"The Boys of Summer" is a song released in 1984 by Eagles vocalist and drummer Don Henley, with lyrics written by Henley and music composed by Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. The lead single from Henley's album Building the Perfect Beast, "The Boys of Summer" was released on October 26, 1984. It reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US, number one on the BillboardTop 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 .
Writing
guitarist Mike Campbell wrote a demo for "The Boys of Summer" while experimenting with a LinnDrumdrum machine. He showed it to Tom Petty, but they felt it did not fit with the record they were working on, Southern Accents. At the suggestion of producer Jimmy Iovine, Campbell played it for Don Henley, who wrote the lyrics and recorded the vocal. They rerecorded the song after Henley decided to change the key.
Composition
The song is cemented by a repetitive guitar riff. The song was recorded in the key of F major with a tempo of 88 beats per minute. Henley's vocals span F3 to A4. The lyrics appear to be about the passing of youth and entering middle age, with the nostalgic theme of "summer love" and reminiscence of a past relationship. In a 1987 interview with Rolling Stone, Henley explained that the song is about aging and questioning the past—a recurring theme in Henley's lyrics In an interview with NME in 1985, Henley explained the '"Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac" lyric as an example of his generation selling out. Musicologist David Ingram has stated that Henley's work embodies many cultural contradictions. Those are also inherent in The Boys of Summer which despite Henley's environmental activism, superficially extols car culture.
Accolades
"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 also a 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. 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."
In 2002, Spanish trance artist DJ Sammy covered the song. It was released in November 2002 as the third and last single released from the album Heaven. This cover peaked at number two in the United Kingdom and was one of New Zealand's most successful hits of in 2002, reaching number three and earning a Gold certification from Recorded Music NZ. The cover also reached number nine in Australia and the top 20 in Flanders, Ireland, and the Netherlands.
Music video
The music video was filmed in València, Spain and was released in November 2002.
In 2003, the rock band the Ataris covered "The Boys of Summer" for their album So Long, Astoria. The song became their second single when a radio station began to play it. The Ataris' version of the song replaced the "Deadhead sticker" reference with one more appropriate to the age group of their fans, namely a "Black Flag sticker", in honor of the punk rock band from the 1980s. The single peaked at No. 2 on the BillboardModern Rock Chart and No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. It remains their most successful single.
Music video
The music video was directed by Steven Murashige and was released in July 2003.
