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The Boys of Summer (song)

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This article is about the song written by Don Henley. For other uses, seeThe Boys of Summer (disambiguation).

"The Boys of Summer"
SinglebyDon Henley
from the albumBuilding the Perfect Beast
B-side"A Month of Sundays"
ReleasedOctober 26, 1984(1984-10-26)
Genre
Length4:48
LabelGeffen
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Don Henleysingles chronology
"I Can't Stand Still"
(1983) 		"The Boys of Summer"
(1984) 		"All She Wants to Do Is Dance"
(1985)
Audio
"The Boys of Summer"onYouTube

"The Boys of Summer"is a song by the American musicianDon Henley.The lyrics were written by Henley and the music was composed byMike CampbellofTom Petty and the Heartbreakers.It was released on October 26, 1984, as the lead single from Henley's albumBuilding the Perfect Beast.[4]It reached number five on theBillboardHot 100chart in the US, number one on theBillboardTop Rock Trackschart, and number 12 in theUK Singles Chart.

The music video won several awards. "The Boys of Summer" was also performed live by Henley with the reunitedEagles;a version is included on the group's 2005 DVDFarewell 1 Tour: Live from Melbourne.

Writing[edit]

Mike Campbell,the guitarist forTom Petty and the Heartbreakers,wrote a demo for "The Boys of Summer" while experimenting with aLinnDrumdrum machine andOberheim OB-Xsynthesizer. He showed it toTom Petty,but Petty felt it did not fit with the record they were working on,Southern Accents.At the suggestion of the producerJimmy Iovine,Campbell played it forDon Henley,the vocalist and drummer for theEagles,who wrote the lyrics and recorded the vocal. They re-recorded the song after Henley decided to change the key.[5][6]

Composition[edit]

"The Boys of Summer" uses a repeating guitar riff. It was recorded in the key ofF♯majorwith atempoof 88 beats per minute. Henley's vocals span F♯3to A♯4.[7][8]

The lyrics appear to be about the passing ofyouthand enteringmiddle age,with the nostalgic theme of "summer love"[9]and reminiscence of a past relationship.[10]In a 1987 interview withRolling Stone,Henley explained that the song is about aging and questioning the past[11]—a recurring theme in Henley's lyrics (cf. "The End of the Innocence",[12]and "Taking You Home".[13]) In an interview withNMEin 1985, Henley explained the ' "Deadheadsticker on a Cadillac "lyric as an example of his generationselling out.[14][15]

I was driving down theSan Diego Freewayand got passed by a $21,000Cadillac 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 thisGrateful Dead"Deadhead" bumper sticker on it!

The song's title is taken fromRoger Kahn's 1972book about the Brooklyn Dodgers,which was in turn taken from aDylan Thomaspoem.[16]

Accolades[edit]

"The Boys of Summer" reached No. 5 on theBillboardHot 100and topped theBillboardTop Rock Trackschart for five weeks. It was his most successful hit in theUnited Kingdom,reaching No. 12 on theUK Singles Chart.A re-release of the single in 1998 also reached No. 12.

Billboardcalled it "dance oriented pop swimming in synths and reverberating guitar".[17]

In 1986, Henley won theGrammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performancefor the song.[18]"The Boys of Summer" was ranked No. 416 onRolling Stonemagazine's list ofThe 500 Greatest Songs of All Time."The Boys of Summer" is included inThe Pitchfork 500,Pitchfork Media's "Guide to the Greatest Songs from Punk to Present".[19]

Tom Petty was astounded by the track's success. One day, he and Campbell were out on a car drive to listen to a mix of their song "Don't Come Around Here No More",but turned on the ignition and heard" The Boys of Summer ". Campbell changed the station in case the song would upset Petty, but another station was also playing the song. Petty enjoyed listening to it and regretted initially turning it down.[20]

Music video[edit]

Themusic videoto "The Boys of Summer" is aFrench New Wave-influenced piece directed byJean-Baptiste Mondino.Shot inblack-and-white,it shows the main character of the song at three different stages of life (as a young boy, a young adult and middle-aged), in each case reminiscing about a past relationship. Interspersed with these scenes are segments of Henley singing the words of the song while riding in apickup truck.The boy is dressed in a style typical of the 1950s, the teenage lovers are dressed in a style characteristic of the early 1960s while the middle-aged man is dressed in the style of the 1980s. As a boy in the 1950s, the protagonist practices playing the drums, suggesting musical aspirations; as a teenager in the 1960s, he walks down a beach with his girlfriend whom he kisses passionately; and as a middle-aged man in the 1980s, he appears to be an executive of some sort who is comfortable, but unhappy in life as he sits at his desk remembering his youth. The young boy in the video is played by a seven-year-oldJosh Paul,[21]while the girl is played byAudie England.Interspersed with these scenes are segments of Henley articulating the words of the song while driving in a convertible. At its conclusion, the video uses the post-modern concept of exposing its own workings, as with a wry expression Henley drives the car away from a rear projection screen.

The video won theVideo of the Yearat the1985 MTV Video Music Awards(leading Henley to comment at the Awards the following year that he had won for "riding around in the back of a pickup" ).[22]It also won that year's awards forBest Direction,Best Art Direction,andBest Cinematography.The Best Direction award was presented to Mondino by Henley's then-formerEaglesbandmateGlenn Frey.

Personnel[edit]

Charts[edit]

Certifications[edit]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[37] Gold 45,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[38] Platinum 600,000‡

‡Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

DJ Sammy version[edit]

"The Boys of Summer"
Standard artwork for most CD releases
SinglebyDJ Sammy
from the albumHeaven
B-side"Appalachian Fall"
ReleasedOctober 21, 2002(2002-10-21)
Length4:55
LabelPulp,Urban
Songwriter(s)Don Henley,Mike Campbell
Producer(s)DJ Sammy, Martin Eyerer, Oliver Laib
DJ Sammysingles chronology
"Sunlight"
(2002) 		"The Boys of Summer"
(2002) 		"Rise Again"
(2004)

In 2002, Spanish trance artistDJ Sammy(with vocals performed by Dutch singerLoona) covered the song. It was released in 2002 as the third and final single from second studio album,Heaven(2002). This cover peaked at number two in the United Kingdom and was one of New Zealand's most successful hits of 2002, reaching number three and earning a gold certification from theRecording Industry Association of New Zealand.The music video was filmed inValència,Spain, and was released in November 2002.[citation needed]

Track listings[edit]

European maxi-CD single[39]

  1. "The Boys of Summer" (original radio edit) – 3:58
  2. "The Boys of Summer" (original extended version) – 6:33
  3. "The Boys of Summer" (Green Court remix) – 8:08
  4. "Appalachian Fall" – 4:54

UK CD single[40]

  1. "The Boys of Summer" (radio edit)
  2. "The Boys of Summer" (Jessyremix)
  3. "Heaven"(the Candleflip Bootleg mix)
  4. "The Boys of Summer" (CD-ROM video)

US maxi-CD single[41]

  1. "The Boys of Summer" (radio version) – 3:58
  2. "The Boys of Summer" (extended version) – 6:28
  3. "The Boys of Summer" (Green Court remix) – 8:00
  4. "The Boys of Summer" (Humateremix) – 8:12
  5. "The Boys of Summer" (Martin Eyerer remix) – 8:42
  6. "Appalachian Fall" – 4:16

Charts[edit]

Certifications[edit]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[66] Gold 35,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[67] Gold 5,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[68] Silver 200,000‡

*Sales figures based on certification alone.
^Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history[edit]

Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
Australia October 21, 2002 CD Central Station [69]
Europe November 18, 2002
[48]
United Kingdom February 24, 2003
  • 12-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
 Data [70]

The Ataris version[edit]

"The Boys of Summer"
Artwork for overseas commercial release
Singlebythe Ataris
from the albumSo Long, Astoria
ReleasedSeptember 8, 2003
Length4:20
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Don Henley,Mike Campbell
The Atarissingles chronology
"In This Diary"
(2003) 		"The Boys of Summer"
(2003) 		"The Saddest Song"
(2003)

In 2003, the rock bandthe Atariscovered "The Boys of Summer" for their albumSo Long, Astoria.The song became their second single when a radio station began to play it. The single peaked at No. 2 on theBillboardModern Rock Chart (held off the No. 1 top spot byLinkin Park's "Faint") and No. 20 on theBillboardHot 100. It remains theirmost successful single.[71]

The Ataris' version of the song replaced the "Deadheadsticker "reference with one that the band felt was more appropriate to the age group of their fans, namely a"Black Flagsticker ", in honor of thepunk rockband from the 1980s. Asked in a 2016 interview whether he was okay with the lyric change, Henley responded, "No, not really... And if you noticed, we haven't heard much from the Ataris since then. "[72]Campbell, however, said that "it's not a song you expect a young band like that to do, but I kind of like their version of it."[73]

Music video[edit]

The music video was directed by Steven Murashige and was released in July 2003.[74]

Charts[edit]

Chart (2003–2004) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[75] 24
Germany (Official German Charts)[76] 45
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[77] 17
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[78] 87
UK Singles (OCC)[79] 49
USBillboardHot 100[71] 20
USAlternative Airplay(Billboard)[80] 2
USBillboardHot Mainstream Rock Tracks[71] 36
USBillboardHot Adult Top 40 Tracks[71] 18
USBillboardMainstream Top 40[71] 10

Certifications[edit]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[81] Gold 500,000*

*Sales figures based on certification alone.

The Lightning Kids version[edit]

In 2022, British band the Lightning Kids released their version of "The Boys of Summer" as a single.[82]

References[edit]

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  2. ^Graff, Gary (1998). "Don Henley". In Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds.).MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide.Detroit:Visible Ink Press.pp. 544–545.
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  10. ^Puterbaugh, Parke (January 31, 1985)."Don Henley: Building The Perfect Beast".Rolling Stone.Archived fromthe originalon July 24, 2009.RetrievedSeptember 13,2008....a wistful look over the shoulder at a faded summer romance.
  11. ^Gilmore, Mikal (December 10, 1987)."Henley Interview 1987".Rolling Stone.Vol. 512, no. 20th Anniversary Issue. Archived fromthe originalon October 10, 2008.RetrievedSeptember 9,2008.Beyond that, I'm also not convinced we really accomplished all that much. Kennedy was president and everybody thought it was Camelot, but look at what we did. We raised all that hell in the Sixties, and then what did we come up with in the Seventies? Nixon and Reagan. The country reverted right back into the hands it was in before. I don't think we changed a damn thing, frankly. That's what the last verse of 'The Boys of Summer' was about. I think our intentions were good, but the way we went about it was ridiculous. We thought we could change things by protesting and making firebombs and growing our hair long and wearing funny clothes. But we didn't follow through. After all our marching and shouting and screaming didn't work, we withdrew and became yuppies and got into the 'Me' Decade.
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External links[edit]

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