I’m still young, it’ll be me.”

29. “The Wild Boys,” Duran Duran

From: Arena (1984)

“The wild boys are calling / On their way back from the fire / In August moon’s surrender to / A dust cloud on the rise.”

30. “Wind of Change,” Scorpions

From: Crazy World (1990)

“An August summer night / Soldiers passing by / Listening to the wind of change.”

31. “High Summer,” Van Morrison

From: Back on Top (1999)

“Thank God the dark nights are drawing in again / ‘Cause high summer has got me down / I’ll wait till the end of August / And get off this merry-go-round.”

32. “Days Between,” The Grateful Dead

From: So Many Roads (1965–1995) (1999)

“There were days and there were days / and there were days between / Summer flies and August dies / and the world grows dark and mean.”

33. “Inside and Out,” Genesis

From: Spot the Pigeon (1977)

“It’s 20 years now since our Kid came free / Oh I remember August ’53 / But it wasn’t quite like they said / With that behind you, you can’t plan ahead.”

34. “Last Rose of Summer,” Judas Priest

From: Sin After Sin (1977)

“Throughout the soft and timeless days of August / ‘Til now the shadows begin to grow much longer / The sunset’s fire has deepened blood red / I give you this, the last rose of summer.”

35. “Mexican Home,” John Prine

From: Sweet Revenge (1973)

“My father died on the porch outside / On an August afternoon / I sipped bourbon and cried / With a friend by the light of the moon.”

36. “Deadbeat Holiday,” Green Day

From: Warning (2000)

“Christmas lights in the middle of August / Grudges come back to haunt us / Your oldest allies are your long lost enemies.”

37. “Randolph Street,” Bruce Springsteen

From: Not Officially Released

“It was early on an August day / That the lady decided she too must go away / Her heart it seems could not pay / The price for what her body was buying.”

38. “Catch That Train,” America

From: Alibi (1980)

“The silver clouds in August / Lover’s names on trees / Imagine running water / You wadin’ in knee deep.”

39. “8.6.82,” Beck

From: Stereopathetic Soulmanure (1994)

“It’s August 6th, 1982, and uhh we were jamming over at the house / My pants caught on fire, we were smoking a lot of whiskey and uhh chicken.”

40. “Miracle,” The Moody Blues

From: Sur la Mer (1988)

“I left the city on a wave of despair / Just to stand on my own / On an August night / From the valley of broken hearts / Gonna make a new start in September.”

41. “Dog Days,” Atlanta Rhythm Section

From: Dog Days (1975)

“Babies squalled as August crawled / Past old folks in the shade / The weather vane was stuck / And white oak creek would drop / When dog days came around.”

42. “Waiting in the Weeds,” Eagles

From: Long Road Out of Eden (2007)

“It’s coming on the end of August / Another summer’s promise almost gone / 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.”

43. “No Spoken Word,” Stevie Nicks

From: Rock a Little (1985)

“I was just that old / That August dark, dark day / Swear that you never saw her face / Swear that you never heard her say / No spoken word.”

44. “You Don’t Need a Million Dollars,” Joe Cocker

From: Fire It Up (2012)

“You don’t need all of your problems / To melt away like chocolate candies / In your passenger seat on a hot August day.”

45. “Never Say Die,” Jon Bon Jovi

From: Blaze of Glory (1990)

“We were as still as the wind / That blows on a hot August night / And you were lonesome as a jukebox / But deadly just the same.”

46. “When I’ve Five,” David Bowie

From: Love You till Tuesday (1984 Film Soundtrack)

“Yesterday was horrid day, ’cause Raymond kicked my shin / And mummy says if I am good, she’ll let me go to school in August.”

47. “Every Time I Hear That Train,” Poco

From: Running Horse (2002)

“And the place where you loved me / There on the sand / On a hot night in August / Where it all began.”

48. “August Was a Heavy Month,” Bob Geldof

From: Deep in the Heart of Nowhere (1986)

“Baby Blue picks up her life tonight / And rushes for the Chelsea train / All the stars shine down on her tonight / And August was a heavy month.”

49. “Strutton Ground,” Steve Hackett

From: To Watch the Storms (2003)

“Leaving Strutton Ground / Through Mermaid Street / To the World’s End / Through the Avenue of the 18th day / By an August moon.”

50. “Girls Who Smoke,” Drive-By Truckers

From: The Big To-Do (2010)

“It’s August and freezing, the headliner’s cheesy / The Port-O-Potty’s are shaking and wheezing / The catering sucks and vendors blow / It’s the middle of the afternoon / Drink like its midnight, time for the show.”