Summertime

It's that time of year again. The sun is out, the temperature is rising, clothes are shrinking and getting thinner and seasonal songs are getting played on the radio.
The song I always listen out for to singnal the start of summer is that great song by Don Henley, Boys of Summer (The music was written by Mike Campbell from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.)  I remember buying the 7" single in the record shop, that now dying breed of retail outlet. I spent many hours in the record shops, flicking through the racks of vinyl searching for something to catch my eye. If it did I'd pluck it out of the rack and, if it wasn't too busy, I'd ask the guy behind the counter to play some of it for me. Those independent record shops were a treat. They always had an ambience to them. You know that the guy behind the counter, usually with coffee in hand, was there because they were an enthusiast too. An aficionado of music. They were someone that you could ask questions of. They would order you that obscure record from the thick catalogue behind the counter. They were always much more than a simple shop. See, I’m off on a tangent again!



The Boys of Summer was released in October 1984. This is one of the reasons that I always listen out for as the weather changes – it’s so out of place! Other summer songs are always bright and bouncy, enticing listeners to frolic and catch the rays whilst Boys of Summer is much more haunting.
The theme of the song is an introspective. A change between the ages of man, youth to middle age (a good reason that it means more to me as the years go on), and looking back. It also speaks of that permanence of emotion in the hook line of the chorus “My love for you will still be strong, After the Boys of Summer are gone”. When it first came out it struck a chord with the 15 year old me. I wondered about relationships, watched girls I was too shy to speak to spending time with the boys on holiday, thinking that I could, and would, offer that feeling for more than just a few weeks. Ah, that imagination of youth!
It is, without doubt, one of my favourite songs. I saw the Eagles playing Wembley Stadium in 1996. They were supported by the excellent Kenny Wayne Shepherd – a fantastic young blues player. Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh and Don Henley all performed a couple of numbers from their solo material. Needless to say this song was performed and pretty much made my day.



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 drivin' by your house
Though I know you're not home

I can see you
Your brown skin shinin' in the sun
You got your hair combed back and your
sunglasses on, baby
And I can tell you my love for you will still be strong
after the boys of summer have gone

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's happened to our love,
But babe I'm gonna get you back
I'm gonna show you what I'm made of

I can see you
Your brown skin shinin' in the sun
I see you walkin' real slow and you're
smilin' at everyone
I can tell you my love for you will still be strong
after the boys of summer have gone

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

I can see you
Your brown skin shinin' in the sun
You got that top pulled down and that
radio on baby
And 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 shinin' in the sun
You got that 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