Parents Have One Song on Repeat, ‘Golden’ From ‘KPop Deamon Hunters’

I’m 42 years old. I have two kids, age 4 and 7. I maintain a busy career as a freelance writer, have a side hustle teaching at a pair of prestigious universities, and have my hands full trying to be a good father and husband. I also do my best to maintain some semblance of physical shape, all while trying to squeeze in a bit of what makes me happy when and where I can.

So, if it weren’t for all of the recent discourse surrounding this summer’s lack of an unofficial anthem (or why a morose, operatic ho-hey stomper does not a summer single necessarily make), I wouldn’t have otherwise noticed our culture lacking such a totemic seasonal soundtrack.

In short, I don’t really have the time, energy, or bandwidth to care about these things anymore.

Not that I ever did. Because even when I was near the center of it all, spending a decade working at some of the world’s leading independent record labels, the song of the summer was never something I spent much time caring about.

Then, a few weeks ago, as they often do, my kids helped me see the world through a whole new lens, to realize that maybe all the discourse was wrong. There absolutely was an undisputed song of the summer — at least in my car.

The catchy tune infiltrated my family

It was a regular weekday morning that I first heard it. We were en route to my kids’ summer camp and daycare drop offs when they requested the song “Golden” from the soundtrack to Netflix’s hit movie “KPop Demon Hunters.” And then they requested it again. And again.

They first heard the song the night before, while watching the movie with friends who had us over for a family dinner. And now, its infectious earworm was on repeat in my family wagon. Within a few hours, the song seemingly appeared everywhere (one part algorithm, one part Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon in action). Suddenly, “Golden” was flooding my social feeds, with parents posting reels about how much the tune had suddenly taken root in their lives and aspirant singers trying to hit its sky-high notes.

And so, if you’re a parent to young kids, there absolutely is a song of the summer. It just happens to be sung by an animated K-Pop band named Huntr/x who spends their downtime between sold-out arena shows hunting demons masquerading as a popular boy band.

IYKYK.

And if you don’t know, allow me to explain

In late June, “KPop Demon Hunters” (yes, that’s really what it’s called) popped up on the streamer. It blew up fast. Netflix reported it racked up to 25 million views in just one week , and is the service’s most-streamed movie of all time. And it’s only two months old.

Lucky for us parents, the soundtrack is full of absolute jams, pop bangers that would just as easily be at home on a new release from Olivia Rodrigo, Chappell Roan, Pink, Carly Rae Jepsen, or Charli XCX.

Okay, maybe not Charli XCX. But you get my point.

Seven of the soundtrack’s songs have landed on Spotify’s worldwide Top 50, with the movie’s standout track, the ultra-ebullient “Golden” reaching number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. In doing so, Huntr/x became the first female K-Pop group to reach such lofty heights. Meanwhile, “Golden” is the first American number-one song by an all-female group since Destiny’s Child’s “Bootylicious,” and the first song from a fictional act to top the charts since 2021’s “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from Disney’s “Encanto.”

“Golden” has crossed over from parents to the nonparent set settling firmly into the cultural pantheon. It’s a rare move that hasn’t been readily replicable of the kids’ hits of yore. Don’t believe me? Ask any parent if they ever played “Into the Unknown” without their kids in the car. I doubt you’ll get many — if any — parents copping to spending their kid-free time listening to the “Frozen 2” soundtrack.

But just the other day, like millions of other parents around America en route to pick their kids up from camp and daycare, I clicked on what I’m viewing as the song of the summer, turned up the volume, and sang my heart out.