Summer is the time to hang loose, enjoying long days and short nights. For students planning to travel and savor what the season gives, it’s a great moment to reflect on memories and listen to music.

This is the time when you just want to plug in that modern device or play that old record your uncle gave you long ago.

Music and the summer season go hand to hand. It’s that special time of year to listen to your favorite tunes and forget about college life. But what music do you like to listen to when you are free of homework, long lectures, and functioning on very little sleep.

So, what are your idea of good music —  old school music or today’s modernized music? For the past 50 years, young people across America have listened to some of the greatest music of all time. Still, most people believe old school music is better than the new music of today.

I agree. Most of the music that came before the last 50 years have better style of music and a much broader perspective of rhythms. Anyone who is a lover of music can tell you that — most would choose the more classic style of music rather than the more recent music of today.

I remember long ago when school was out and summer was about enjoying barbecues on the weekend, and the radio was on and your favorite songs were playing. The sweet sound of Motown, the mellow tones of Led Zeppelin and the classic rhythm and blues of Muddy Waters is the right tastes for the season.

Old school music is also a much more reliable way for people to induce good moods in themselves; in fact, the emotional centers of the brain are more active when one listens to familiar music. It is a great way of understanding yourself and the world around you. The Beatles are a great example of mind expanding music. It was the summer of 2011 that I first listened to “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album and it changed my life.

What really sounds crazy or too brash is that most people think that the new music is not really good. Most of the music today is a ripoff of the older generation that came before it. Groups like I don’t know maybe Mumford and Sons or Fall Out Boy are not as great Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, and even Cream at that.

Most of the time, I would avoid the new stuff because I would rather listen to some classic records of rhythm and blues and enjoy a good book. Most of the younger generation listen to the much older music because it had more experimental expression which were developed during the 1960s and ‘70s. It is that style of rhythms that made the music great.

Music back then was more complex whereas today’s mainstream music is mostly corporate-business. The music business today  cares only about money and profit before art and creativity. It’s really kind of sad that how different music is today.

It’s funny that we were able to kill what was once great and then turn it into  epic Greek tragedy.

I used to enjoy watching classic MTV videos during summer season when they used to play music videos; now it’s “16 and Pregnant” dumb reality shows and boring top 10 videos. Now, you can go to your favorite concert or go see a summer blockbuster film if that’s your taste.

The sounds of summer is what you make of it. It a time to relax, travel or listen to some tunes along the way. Students and young people in general should appreciate the time we have free while we are still young.

I remember reading Hunter S. Thompson’s book “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” during the summer 2010, and it blew my mind away. I would listen to the music of the Big Brother and the Holding Company while I read the book. It was the soundtrack of that summer and the experience I will never forget. Books and classic rock music is the ultimate experience during the summer and, it made me want to be a Gonzo writer like Thompson.

Get out and take what precious time you have during the summer season because once the fall semester starts, it’s back to homework, long lectures, and bad headaches. Enjoy the moment in the sun and listen to that sweet sound of music.

Because summer is hot and long, kick back; let the music take you to a better place. But remember that like the lyrics of Jimi Hendrix’s song, “It All Has to End.” As a wise man once told me, “Don’t keep it real; keep it red.”  Enjoy life and love one another because that is what summer is all about.