Our poll teed up a stiff competition between artists like Lorde, Justin Bieber, Drake, HAIM and Tate McCrae, with hundreds of readers voting for their favourites.The Globe and Mail
If last year was “brat summer,” then this year is drat summer. Despite plenty of hot-weather hits designed to delight, none broke through the charts – or into our hearts – to unanimously claim the title of Song of the Summer.
But we still wanted to crown something 2025’s Song of the Summer to give us one last beat to dance to as the warmer months wind down, and we turned to readers to help us decide between eight frontrunners. Our poll teed up a stiff competition between artists such as Lorde, Justin Bieber, Drake, Haim and Tate McRae, with hundreds of readers voting for their favourites.
Why is there no Song of the Summer for 2025?
Indeed, none of the contenders managed a landslide victory. But in the end, Sabrina Carpenter’s pop-y diss track Manchild won with 28 per cent of the vote. Believed to be a thinly veiled shot at the star’s ex-boyfriend, Irish actor Barry Keoghan, it was the only option catchy enough to be a Song of the Summer, according to one Globe reader. However it hasn’t enjoyed nearly as much success as Carpenter’s 2024 bouncy, high-octane single Espresso, which appeared set to define last summer before Charli XCX’s Brat album arrived on the scene.
Sports Car by Canadian pop-star Tate McRae raced into second place with 16 per cent of the vote for the sexy girl-pop hit, and Daisies by Justin Bieber and Ordinary by Alex Warren – which has in fact topped the charts this summer – tied for third place with 12 per cent each. Nokia by Drake pulled in 11 per cent, Lorde’s What Was That got nine per cent, Haim’s Relationships nabbed 8 per cent, and Addison Rae came last with four per cent for Fame Is a Gun.
There was a lot of love for the Biebs, whose surprise album Swag was a nostalgic delight for many when it came out in July, but may have been too late to gain traction before August began to slip away.
“I only wish Justin Bieber’s song Daisies had come out sooner in the summer,” wrote Globe reader Lil Chrzan from West Vancouver. “It has a very laid-back feel from the easy-breezy drums to the catchy guitar riffs. Justin’s voice is so soft that you just lean in. It makes me smile.”
Dozens of readers and social media users found our top eight lacking, and pitched other songs they thought should be in the running, from mainstream hits to Canadian indie darlings.
Several people couldn’t get enough of Toronto-based pop group the Beaches and pitched Last Girls at the Party as this season’s anthem. “The song is infectious and fun and really speaks to the spirit of summer,” wrote Globe reader Tracy Miller. Fellow Torontonian Andy Beaton agreed and proposed another hit by the group, Did I Say Too Much, for consideration.
Others protested that Golden by Huntr/x, a fictional girl group from the Netflix animated film KPop Demon Hunters, which was No. 1 globally in early August, wasn’t included in the poll.
“The song of the summer shouldn’t be in doubt,” wrote Cory MacDonald, a self-identified “51-year-old dad” from Toronto. “It’s being overlooked for obvious reasons but it’s really not in question. The sound of summer this year is that whole soundtrack.”
There were enough musical recommendations to last anyone until the end of the summer, but the competition also stirred up a lively discussion about why an obvious season-defining hit has failed to materialize when perhaps it is needed most.
“Maybe not only because 2024 had more memorable summer songs, but it was also much less of a bummer of a summer,” commented one Globe reader. “Even if there was one noteworthy banger or summer song, it’s hard to be upbeat in the current geopolitical, economic and ecological hellscape.”
Whether you’re jumping on the Manchild train, not in the musical mood or still looking for your Song of the Summer, here’s a playlist of all our top contenders and readers’ suggestions to listen to before the dog days of summer are over.
