20 Best Summer Songs of 2016, Ranked

5 – Rise – Katy Perry

YES, Katy Perry, you are powerful and strong and you will rise. Thank you for giving us this, the anthem of the Olympic games, the song to which athletes will feel their hearts pounding in their chest as they themselves rise and show us all how incredible they are. I am honored to take motivation from the same music as them for my trivial daily tasks.

“Rise” is just plain good. Perry brewed this piece inside her mind for years. Her passionate hymn culminates in that final chorus with its driving rhythms and strong percussive encouragement. That slow, steady, determined tempo never slows or stops for anything. I love the accompanying video, featuring nothing but Katy Perry, raw and sporting her pink balloon on a dangerous cliffside. “Rise” is like the grittier, more human version of P!nk’s “Just Like Fire” from earlier in the list, thankfully sans the insanity implications. It’s an uplifting anthem for athletes, heroes, and humans.

Next: 4 - We Don't Talk Anymore - Charlie Pruth