August winds up being a month a lot of people dread. It signals the end of summer, which means kids have to go back to school and that cold weather is on the way. For many, it also signals the end of summer flings that just aren’t going to last. In this article, we’ll tackle the 21 best songs out there about August.
1. august – Taylor Swift
There probably isn’t an artist out there better at capturing the end of relationships than Taylor Swift. The track august is yet another—sort of—break-up song from the queen of them, symbolizing the end of a summer fling exactly the way August signals the end of summer as a whole.
It’s a story continued from her track Betty, reflecting on the internal struggle between her interest in a guy and her friendship with the girl he’s committed to already. While it is inspired by actual events in her life—as almost all of her songs are—this one sums up the story with fictional characters and a good bit of created emotions.
Recommended: Top Taylor Swift songs about exes
2. This August Day – Saint Asonia
This August Day is a very personal song for Saint Asonia. It refers to the birth of their vocalist’s son, an auspicious day that the father in question was apparently absent. Due to being in rehab for substance abuse, he couldn’t be with his family when his son came into the world.
Overall, the track depicts his regrets, feelings of sadness for missing it, and his determination to become a better version of himself going forward so that he can always be present for the important parts of life. And while the song is pained, a glimmer of hope is wedged into it, as the singer is thankful for finally being able to see the right path due to those obstacles in life.
3. Cold Wind In August – Van Morrison
For me, August is one of the hottest months of the year, but for a lot of people, cold breezes blow through that announce that fall is on the way. Cold Wind In August by Van Morrison plays on that impending cooling and likens it to an ending relationship that the singer desperately wants to cling to. While it is inevitably not meant to last, they still have one final hot streak before they begin to cool off one another.
4. August 7, 4:15 – Bon Jovi
The title of this song is incredibly specific, so listeners should know a significant event that happened on this date and time in Bon Jovi’s life. August 7, 4:15 was dedicated to his personal manager’s daughter. The child apparently went to get the mail and went for a walk but never came home. The date and time in the song are the exact moment the family got a letter notifying them of the daughter’s fate. It’s a very sad track, and the grief and pain of the family are palpable in the delivery of the lyrics.
5. The First Day in August – Carole King
The First Day Of August might be the most joyous song on this list. While vividly describing the natural world around her, Carole King is bursting with happiness for being next to the man she loves. The point of the track is that she wants to spend the first day of August with her lover, even after spending the last day of July with him. She’s so happy and in love, she doesn’t want them to spend a moment apart, and the song is her way of saying she wants them to stay together all the time.
6. August – No Vacation
August is the end of summer, which for a lot of people is the end of the good times they’ve had when school is out or work isn’t as tough. The last days of summer often see big summer blowouts and large parties to send off the season before people are forced back to the grind.
August by No Vacation is evocative of those feelings, remembering the summer days of her past as the good old days but feeling stressed now that life is taking her full attention. It’s a nostalgic song that yearns for the glory days but contains kernels of regret and a wish to return to the way things once were.
7. Stuck in the August Rain – Jethro Tull
Even if everything is going right in your life, you can still feel unhappy. No matter the support you get, the progress you make, or how well things are turning out, sadness can still haunt you. But the part of that sadness during happy times that is the worst is the guilt that comes with it. Stuck In The August Rain captures that feeling. The narrator feels guilty that he can’t just wipe away his sadness despite having a loving woman and everything going for him.
8. Dear August – Noah Cyrus And PJ Harding
August can symbolize a lot of things to a lot of different people. For some, it’s a time when they remember a heartache, while for others, they fondly think of the fun times they had during the summer. Dear August sees Noah Cyrus and PJ Harding asking each other what the month means to them.
Whether it be true love, going on an adventure, or overcoming obstacles, the months symbolizes plenty of things to the duo. The thing they have in common is the wasted relationships that seemingly always end around that time of year, something they can bond over and hopefully will be able to move past in the future.
9. The Thirty Third of August – Waylon Jennings
August may only have 31 days, but that doesn’t stop Waylon Jennings from breaking out his songwriter’s cap to create several almost nonsensical timelines for his downtrodden lifestyle. He finds himself facing criminal charges, and on the way to jail, he searches his soul for any scrap of good in it. Thankfully, he finds some and defeats the demons that plague his mind, but I don’t think those revelations will keep him out of a cell for long.
10. August in Bethany – The Juliana Theory
Ah, young love. August In Bethany puts the sad aspects of young love on display for the world to see. It describes a scene revolving around a young couple who are separating. They sit near a beach and discuss their—nonexistent—future together, both understanding that ending things is for the best. It’s very evocative of a summer fling, and despite the two being sad, neither is painted as the bad guy in the scenario the song covers.
11. August Day – Hall & Oates
August is a month that can feel a little stale. It’s not known for its breezes, and for me, it’s mostly known for being hot and muggy. But stagnation can leave you wondering what’s coming next. Hall & Oates produced August Day to reflect those feelings when a relationship is involved. The narrator doesn’t know where they stand with their partner, but they know something bad is headed down the pipe to them. Despite the awkwardness and feeling of impending strife, they want to love their partner just as much as ever.
12. Home In August – Pierce Fulton
This might be the easiest song to learn on the entire list. The lyrics for Home In August simply repeat the line “Are you in? Are you out?” over and over again. It’s obvious that a big decision is about to be made, however, what that decision revolves around isn’t discussed at any point in the track. It seems that the narrator is questioning someone to figure out how they feel about something, which is a lame description of the song, but an accurate one.
13. August October – Robin Gibb
Relationships gone sour can sometimes erode times of the year for people. Just knowing when it went bad can ruin a month or season for some people. Robin Gibb can relate to those feelings well, writing August October to commemorate his feelings of sadness during that time of the year.
It’s mostly talking about a past love and how it slipped away. Though time keeps passing on as if nothing happened, he remembers it every year during that period. It’s more of a melancholy and reflective song than just a sad one, holding out a little hope for the future when he can get through those months without remembering.
14. August is Over – We The Kings
August ending is bad news for most people. Kids have to go back to school soon after, Fall is coming and summer weather is on its way out. In August Is Over, We The Kings discuss a summer love that is inevitably about to end. They want to remain together and try to ask the other party to do so, but they are rebuffed as the two live far apart from each other. The song doesn’t paint either in a bad light and they had no issues; they just weren’t meant to be. This gives the track an extra level of sadness and a what-if factor that’s hard to replicate.
15. August – Julia Nunes
August by Julia Nunes is very much like the Carole King song we covered earlier on the list. It sees a narrator very in love and singing about having the perfect time with them.
16. August Song – Roommate
August Song by Roomate is one of the most complex pop tracks out there. It’s an experimental pop single from the group’s 2011 Guilty Rainbow album that has a little bit of something for everyone in it.
17. August Holland – Beirut
August Holland by Beirut is another reflective song that highlights the end of a relationship. The narrator sits and watches a sunrise while thinking about their past love and resolves to open an exciting new chapter in their life. It mainly repeats that they wish to be with that person again, but there isn’t a lot of hope in the track that it will happen.
18. August – Rilo Kiley
Just as summer flings tend to die in August, so too can the month be personified as an untrustworthy person. Rilo Kiley does exactly this, painting the month of August as an indecisive person who is full of empty promises. The whole personification of the month is a metaphorical breakdown of broken promises and summer love, two things the month is emblematic of that bring the entire thing full circle.
19. August Moon – Sara Bareilles
If you’re in need of a good breakup song, this is probably the one for you on this list. August Moon tells a very true and very emotional story from Sara Bareilles’ life. It revolves around the time she walked in on her boyfriend cheating on her and was a feature of her DVD Between The Lines: Live At The Fillmore.
20. August Day Song – Bebel Gilberto
Few tracks capture the cozy feeling of curling up with a partner during a rainstorm while also being energetic and fun. August Day Song by Bebel Gilberto is a gentle bossa nova track that will have you longing for a good cuddle with your partner as the rain comes down on the roof. While the narrator wants to be with her partner, she is stuck reflecting on her loneliness in solitude. As she sits, she dreams of going places and distracting herself from those feelings, at least until she and her love can reunite once again.
21. August Town – Duane Stephenson
August Town is named after the neighborhood in Kingston, Jamaica, that Duane Stephenson grew up in, so not exactly about the month of August. The song is a bit of a reflection on his childhood there, the choices that he made, and how hard it was to survive. He goes on to seek forgiveness for the sins he committed and warns us to stick close to our family, friends, and God.
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As a contributing writer for Music Grotto, Dakotah writes and produces professional music/media content. He works closely with editorial staff to meet editorial standards and create
quality content for the Music Grotto website. Dakotah is passionate about music in a wide variety of genres, from hip-hop to country and lo-fi to metal, and he enjoys creating music pieces for Music Grotto.