At the height of the summer of '09, we at SparkNotes find ourselves thinking back to the summer of '69. Or, more accurately, we find ourselves thinking back to the Bryan Adams song of that name. (How old do you think we are, anyway?)

That tune came out in 1984—only 15 years removed from the dog days Bry-Ad was singing about. When he wrote it, the feel-good vibes of the Summer of Love were fresh on everyone's mind, and cell phones, DVR, and Facebook weren't even twinkles in Mark Zuckerberg's eye. Hard to imagine those Dark Ages, right? Let us help you out with a little translation:

There was so much love shown for The Princess Bride in the comments on our SAS post about daisy chains last week, it got us thinking about our favorite '80s movies—the best thing to come out of that decade other than legwarmers. (Thank you, John Hughes and Tom Cruise.)

You know them, you love them, you quote them to impress members of the opposite sex. In fact, we believe any one of these films could singlehandedly unite the world into one utopian, "We Are the World"-singing land of peace and prosperity. If we could only get Ahmadinejad, Kim Jong Il, and Obama in a room together and roll Goonies...

If you don't have them already, you absolutely must add the following movies to your library (you'll thank us in college when your dorm room doesn't get cable):

Indie music helps you focus while studying, R&B makes you hit the dance floor and punk/metal pumps you up. But for some reason no music says SUMMER VACATION like ’80s music. Here’s some ’80s summer classics and the situations they best complement.

“Panama” by Van Halen for summer sports
Sure, you tripped up the stairs almost every day at school. Still, at some point this summer you’ll probably find yourself winding a bandana around your head, putting on your grimiest shorts and getting ready for a friendly/competitive/vicious game of football or basketball with friends.