The Boys of Summer (song)
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| Single by Don Henley | |||||||||
| from the album Building the Perfect Beast | |||||||||
| B-side | "A Month of Sundays" | ||||||||
| Released | 1984 | ||||||||
| Format | 7" vinyl | ||||||||
| Length | 4:47 | ||||||||
| Label | Geffen | ||||||||
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Standard artwork for most CD releases
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| Single by DJ Sammy featuring Loona | |||||||||||||||
| from the album Heaven | |||||||||||||||
| Released | November 18, 2002 | ||||||||||||||
| Recorded | 2001 | ||||||||||||||
| Genre | Trance, dance | ||||||||||||||
| Length | 4:55 | ||||||||||||||
| Label | Robbins/Ministry of Sound/Data | ||||||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Don Henley, Mike Campbell | ||||||||||||||
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| Single by The Ataris | |||||||||
| from the album So Long, Astoria | |||||||||
| Released | September 8, 2003 | ||||||||
| Recorded | 2002 | ||||||||
| Genre | Pop punk | ||||||||
| Length | 4:20 | ||||||||
| Label | Columbia | ||||||||
| Writer(s) | Don Henley, Mike Campbell | ||||||||
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"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 Henley and Mike Campbell.
It is the lead track and first single from Henley's 1984 album Building the Perfect Beast and reached the top five in the United States as well as the top position on the Top Rock Tracks chart and number 12 in the UK Singles Chart.
The song's music video won many awards. "The Boys of Summer" was also performed live by Henley with the reunited Eagles; such a version is included on the group's 2005 Farewell 1 Tour - Live from Melbourne DVD.
Henley's song is cemented by Campbell's 1-7-5 repetitive riff over a vi-IV-V-IV chord pattern. Superficially, the song appears to be about the passing of youth and entering middle age, with the theme of 'summer love' apparent in the choruses, and of reminiscence of a past relationship.
"The Boys of Summer" is written in the key of E minor.
In a 1987 interview with Rolling Stone, Henley explained that the song is more about aging and questioning the past—a recurring theme in Henley's lyrics (cf. "The End of the Innocence", and "Taking You Home".)
In an interview with NME in 1985, Henley explained the 'Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac' lyrics as an example of his generation selling out:
"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!"
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