‘The Boys of Summer’ is a song by the American musician Don Henley. The lyrics were written by Henley and the music was composed by Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It was released on October 26, 1984, as the lead single from Henley's album Building the Perfect Beast. It reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US, number one on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart, and number 12 in the UK Singles Chart.
The music video won several awards. ‘The Boys of Summer’ was also performed live by Henley with the reunited Eagles; a version is included on the group's 2005 DVD Farewell 1 Tour: Live from Melbourne.
Mike Campbell, the guitarist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, wrote a demo for ‘The Boys of Summer’ while experimenting with a LinnDrum drum machine. He showed it to Tom Petty, but Petty felt it did not fit with the record they were working on, Southern Accents. At the suggestion of the producer Jimmy Iovine, Campbell played it for Don Henley, the vocalist and drummer for the Eagles, who wrote the lyrics and recorded the vocal. They re-recorded the song after Henley decided to change the key. Don Henley told the NME that he really did see a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac. Said the Eagles frontman: "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!"
‘The Boys of Summer’ reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart for five weeks. It was his most successful hit in the United Kingdom, reaching No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart. A re-release of the single in 1998 also reached No. 12. Billboard called it "dance oriented pop swimming in synths and reverberating guitar." In 1986, Henley won the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for the song. ‘The Boys of Summer’ was ranked No. 416 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. ‘The Boys of Summer’ is included in The Pitchfork 500, Pitchfork Media's "Guide to the Greatest Songs from Punk to Present."
Label – Geffen
Songwriters – Don Henley, Mike Campbell
Producers – Don Henley, Danny Kortchmar, Greg Ladanyi, Mike Campbell
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]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
[Chorus]
But I can see you
Your brown skin shining in the sun
You got your hair combed back and your
Sunglasses on, baby
I can tell you, my love for you will still be strong
After the boys of summer have gone
[Verse 2]
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
[Chorus]
I can see you
Your brown skin shining in the sun
I see you walking real slow and
Smiling at everyone
I can tell you, my love for you will still be strong
After the boys of summer have gone
[Instrumental Break]
[Verse 3]
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...
[Chorus]
I can see you
Your brown skin shining in the sun
You got the top pulled down and the
Radio on, baby
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 shining in the sun
You got your 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