Saying that Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky’ is the Song Of The Summer has turned into a bit of a meme, hasn’t it? Scottish comedian Limmy has been calling it “Song Of The Summer” on Twitter every Friday for years now. When we asked this morning for the song that reminds you of summer, lo and behold, there was some Daft Punk answers in there of course. 

 

Few songs continue to provoke this kind of reaction quite like ‘Get Lucky’ does. The hype around its release, which was five years ago today (April 19), is hard to put into words. In the weeks prior, a 15-second teaser of Nile Rodgers’ immortal riff first aired as a TV advert, with a star-studded teaser clip appearing between bands at that year’s Coachella. The Robots stole the show without even turning up. Fans even managed to craft homemade remixes out of a tiny snippet of music. And we listened!

Then the whole song came, and it was good. Like, impossibly good. If the musical overlords were tinkering in a laboratory trying to make the perfect pop song – we reckon it would sound a little bit like this. Rodger’s funky guitars were a superb opener and the chorus’ melody felt like one you’d known your whole life. Daft Punk even did their funny little Robot voice towards the end. The result? An evergreen slice of pop magic, that is perfectly summed up by Robot #1 Thomas Bangalter in an interview with BBC in 2013. “The whole point of this record was not to go back to the past; rather, it was to try and bring the timeless quality of the past into the present.”

 

 

‘Get Lucky’ continues to operate outside the traditional time and space barriers of music. It still feels just as right in a sweaty club as it does sat in your back garden, and as welcome at the start of the night as it does as the close. But that’s exactly what the song’s immortal hook is all about: “we’re up all night to get lucky”. It’s the sound of the party that you’re always chasing, and though it hasn’t come – you feel like next time will be your night. In essence, this is what the ‘Song Of The Summer’ chatter is all about, really. We listen, we argue, we drink and then we dance – imaging ideas of why this summer is going to be different than the last, only to realise it’s probably already over.