The surprising history of Don Henley's "The Boys Of Summer"
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- Опубліковано 10 сер 2021
- “The Boys Of Summer” by Don Henley is one of the quintessential songs about summer's end, and it has a rich history. With music written by Mike Campbell and intended for Tom Petty to sing, it ended up being the lead single on Henley’s 1984 solo album, Building The Perfect Beast, and it draws its title from both a Dylan Thomas poem and a book about baseball. Host Janda Lane dives into the lyrics and backstory of this song about the girl who got away at summer’s end - and that Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac - in this episode of the Behind The Song podcast.
Music Producer: Christian Lane
Video Director: Michael Collier
Video Editor: Julian Romano
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About Janda:
Behind The Song podcast host and creator Janda Lane is a radio DJ at WDRV-FM in Chicago, the city she calls home with her husband and podcast partner, Christian Lane, and their two cats, Ollie and Liam. She is a transplant from Los Angeles, where she was a video director at Fender, Executive Producer at Yahoo Music, playlist curator for ITunes, worked in rock management with artists like the Foo Fighters and Beck, was on the radio at KCRW, and she was a DJ at online radio pioneer site Soundbreak. She has not worked a day in her life.
Follow Behind The Song on TikTok @behindthesongpodcast.
Follow Janda on Facebook and Instagram @jandalaneradio and on Twitter and TikTok @jandalane.
This song has ALWAYS hit me hard. It's a classic!
I always thought the song was about a guy in a seaside town where the girl he fancies is more interested in the guys who come to surf & hang out there during the tourist season, but he's telling her he'll be there for her when the summer is over & the place is quiet again.
me too
auch mir!
Could well be. It's all open to interpretation.
Your thoughts on this song, are right on, that is what this song is really about, lost love, regrets, redemption......still a stone cold classic,...........😊
Then, it would be about her love still being strong.
I think you're close...
When she said,"remembering the one that got away," I was struck by that. How many of us have had tat experience.
I wish I had a dollar for all the ones I let get away!
I think we all have that "one that got away", but everything happens for a reason
I'm 41 now and this has been my all time favorite song since I was a 10or 11yr old. Amazing tune;
I’m 47 and as a 9 year old girl I was just memorized 😍
You couldn’t imagine anyone else doing it.
I'm 52 an first heard in at the age of 13, an incredible song, always number 1 for me
Well explained!
One of Don Henley's greatest songs, with Mike Campbell's outstanding help. A rock masterpiece, it will be heard long after we're all gone.
It was more accurately Mike's song with Don's help 😂
A little voice inside my head said don't look back you can never look back
I am often reminded of my highschool sweetheart with this song. The "deadhead sticker on a Cadillac" is the line that attracted me to this song.
That’s the line that stands out so much to me too.
@@behindthesongpodcast ghosts lingering in the air, bittersweet
My love for GD will still be strong even when the Grateful Dead is no longer popular
I never knew the intention of that lyric but I've seen so many Deadheads take offense to it, they take it as a jab at the Dead as a nostalgia act. I always thought maybe it was deeper than that, something about the image of a stealie on a vehicle like a Cadillac and its image of status seeming incongruous. I guess I've been right all this time. Either way, the song is a bittersweet reminder for me of hippie girls and festival love in a different lifetime. Or maybe that's festival girls and hippie love, whichever.
This song is BEYOND GENIUS! Has to be in the top 5 songs ever written in my humble opinion!
Don has a college degree in English Literature....
It shines through in the music
Still my favorite song!
Great back story of one of the most memorable rock songs inb history. A truly haunting song.
Thank you for watching!
Heard this song live 5 times with the Eagles.... It is so so nostalgic.... memory provoking.....just Wonderful...... Amen....
Having a house at the NJ shore thinking about the last days of the summer when people clear out and those places becoming ghost towns during the off season. Always what this song meant to me
I get that, completely.
I grew up in a seaside tourist town. I lived a 5 minute walk to the beach, and during the summer there was always so much activity in the area, but when the tourists leave, it turns into a relative ghost town. There certainly is a "feel" about the end of summer when everyone goes back home and only the locals remain.
The sun goes down alone
i first heard this when i watched the video on mtv while laying on my grandmas couch when i was a kid. The song always stuck with me, that longing lonely hoping expression of something that was lost. Years later in the internet era, i listened to the song on youtube after my mom died and that expression really hit hard, decades later.
Henley visited this feeling again in the song 'Waiting in the Weeds' with opening line of "Its coming on the end of August...another summers promise almost gone. Though this song didn't make it like 'Boys of Summer' I always stop to listen when it comes by...hard to express an appreciation for their fine music all thru the years. Great job tying all the loose ends together for this ...
You’re so right. Thanks for watching. 🎶
Your right long road out of eden is great double album center of tge universe and rest of the songs
I agree about Waiting in the Weeds. It’s haunting and emotional, and possibly Don’s most beautiful song (along with The Heart of the Matter) (and Lilah) (and Talking to the Moon)
This song is perfect. It's melancholy, moody, sentimental, beautiful...perfect.
Thank you for the story of my very favorite song.
P.S. his "unplugged" version on Howard Stern is absolutely beautiful.
I’m glad! Thanks so much for watching!
Unplugged is usually defined as acoustic. The version you refer to, Don introduced as "a more thoughtful/contemplative version". And it is, I really like it, but it's far from unplugged.
I disagree. The "unplugged" version is horrible. His backup singers are helping him too much.
@@eldesgraciado6690 there is no unplugged/acoustic version of the song by Don I am aware of.
"Building the Perfect Beast" is a landmark album in my life. It's one of those rare amalgams which hold the key for hitting just the right sound and the right attitude at a very specific time in my life's memory bank. I loved every song on this album, which is a rarity in my experience only equaled by a small handful of artist's offerings. My top 3 songs on this superb Don Henley offering are 1. Sunset Grill 2. Driving with your eyes
closed, and 3. You can't make love. Thank you Janda Lane for this deeper look into one of my favorite Artist's and his "Once in a Lifetime" work.
Thank you, so glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for doing such a awesome job breaking down this song. You captured all the feelings this song hits for me. It’s time you can’t get back and moments you can’t relive.
I’m so glad to hear that. Thanks so much!
I love the rolling beat in this song. Great read on the lyrics. Really good work by Christian pulling out the memorable phrases! Off to listen to the song now!
Always loved this song. Then, when I had to put my dog down, this was the song playing on the radio when I started my car after coming out of the vets office. This song was always nostalgic, now every time I hear it, it's all about Zig, and that's O.K.
Janda, great job laying down the story of that song and a history of the Boys of Summer overall. I was in a Top 40 band at the time and sang it six times a week, Monday through Saturday night for a couple of years, with lots of heart felt solos throughout. One of my all time favorites for all the reasons provided and more. Thanks!
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Charlie! Happy to help you take a trip back through what sound like very good memories. Thanks for listeing!
❤❤❤❤❤ this song. Love the story behind it as well. Don's talent just gets better and better with time....
Excellent Professor Janda ! Amazing story! The Eagles were all too talented! I saw them in concert , live@ alpine Valley , 3rd Row. We was truly Blessed , courtesy of WLS -am ! Don Henley had a real successful career post - Eagles & as well as glen Frye ! By the way , all Cubs fans remember this song, for the Team had a record Finish, And played in the playoffs! The manager was Don Zimmer , and it was mentioned that the players were” the boys of Zimmer “ R & R !👏👏
The Boys Of Zimmer! Rock n Roll!
Nice of you to break it down. I just saw Mike Campbells post on it again the other night, and he says he " gets a call from Don on the way home" (straight after Don listens to it at his house) saying he had given him the best song of the last ten years. What blows me away is Don's capacity to immediately visualise a theme and create such great lyrics that tie in to an awesome track so quickly. What makes it so special and my favourite song, is that it has such an upbeat tempo with that drum machine, yet such a powerful nostalgia in the guitar and synthesizer, & of course Don's voice is the perfect bridge to these and the lyrics. This artistry is incredibly rare even amongst the established superstars and why the Eagles songs are such timeless hits.
I couldn’t agree more. The alchemy that happened to bring this song to life was something special. Timeless!
Musical geniuses / songwriters/ musicians like Don Henley can create and visualise great songs.
I remember an interview of Brian may on How the lead guitar riff of bohemian rhapsody came to him quickly because he already heard it inside his head ( visualization or audio )
Never stop creating Don, your songs are better than sermons, to the point and real
Very interesting bit of art history. I like the way you mix classic poems with song lyrics that have a similar theme and feeling of loss. You could also include Shakespeare's Sonnet 18: "Shall I compare thee to a summers day ?" I guess the comparison is more tenuous, but Summer and things lovely lost through the passage of time seem to be an immortal theme in art.
Excellent observation about the Shakespeare. Thanks so much for watching!
Campbell plays the most insane 1 bar lick right before the verse about the Deadhead sticker.
Agreed ‼️ Campbell's playing as exquisite as ever on this track... Larry Klein's fretless bass playing adds beauty & tension to this haunting + haunted track.. title this vid "BUILDING THE PERFECT SONG" 😎
Yesss 3:04 atrociously wicked
Wow, I loved listening to your story the same way as I love listening to this song!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this episode! Thank you 🎶
🎼 Boys of Summer on the radio 🎶 riding down Highway 1 in a convertible from Santa Monica to San Diego around sunset in the 80’s just before getting deployed overseas soaking up as much as possible of a romantic melancholy moment synchronizing life and song as one. Great memory.
I remember ignoring this song when it came out. I was into Madonna and the dancing fun stuff of the time. I was 14. I'm in my 50s now and I cant believe what a great song this is and how long it took me to realize it.
I think the “…saw a deadhead sticker on a Cadillac” also signifies him reflecting back on that time frame when he was with the girl in the song.
Thank you Mike Campbell for writing the music for that song.
I was a freshman in college...and played this over and over...as I wondered what my future would be lol. Great song
An appropriately memorable treatise of such an unforgettable song.
This and Free Falling by Tom Petty are two of my top nostalgia songs. It's neat to know Tom Rejected it.
Absolute love everything about this track
Well done, and great details about the song: origin, quotes, and lots of great adjectives! Thanks! Bob from Spokane Valley, WA USA
Great job! almost as beautiful as the song itself.
Thank you and thanks for watching!
This song has always put a lump in my throat. Still does.
I love when this song gets presentation, its so nostalgic, original, and amazing!
There’s just something about it! Glad you enjoyed the episode!
THANKS FOR THE GREAT ANALYSIS AND FACTS ABOUT ONE ON MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE SONGS FROM ONE OF THE GREATEST ROCK MUSICIANS...GREETINGS FROM MEXICO !!
Thanks for watching, I’m glad you liked this episode!
You did one of my all time favorite songs justice. I appreciate it even more now. You just gained another sub. Keep up the excellent work.
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you!
Wow! Im so blown away by your literary/ music analysis, I subscribed. Thank you
Thanks so much!
Incredible analysis. I knew a lot of this but your work here is brilliant. My all-time fave song and TP, my all-time fave artist, I love everything about this. Thank you.
Thank you and thanks so much for listening!
Love stuff like this. Enjoyed listening. Well done. One of my all time favorite songs.
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed this episode. There is a lot to unpack in this song.
I was 26 in 84' with the Sun setting over Crescent Bay in Laguna Beach as so many of us were riding along with Henley and that summer's ex.....
That was definitely 1of Those tunes.
These songs are like little time capsules for sure.
@@behindthesongpodcast Indeed!
@@behindthesongpodcast I'd heard It said before, then experienced it 1st hand to have it demonstrated to be true. The ONLY thing that brings a person back to that exact feeling of a certain moment, a stitch in time buried by the years more precisely than 1 of THOSE songs is a unique scent. Which has proven itself to me, similarly to Tip of the Tongue feeling Deja Vu.
Dylan Thomas was born and raised from my home town of Swansea, Wales so nice to hear him referenced and inspire one of my favourite songs
Thank you!
The love of my life was actually named Summer and the rest of the lyrics are so on the mark that I will probably never be able to listen to it. Even thirty years later that's how I feel.
Give it a listen.
Another amazing job relaying the ebb and flow of whatever is behind the music! Your analysis is spot-on and faultless! Well Done (again and again)!
Thank you so much!
Your video essays are so interesting and well presented that it makes me wonder what other writing you do.Thank you for them!
Thanks so much! This podcast takes up most of my writing time, but maybe one day I’ll be able to devote more time to other writing. Until then, thanks so much for watching!
I always enjoyed this song, though not in the genre I usually follow. The lyrics and mood are evocative, so real, to someone who was about the same age as Henley at that time. Campbell said the Heartbreakers found it too jazzy for what they were doing at the time. I would like to know what was in Campbell's demo. Did he have the melody or did Henley put the melody to his tracks? If Campbell had the melody, how was it done in the demo etc.?
It's such a good song. My attention was drawn to it more recently by the Irish band Bellx1 who do a lovely version of it. Thanks for the podcast.
Interesting to hear the back story to this song, a classic and one of my faves of Don Henley ,the music has something about it.
Glad you enjoyed it!
There are just a few perfect pop songs. This is certainly one of them.
I've gotta say, the UA-cam algorithm took WAY too long helping me find your channel, but I'm SO thankful it finally did. What a fantastic video about a great song. I can't wait to watch more of your content.. I subbed immediately after watching the video. THANK YOU for the work you put in making content.
Great work breaking down my favorite song! Remember the release and played that cassette
Countless times..
The live in melboure version is excellent!
Will always be regarded as a favorite!
So glad you enjoyed it! We also had this song on cassette!
Beautiful essay on one of my favorite Songs of my Youth! Mahalo!
Mahalo! I’m glad. Thank you 🎶
Phenomenal song, all time classic! Thank You for this great video!
Thank you, and thanks for watching!
One word sums up this song, I am not kidding, "Baby".
The Boys of Summer had a different meaning for me. Here on the Atlantic coast of Ireland we get a lot of tourists June July and August. Surfing is good and when the city guys arrived, the local guys hated it. The "boys of Summer" would swipe up all the good looking girls.
Wesht is besht!
Mike has ALWAYS been a MONSTER!!! Not the greatest PLAYER but an AMAZING song writer! Which I would MUCH RATHER BE CONSIDERED!!!
As a lawyer representing Summer, I’m filing for an injunction to stop Don Henley from using this season’s name in any live or recorded performance.
This is a great deep dive into a great song!
Thank you so much for this analysis. This song, those times and the experiences you touch on and just your way on camera speak so me on so many levels. Thank you for this review and your respect for the work.
Glad to hear it, thank you!
Love love love this. Refreshing to say the least. Subscription checked and liked. What a super great song and very cute host of my favorite channel.
Thank you so much!
Always loved the feel of this song. While enjoying Queens song Breakthrough I realized that Boys of Summer was the template for that Queen song... at least as far as the chorus goes
Thank you. My favorite song and was curious about what inspired it. I subscribed.
I’m so glad! Thank you and welcome aboard.
So interesting! Thanks. One of my favorite songs!!
Thanks for listening!
This is one of the songs on the soundtrack of my early years. Although I enjoy throughly your narrations, specifically Boston, Heart and John Cafferty... this one really hit me. I listened attentively and felt every moment.
Thank you
I was wanting the Mike Cambell and a musical expalnation. It' one of my favourite songs. Many musicins were in on this song. J D Souther and Camble mostly.
Have always loved this song - also liked the music video with the boy playing drums wearing his Wayfarers 😎
One of my favorite songs and I appreciate all this background information!
Glad you enjoyed it!
An insightful analysis, I always thought it was; "After the 'poison' summer has drawn" but then I also thought that the Police song 'So Lonely' was about Sue Lawley!
Oh the melancholia!
It's the Brooklyn Dodgers bit that made me cry.
It is a great tune , but it would be nothing without his lyrics.
That was such an engrossing backgrounder Janda! Thanks to the team that dug up the anecdotes and notes for you to stitch this one! Personally a lot of takeways for me, and not the least important one is knowing that the Toto guys were on this album of Don, among other greats. This song about the boys of summer, (summer means vacations, hanging out with friends, crushes and misses, love and heartbreak and such for one and all; and one really misses the summertime once it is gone), with a title that has a kind of universal appeal, has always been a favourite, and even my kids loved it the first time they heard it as kids. I love John Mayer's single 'Last Train Home' for its sheer nostalgic value and keep saying that it reminds me of the synth work and style of Toto's Africa and Boys Of Summer, and few other songs of that era. No wonder! I see the connections clearly now.
I’m glad you enjoyed this one! I do all my own notes, so double thanks 😊
Regarding Toto, they made their mark on an untold number of songs. It would be interesting to see a graphic showing how many hits for other artists that each band member recorded on!
@@behindthesongpodcast 😂Yup. The ToTo Tree! While 'influences' on an artist or band could be any or many, 'involvement' or co-creation is something that would be a greater measure of originality and outcomes. I love what Journey did for Michael Bolton on his 'Hunger' album. Truly epochal I felt.
@@behindthesongpodcast Am truly awed at your passion and commitment! That is indeed a lotta work to do.. writing such insightful notes about 'notes' ;)🎉
@@netknight27 Thanks so much! It is truly a labor of love.
@@netknight27 Hear hear!
Really well done! Thank you.
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Damn you done a great job with this , my fav song , awesome 😎 👍👍
Beautiful story of this beautiful, nostalgic song. Congratulations, lady.
What an excellent analogy. Quite engaging. Very well written. Love it!
I love these stories.
The baseball metaphor is not about "winning". It's about the game - the team - the comradery - the being there.
Very good explanation to one of my all time favorite songs. The pain I felt.
Very glad you enjoyed it.
At age 61, I bought my first pair of Wayfarers in 2024. An expensive set of prescription sunglasses. But no less the ultimate coolness statement that has lingered and I have longed for the past 40 years Fitting way to go since first hearing Boys of Summer in 1984 during my college years at age 22, graduation a short 2 years later.
The Wayfarers are no longer a dream or aspiration. Instead, like so many other dreams in life, they’re a reality that isn’t disappointing. Even if I paid a lot of money for a pair of sunglasses that I didn’t really need. No regrets. I’m good.
Great story !!!
after listening to this song story and how you told it, why I could not subscribe...so immediately, I did...
always thought that I knew most of the facts but you informed us of ALL and the complete story and I appreciate you ma'am...
this is one of the best song's ever recorded...
thankful...
Thanks so much!
thanks. that really hit the spot ... referring mostly to your analysis of this song
Thank you!
Excellent analysis!
Wonderful summary, thank you. Rather embarrassingly, since first hearing this song in the early '90s, I'd always thought the lyrics were "after the poison summer has gone". Seemed to fit within the loose context of the song, but now I'm very much corrected!
The great thing about misheard lyrics is that they often make just as much sense as the true lyric! Thanks for watching!
I would say this piece of excellance is my favorite song ever!
Love this song. ❤
Great mood composition,captured magic seems anxious with percussion and lead guitar, a true classic and lyrics better win first place
That was great!
Thank you!
Wow this Truelly Hit me Deep . To Julie R.
This was very interesting, thanks
So glad you enjoyed it!
Very good!!
Thanks a lot!
Great analysis to my favorite song
“Would always flicker in the narrator’s mind”. That’s a great line.
Thank you!
Beautifully done.
Thank you very much!
Awesome video, Janda!
Glad you liked it!!
know this song since my childhood, timeless song
Excellent!
Thank you!
Pure luck I got to see him on this tour. In an outdoor amphitheater that is long gone and those summers long gone also.