Best Springtime Songs!

Nick Digilio
Apr 16
4 min read

Springtime…man, I gotta tell you, there are few things in life that just immediately lift your mood the way spring does. It really is one of those universal, almost magical transitions that everybody feels, whether you’re a nature person or not.

You go from that long, brutal, gray, miserable winter (especially here in Chicago where winter feels like it lasts about eleven and a half months) to that first day where the sun actually feels warm on your face, and suddenly everything changes.

Your mood changes, people’s attitudes change, the city wakes up a little bit, and you start to remember, oh yeah…life is actually pretty good.

Now technically, if you want to get all scientific about it (and sure, why not, let’s do it) spring is one of the four temperate seasons, it follows winter and comes before summer, and it’s marked by the vernal equinox, usually around March 20th or 21st, when day and night are about equal.

After that, the days get longer, the nights get shorter, the Earth tilts a little more toward the sun, and everything starts to warm up. Plants begin to grow, trees start to bloom, the snow melts, the ground smells like, you know, actual life again instead of death and salt and slush.

The word “spring” itself comes from this idea of things “springing forth,” which is exactly what happens: flowers, leaves, insects, everything just kind of bursts back into existence.

And it’s not just a weather thing, it’s not just a calendar thing, it’s psychological. It’s emotional. Spring is about rebirth, rejuvenation, renewal, all those big fancy words that actually mean something when you feel them. You see it everywhere.

Cherry blossoms popping up, birds going nuts in the morning, people opening their windows for the first time in months, letting fresh air in. It’s incredible.

Even the rain (because yeah, there’s a lot of rain, April showers and all that stuff) even the rain feels good. It’s like the world is washing itself off and starting over.

And for me personally, spring means baseball. That’s it. That’s a huge part of it. The Chicago Cubs are back, Wrigley Field is alive again, and even if it means I’m stuck on a bus in ridiculous Cubs traffic surrounded by drunk fans after a night game (which literally just happened to me) it’s still great.

It’s part of the energy of the season. People are out, people are celebrating, people are feeling good again. The Cubs win, people are singing, the bars are packed, and suddenly winter feels like a distant, horrible memory.

And you know what goes perfectly with all of that? Music. Music is essential to this whole thing. There are songs for every season, no question. You’ve got your cold, introspective winter songs, your nostalgic fall songs, your sweaty, loud, crazy summer songs...but spring?

Spring is different. Spring is about feeling good. It’s about energy, about warmth, about that little bounce in your step when you walk outside and you don’t need three layers and a hat and gloves.

Spring songs are happy. They’re bright. They’re filled with that sense of possibility.

Sometimes they’re literally about spring (flowers, rain, sunshine) and sometimes it’s just a vibe. Sometimes it’s just a feeling. That sense of coming out of the darkness, shaking off the cold, and stepping into something new. That’s what great springtime songs do. They don’t just sound good, they feel like the season.

So I thought, what better time than right now, when the weather is finally turning, when the Cubs are playing, when people are smiling again, to put together a list of my favorite springtime songs.

These are songs that make me feel good, songs that capture that sense of renewal and happiness and, yeah, sometimes a little bit of rain-soaked reflection too. Because spring isn’t just sunshine, it’s also those gray, drizzly days that somehow still feel hopeful.

Now, I’ve narrowed it down to 20 songs, which was not easy because there are a lot of great ones out there. Different genres, different eras, different styles, but they all have that spring-like quality. That feeling of rebirth, of warmth, of shaking off the winter doldrums and stepping into something better.

I didn’t rank most of them because, honestly, they’re all great for different reasons…except for number one.

Number one is set in stone. No question. No debate. One of the greatest songs ever written, one of the happiest songs ever recorded, a perfectly structured, brilliantly performed, absolutely magical piece of music that I could listen to over and over again for the rest of my life—and that, of course, is “Mr. Blue Sky” by Electric Light Orchestra.

That song is spring.

That song is happiness.

That song is life.

The rest? They’re all fantastic, they’re all worth your time, and they all belong on this list.

So throw on a jacket (or some shorts if you’re feeling bold) grab an umbrella if you need it, get outside, enjoy the flowers, the rain, the sunshine, the noise, the life…and crank up some music.

Here are my 20 favorite springtime songs of all time.