By Sean Daly

Our critic was looking not just for themes of sun, surf, sand, and skin, but also mood: mellow, romantic, sweaty and geography, from the down-home charm of northwest Florida to the madness of Ocean Drive in Miami.

No vacation is complete without a killer playlist that blends in perfectly with your surroundings, making you feel like your life is a movie with your soundtrack playing in the background.

After observing what types of jams blend with all sorts of coastal locations - sunny, mellow, party - here are 40 Florida songs for summer in the Sunshine State. The playlist starts mellow, cuts loose, then slows down again just in town for a romantic stroll at sunset. A sample of 9 from the playlist is available on iTunes, called "Soundtrack for a Florida Summer".

1. "Floridays," Jimmy Buffett (Don't worry; there's more Buffett coming later)
2. "Gulf Coast Highway," Darius Rucker & Nanci Griffith
3. "Let's Get Away From It All," Frank Sinatra
4. "Summertime," Sam Cooke
5. "The Secret Sun," Jesse Harris (Corona used this mellow bonfire special in a recent series of commercials. Goes best with cheap toes in the sand. Speaking of which...)
6. "Toes," Zac Brown Band
7. "Powder Your Face With Sunshine," Dean Martin
8. "What's Your Name?," Lynyrd Skynyrd (Most famous Florida band? It's a tie between these Jacksonville scruffs and the next band on our list, the guys from Gainesville.)
9. "Dogs on the Run," Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
10. "Just Like Paradise," David Lee Roth
11. "Surrender," Cheap Trick (Best non-native rocker living in Florida? Another tie. There's Cheap Trick lead singer Robin Zander, who lives in Safety Harbor on the Gulf Coast. And then there's our next band's singer, Brian Johnson, who lives in Sarasota.)
12. "Thunderstruck," AC/DC

This commences our Florida songs salute to spring break "romance." Flirt responsibly, boys and girls!

13. "Where the Boys Are," Connie Francis
14. "All the Young Dudes," Mott the Hoople
15. "Shark in the Water," V.V. Brown
16. "Summertime Girls," Y&T
17. "She's a Beauty," the Tubes
18. "Clambake," Elvis Presley (The King filmed several flicks in Florida, but Clambake, shot in the Florida Keys and the Everglades among other locales, is my goofy fave.)
19. "King of the Surf Guitar," Dick Dale
20. "Surfin' U.S.A.," the Beach Boys
21. "Good Vibrations," the Beach Boys (Because having just one from Brian Wilson & Co. would just seem wrong)
22. "Keep Fishin'," Weezer
23. "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)," Billy Joel
24. "Jacksonville," Brandon Flowers
25. "Tallahassee Lassie," Freddy Cannon
26. "Swamp," Talking Heads

This commences the playlist's last chance to dance, dance, dance!

27. "Hot Fun in the Summertime," Sly & and the Family Stone
28. "Ain't Going Down (Til the Sun Comes Up)," Garth Brooks
29. "Love Rollercoaster," Ohio Players (This could have been one of our spring break Florida songs. But it's also a shout-out to our Space Mountain fans!)
30. "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You," Gloria Estefan & the Miami Sound Machine
31. "Setting Sun," Chemical Brothers

OK, here we go, the cool-down finale

32. "When the Sun Goes Down," Kenny Chesney & Uncle Kracker
33. "Golden," My Morning Jacket
34. "Summer Wind," Frank Sinatra
35. "Take This Beach," Ben Ottewell (From the British band Gomez, Ottewell is one of the best singers on the planet. He's also a heart-sleeved romantic. You can thank me later.)
36. "Photographs and Memories," Jim Croce
37. "Only the Ocean," Jack Johnson
38. "When You Wish Upon a Star," Jiminy Cricket
39. "Tryin' to Reason With the Hurricane Season," Jimmy Buffett (Because having just one Florida song from Mr. Margaritaville would feel wrong, too.)
40. "Wish You Were Here," Pink Floyd