“The Summer of Love” is the moniker given to the year 1967, which encapsulates the empowerment of the youth and hippie movement in San Francisco, California.

Expect a lot of cheesy, poppy love songs in this list. Most, if not all of these songs are really easy listening and are thoroughly enjoyable.

10: “All You Need is Love” by The Beatles

About half of the lyrics of this song are either “all you need is love” or “love is all you need,” while this song might not be the most groundbreaking song lyrically, it is still a smash hit that people still know today.

9: “Ruby Tuesday” by The Rolling Stones

“Ruby Tuesday” is a stark contrast of what The Rolling Stones would soon become: a harder rock band, versus the almost pop-oriented group that released this song. While this song might not be one to write home about, it sets the stage for one of the most celebrated bands of all time.

8: “Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix

“Purple Haze” is probably the peak of Jimi Hendrix’s recording career. It is a masterpiece through and through. Hendrix’s work is really without precedent, no guitar player had ever tracked a song like this before him – so many have tried to replicate his song and style, but none have never quite succeeded.

7: “For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield

“For What It’s Worth” is a clear-cut example of what the southern California laid back rock sound would become. The acoustic guitar strumming throughout the song and the frail harmonics played on a guitar with slight overdrive sets the course of how music over the next decade would end up.

6: “I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” by Frankie Valli

This song combines a nice horn section arrangement with the swinging vocals of Frankie Valli to deliver a really heartfelt love song. This song is pretty self-explanatory, it is about a man infatuated with a woman, so much he cannot take his eyes off of her.

5: “The End” by The Doors

This song veers very far off the beaten trail in terms of what typical songs from the Summer of Love sound.

“The End” has a very distinctive sound, the guitar delivers a typical haunting groove that The Doors are known for, and Jim Morrison croons his way through a song about a breakup. “The End” clocks in at an impressive 11 minutes, 34 seconds.

4: “I’m a Believer” by The Monkees

“I’m a Believer” is a staple song that is used in movies and is about somebody who is pretty down on the concept of love, until he sees a person’s face and his faith in finding love has been restored.

3: “Somebody to Love” by Jefferson Airplane

The all-around representation of the psychedelic 60s music sound, “Somebody to Love.” Jefferson Airplane also released the massively popular song “White Rabbit” which could have also been apart of this list. The album that this song is on is incredible, top to bottom.

2: “Gimme Some Lovin’” by Spencer Davis Group

This song was released in 1967, and Steve Winwood, who sang this song, was born in 1948. If you do the math, Winwood sang this song when he was just 19 years old.

I really emphasize that this song should be listened to, especially focusing on the vocal performance by Winwood. It is just about the most soulful performance ever given by a person still in their teen years.

1: “Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison

This song is recognizable from start to finish, the clean guitar intro is known by people everywhere. “Brown Eyed Girl” tells the wholesome, innocent story of a young couple falling in love.

Van Morrison (not to be confused with Jim Morrison of The Doors) does not specify if this love lasts forever, but it really does not matter. The narrator of the song reminisces on a simpler time, spending time with somebody that they cared about and spent a special summer with.