What will be 2024’s song of the summer?

Once, in the days of monoculture and listening to the radio, there was usually an obvious song of the summer; one that completely took over the airwaves and set a mood in spaces both public and private. There’s no argument that 2003 was the summer of Beyoncé’s “Crazy In Love,” or that “Call Me Maybe” ran summer 2012. Heck, even as recently as 2019, Lil Nas X had a huge breakthrough with the record-breaking “Old Town Road.”

But, in the streaming age, the idea of a single huge hit to define a season is becoming harder and harder to obtain. Was 2022 actually the summer of Harry Styles’ “As It Was,” or did it belong to Kate Bush when Stranger Things introduced Gen Z to “Running Up That Hill”? Does it really matter?

Well, no, but it is a fun thing to argue about. Here, some A.V. Club staffers run through the contenders for this year’s song of the summer. Some are obvious, some are long shots, but all of them bring some heat to the table.

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