Songs on Repeat: The Summer Selections of Four Wellesley Faculty

For K. E. Goldschmitt, assistant professor of music, songs of the summer are fun songs that capture the spirit of the season, ones that stick, becoming earworms that stay with us.

Here, four of Wellesley’s faculty share what songs have been on repeat for them this summer. You can listen to their summer picks, ranging from Megan Thee Stallion herself to German composer Robert Schumann and others, on this Spotify playlist.

Beth DeSombre, Camilla Chandler Frost Professor of Environmental Studies: I recently heard the Grace Pettis song “Landon” and can’t get it out of my mind. It’s a beautiful and powerful song. I’m in awe of the songcraft here, but it’s also just an amazing song that says important things. My friend Erin Ash Sullivan’s new CD just came out, We Can Hear Each Other (which was number ten on the folk Erin Ash Sullivan–New England Singer-Songwriter charts in June!), and I can’t pick a favorite song from it, but shortlisted are “Radio Show” and “Ducks in a Row.” Erin paints beautiful pictures in words and music and spins evocative stories of the complexities of a simple life.

Liseli Fitzpatrick, visiting lecturer in Africana studies: Music is timeless and endless. Thus it isn’t very easy for me to narrow down my playlist, but here goes: “Deserve” by Kenny Lattimore, “The Light” by Common, “In the Summertime” by Rayvon and Shaggy, “Water” by Beyonce, “As” by Stevie Wonder, India Arie’s “A Beautiful Day,” “Lockdown” by Koffee and “Be Good” by Gregory Porter 

Richard G. French, Louise Sherwood McDowell and Sarah Frances Whiting Professor of Astrophysics; professor of astronomy: I’ve been listening to some of my favorite German art songs, and one of my favorite short songs is from Robert Schumann's Dichterliebe song cycle: “Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen,” roughly translated as “One Bright Summer Morning.” There is a lovely performance on YouTube; I especially like the piano accompaniment to this deceptively simple-sounding song.

K. E. Goldschmitt, assistant professor of music: This year, my songs of the summer are “Montero” by Lil Nas X and “Girl from Rio” by Anitta (feat. DaBaby). “Girl from Rio” is related to my research and is also super catchy due, in part, to being based on the famous bossa nova standard, “Girl from Ipanema.” If you were to ask me about less globally popular music that I can’t stop listening to, my top choice is Michael Mayo’s “You and You.” I also really like the new Lorde track, “Solar Power.” It sounds like it’s very deliberate as a song of summer to encourage everyone to get outside.