The Boys of Summer

“The Boys of Summer” is track #1 on Don Henley’s 1984 LP Building the Perfect Beast. It was a huge hit earning numerous awards including the MTV Video of the Year in 1985 and the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance in 1986. The song explores the concepts of aging and questioning the past. The subject in the song reminisces about past summer love and things that he has lost as time wears on. The official video shows the progression of the main character at three distinct phases of his life: young boy, teenager and middle-aged. Each instance shows us how he is considering his past relationships, most likely regrettably. "The Boys of Summer" has lyrics written by Don Henley and music composed by Mike Campbell (guitarist with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers). It is the lead track and first single from Henley's 1984 album Building the Perfect Beast. The song's music video (a French New Wave-influenced piece directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino) won a number of awards. The song title is taken from the 1972 non-fiction book, The Boys Of Summer by Roger Kahn. Kahn's "boys of summer" are the Brooklyn Dodgers and his book is a history of the team leading up to their victory in the 1955 World Series. "The Boys of Summer" was a big hit, reaching number 5 on the U.S. pop singles chart and topping the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It was also a hit in the United Kingdom, reaching number 12 on the UK Singles Chart. A re-release of the single in 1998 also reached #12. Henley won the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for the song. "The Boys of Summer" was ranked #416 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The song was performed live by Henley with the reunited Eagles; a version is included on the group's 2005 Farewell 1 Tour-Live from Melbourne DVD. About the third verse, Don Henley told NME in 1985........I was driving down the San Diego Freeway and got passed by a $21,000 Cadillac Seville, the status symbol of the Right-wing upper-middle-class American bourgeoisie – all the guys with the blue blazers with the crests and the grey pants – and there was this Grateful Dead ‘Deadhead’ bumper sticker on it! Songwriter Mike Campbell shared........I used to have a 4 track machine in my house and I had just gotten a drum machine – when the Roger Linn drum machine first came out. I was playing around with that and came up with a rhythm. I made the demo on my little 4 track and I showed it to Tom (Petty), but at the time, the record we were working on, Southern Accents, didn’t really sound like anything that would fit into the album. The producer we were working with at the time, Jimmy Iovine, called me up one day and said he had spoken with Don, who I’d never met, and said that he was looking for songs. He gave me his number and I called him up and played it for him and he called me the next day and said he put it on in his car and had written these words and wanted to record it. Basically, he wanted to recreate the demo as close as we could. We ended up changing the key for the voice. We actually cut it in one key, did the whole record with overdubs and everything, and then he decided to change the key like a half step up or something, we had to do the whole record again, but it turned out pretty good. While the colloquial “Boys of Summer” can refer to baseball players (originating from the 1972 Roger Kahn book of the same name about the Brooklyn Dodgers; of which that name was taken from a Dylan Thomas poem that had nothing to do with baseball). However, the context of the name in this song refers to aging and questioning the past. This was answered directly by Don Henley in a 1987 Rolling Stone Magazine interview.

Don Henley Lyrics The Boys Of Summer From The Album Building The Perfect Beast (1984) Nobody on the road Nobody on the beach I feel it in the air The summer's out of reach Empty lake, empty streets The sun goes down alone I'm driving by your house Though I know you're not home But I can see you- Your brown skin shinin' in the sun You got your hair combed back and your sunglasses on, baby And I can tell you my love for you will still be strong After the boys of summer have gone I never will forget those nights I wonder if it was a dream Remember how you made me crazy? Remember how I made you scream Now I don't understand what happened to our love But babe, I'm gonna get you back I'm gonna show you what I'm made of I can see you- Your brown skin shinin' in the sun I see you walking real slow and you're smilin' at everyone I can tell you my love for you will still be strong After the boys of summer have gone Out on the road today, I saw a DEADHEAD sticker on a Cadillac A little voice inside my head said, "Don't look back. You can never look back" I thought I knew what love was What did I know? Those days are gone forever I should just let them go but- I can see you- Your brown skin shinin' in the sun You got that top pulled down and that radio on, baby And I can tell you my love for you will still be strong After the boys of summer have gone I can see you- Your brown skin shinin' in the sun You got that hair slicked back and those Wayfarers on, baby I can tell you my love for you will still be strong After the boys of summer have gone Produced By Mike Campbell, Greg Ladanyi, Danny Kortchmar & Don Henley Written By Mike Campbell & Don Henley Synthesizer Mike Campbell, Danny Kortchmar & Steve Porcaro Engineer Richard Bosworth, Niko Bolas & Greg Ladanyi Guitar Danny Kortchmar & Mike Campbell Bass Larry Klein Mastered at The Mastering Lab Percussion Mike Campbell Release Date October 29, 1984