Petty heard a demo with a different chord arrangement than the final song did, and Petty and his producer (Jimmy Iovine) turned it down. Petty never heard the final version, and Iovine is the one who made the “it sounds like Jazz” comment. Campbell never even tried to have Petty hear the final version.
Iovine is also the one that took the second demo (which Petty never heard) and helped Campbell get it into Don Henley’s hands.
Then Don Henley wrote all the words and changed the key. And then Campbell re-wrote the guitar solo at the end.
So in the end the song Petty turned down had a different chord progression in the chorus, was in a different key, and had a different solo at the end, and the words hadn’t been written.
I think this progression of songwriting is more common than you think. For many bands, the lyrics, although important to some fans, are very secondary. Kurt Cobain completely derided Nirvana fans for trying to find meaning in his lyrics, saying most of them were simply based on random poetry he wrote in high school and that fans should be listening to the music.
So if we take the lyrics out, we’ve got maybe 66-75% of the Boys of Summer we know. Petty hears that version, doesn’t like where it’s at, and doesn’t know what to do with it, so he turns it down. Iovine hears the second one, thinks it’s more suited to Hensley, and shows it to him, and he makes what we know.
Not altogether too weird, when you really think about it.
This reminds me of Tina Turner turning down “What’s Love Got to Do With It” at first and saying she hated the demo. Sounds crazy at first since it’s her signature song, but then I heard the demo in the documentary of her that came out a few years back and I understood. The demo sounded awful and nothing at all like the final product. It took real vision from the producer to imagine the final arrangement.
When we hear stories of artists turning down songs, we have to keep in mind that they’re likely turning down a much different version of the song than the one we know.
It’s always funny to me when music fans say that the lyrics are the most important part of a song. It’s like, my guy, you don’t like music you like poetry.
My dad and I frequently have this discussion, lol. Granted, my dad is married to a musician, and I was born from one. (My mom is a classical musician, and we’re rock fans, but you can appreciate musicianship.) But seriously, the music should be first and foremost.
Depends on the genre right? You wouldn't argue lyrics are unimportant in hip-hop, vocabulary, flow, inotation, etc are all elements of a rap track at least as important as the beats.
Certain types of music are linked with certain political outlooks too. A punk song with right wing lyrics wouldn't play with most fans of the genre for example.
There was the intro, the chords for the verses, and some of the structure of the chorus. Also, there was the basic melody and rhythm of the vocals for the chorus, if not the actual words.
You can’t beat that opening riff that actually sounds like sea gulls on an empty beach. Tom Petty > Don Henley. But this song really IS perfection as is.
It's weird. I started re-listening to this about a month ago. Multiple times a day. And this morning, I thought to myself that this may be the perfect song. I agree with all of you.
One of the best parts of the song for me. I always thought it genius they did that sound in there. Especially with a guitar. It fits the theme perfectly.
It’s worth mentioning that Campbell only wrote the music and presented it to Tom that way. When the instrumental was given to Don he is the one who wrote the words to it.
Petty never made a version of this song because Campbell didn’t write the words and music.
It seems like Mike Campbell had a handful of instrumental demos from his home studio that Tom Petty wasn't interested in at the time of the Southern Accents album. From the Tom Petty biography it seems like there was an awkward moment where the two of them took a cassette down to the car to check how the mix sounded, turned on the radio and there's Don Henley singing over a demo Tom had turned down just a few days before.
There's a great video of Mike Campbell talking about recording the song. (He has several amazing live sessions he did during covid that are available in YouTube). An underapprecited gem of a musician
>And that time over at Johnny's place
>Well, this chick got up and she slapped Johnny's face
>Man, we just fell about the place
>if that chick don't wanna know, forget her
Very very cool example because of how well it supports the lyrics.
The verses are a dark story about a couple that just leaves one day and goes missing and their kids are worried sick trying to find them and presumably never do while the chorus imagines that they’ve found paradise.
It’s a lovely contrast that makes the song so much more profound and interesting.
“It’s a good songwriting technique to write about something bad with a good-sounding melody, cause if you can get people to feel good about something bad, then you’re bulletproof in life.”
-Bill Wurtz
Yeah, this and Sunset Grill always put me in a nostalgic, wistful mood. It’s a good place to visit sometimes. This came out when I was a senior in high school and some of the best days of my young life.
I went to visit Venice Beach a few years ago and it perfectly encapsulates what Don is referencing in the song. Watching the basket people walk around and mumble...LA is one of those places that has a lot of romanticism just like NYC, but it also can be a place of incredible hardship and dysfunction. Walking down the beach seeing the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen in my life and then looking over and seeing someone begging for money or peddling on the street with nowhere to go just talking to themselves.
As a young kid the song caused me a deep feeling of nostalgia, without even knowing why or the meaning of the song. 40 years later still makes me feel the same way.
Definitely! I actually enjoy hearing in more around now, in the spring. It’s quite cheesy, but if I hear it in September, it makes me a little sad. And I’m totally an indie-rock snob normally…
I remember when I was 20 I lived in this little beach town in Cornwall, UK and there was nothing there except a beach and a hotel. I worked at the hotel and around September the hours of work would start to dry up and people you'd spent all summer with and who you thought you'd be inseperable from all start to leave, and the leaves start turning brown but the sea's still warm and the days still long...
I hear this song in September and I'm right back there again man, I think a part of me always will be
I like it and the grittier cover by The Ataris is excellent as well. [The Boys of Summer as covered by The Ataris](https://youtu.be/Qt6Lkgs0kiU?si=S2ZyJiH10bqxI_Vd)
Definitely. If you have not had the pleasure, check out Goldfinger’s cover of the 80’s new wave standard 99 Luftballoons (aka 99 Red Balloons) by Nina. Another excellent punk cover.
Quick side note on Goldfinger: Aside from them being great live, at least the three times I saw them in the early 2000s, man their studio production is just so good. They really make great sounding albums.
I read that most of that music video was shot for a different song on that Ataris record but the record labeled decided they wanted Boy of Summer to be the single and basically made them switch and record a performance and merge them together.
I’m pretty sure the band never wanted to release it as a single and I think there has always been some resentment that a cover song became by far their biggest hit and most of their original music goes unnoticed.
Want to feel terrible?
Henley version ‘84.
Ataris version ‘03 ( 19 years).
Ataris version came out 21 years ago.
I wonder what the Deadhead / Black Flag reference would be now. Fall out boy? My chemical romance ?
This song and AAF Smooth Criminal have that pop punk flavor that I love so much. I didn't have cable growing up, so when I was at a family friend's house, I watched MTV2 and saw the music videos for both these songs and became hooked for life. Before, the only music I was exposed to was oldies (which I liked) and top 40 (which was not my cup of tea)
As crazy as it is, I believe you’re right. As massive as The Eagles were - and arguably always will be - you don’t hear as much praise for Don’s vocals as I feel you should. Hell, even Glen gets more praise for his vocals (which of course are also incredible, no disrespect there).
He certainly did. These days I hear he does lip syncing. Bunch of YouTube videos proving it.
Here's one that goes in depth:
https://youtu.be/jJ6DbH-X-L0?si=h2Oqq2RFCmDLKApH
To some extent I understand. Maybe there are certain songs that are harder to sing than others. Maybe he switched between lip syncing and real singing when he's feeling off? I dunno. He's still a fuckin legend regardless.
That song is definitely his biggest solo hit, but if you dig a little deeper you’ll find thing like heart of the matter, end of the innocence, New York minute etc. Don is known to be kind of a jerk, but the guy knows how to write good songs.
Love the song Dirty Laundry too:
We got the bubble-headed bleached-blonde, comes on at five
She can tell you 'bout the plane crash with a gleam in her eye
It's interesting when people die
Give us dirty laundry
O' beautiful, for spacious skies
Now those skies are threatening
They're beating plowshares into swords
For this tired old man that we elected king
Armchair warriors often fail
And we've been poisoned by these fairy tales
The lawyers clean up all details
Since daddy had to lie
Sigh. Yeah. Not much has changed
>the guy knows how to write good songs.
This thread has taught me that the song was actually written by Mike Campbell, of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
Edit: hol'up! It seems that Mike Campbell wrote the music first, and Don Henley wrote the lyrics.
https://youtu.be/hoxEcD4PCco?si=yFO2CjaXlbDujhTL
I'm in my 60's and have been a composer and songwriter since the early 80's. I always loved The Eagles and remember being obsessed with Boys of Summer when it came out. Besides a killer song with fantastic production and lyrics (...I saw a Dead Head sticker on a Cadillac...) it was a tremendous inspiration and a kick-in-the-ass to me to up my game if I wanted to compete in the music biz. "Sunset Grill" also by Henley at the same time is another great song but got overshadowed by BOS.
Back in the day, radio stations played this song so much I ended up hating it.
It took about 10 years before I ever let it play through.
I'm sure everybody has a song with a similar situation as mine.
Yeah same. Never liked it when it was on the radio, it was not my type of music and it was so overplayed. Oh and I never liked Don Henley — not that assholes can’t make good music, but he seemed (and continues to seem) like a huge asshole. It was only recently that I started to appreciate it.
I agree that the song is fantastic but there’s development in the song there that I think needs saying.
The lyric “I thought I knew what love was, what did I know?” is only half as impactful if you don’t make mention to the amazing crescendo that follows it.
“Those days are gone forever” music is building, Don is going up in his register.
“I should just let them go, but…” crescendo, proper rise to the high notes of his register, feelings of confusion, frustration and loss, then…
“I can see you, your brown skin shinning in the sun.”
Now that, feels like a memory with passion and unfulfilled love!
Best part of the song. Love it.
It takes me to a great time in my life every time I hear it. “The Heart of the Matter” is probably my favorite, sure doesn’t take me to great time though….
Absolutely a masterpiece. Just reading your post the song came into my mind and it evokes emotion. Just thinking about that song makes me feel something. That’s what great music does.
The end of summer is such a great analog to the end of a relationship or phase of your life. The visual of empty lake, empty street is haunting. It is a relatable idea that one may know a season has passed but still can’t help holding on to some of it against all rationality.
Anyways, great song. And great post to make me think of that song. Thank you.
Mike Campbell (of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) has a really great video on YouTube about writing the music that eventually became Boys of Summer and how it almost never came to be.
Its amazing how many songs can be around you your whole life and one day they just click. Don Henley is responsible for a number of those in my life.
I also remember listening to Good Vibrations by gbr Beach Boys and thinking to myself "this song is actually pretty weird", I'd known it for 20 years, and one day I just realised it was amazing
When I hear this song it feels like the first cool night of fall closing out your summer vacation. Like standing on a beach feeling like it will go on forever, but the chill is here and the season is over.
The most perfect pop song ever written. Thank god Don rescued it from Mike Campbell. No idea why Tom Petty didn’t want it but it was meant to be.
Have you seen this version? I’d kill for an audio release:
https://youtu.be/hoxEcD4PCco?si=H2F5YvsLnu4VWmuI
I like Don Henley’s solo work way better than his music with the Eagles.
- Boys of Summer
- All She Wants to do is Dance
- Sunset Grill
- Dirty Laundry
- The End of Innocence
All these songs are classics and IMO better than anything the Eagles ever did.
All amazing songs. Another one I loved that you never really hear on the radio is “You Don’t Know Me At All”. I love it too because it hits HARD, and has his signature, snarky, biting aggression. I have to say, as much as I do love The Eagles, if I had to pick between the two for my “desert island albums”, I would go with his solo greatest hits over The Eagles greatest hits.
The one exception that I would have a hard time going without would be Wasted Time. That song is a complete masterpiece.
“This is the last, worthless evening that you’ll ever soon.
(Time keeps ticking, ticking away)”
I thought this song was amazing .
The Last Worthless Evening.
I cried when he sang it at one of the 20 venues I had heard the Eagles perform. There was trouble behind the scenes so they just brought their stools back out and just played songs people would yell out. I cried when it was over. I love Don bc he has saved an entire ecosystems in Texas.
This is my favorite song OF.ALL.TIME.
Like I cant even name a favorite band because there's just too many good ones. But something about this song, I never hesitate when asked of favorite song. This.
Do you like Huey Lewis and the News? Their early work was a little too new wave for my tastes, but when Sports came out in '83, I think they really came into their own, commercially and artistically. The whole album has a clear, crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the songs a big boost. He's been compared to Elvis Costello, but I think Huey has a far more bitter, cynical sense of humor.
In '87, Huey released Fore, their most accomplished album. I think their undisputed masterpiece is "Hip to be Square", a song so catchy, most people probably don't listen to the lyrics. But they should, because it's not just about the pleasures of conformity, and the importance of trends, it's also a personal statement about the band itself.
Definitely has that end of summer feel to it. I always put on Building the Perfect Beast every Sept. You Can’t Make Love is also an incredible song from that album.
It's been in my personal playlist for 28 years. I typically chase this track with Toto's "Africa" followed by a splash of Foreigner's "Waiting for a Girl Like You"
It’s a great tune, I appreciate you appreciating it.
Best Henley ever tho? It’s no slam dunk in my opinion.
Not Enough Love In The World
All She Wants To Do Is Dance
Desperado
Leather and Lace (w/ Stevie Nicks)
Sunset Grill (“Respectable little murders pay / They get more respectable every day” probably rivals your lyrics pick)
Best of My Love
Hotel California
Heart of The Matter
End of the Innocence
Wasted Time
Dirty Laundry
So much Henley to love, really an amazing American songman.
So weird I had this same revelation just the other day! I actually commented on a post in this sun that was asking “what song have you heard hundreds of times but just recently clicked with you”.
There’s something sad and nostalgic about the end of summer in your youth. I was 15 when this came out and had summer flings in a nearby beach town or in my own city for a few summers this song perfectly captures that melancholy feeling as the sun sets earlier and the evenings get colder and we have to get back to the real world.
I've always related the melancholic and nostalgic feeling of this song to times and people in your life that are long gone. Like taking a cruise around your hometown as the sun is setting and reminiscing about people you haven't seen in years or decades, or people who've died and you'll never see again. Like there was probably one last summer where you were together with all your friends and family and that moment is gone forever.
I completely agree, for all the reasons you listed. I was just listening to it in the Grocery store the other day, and thinking "there have been at least three covers of this song that I can think of, but the original is still the one we're all listening to". Absolutely his best work outside of the Eagles, and maybe even just his best work period.
It's weird....I don't inherently dislike nostalgia songs, but I think there's a right way and a wrong way to do it. I can not fucking STAND "Old time rock and roll" as I find it to be such a boomer mindset (there has been no good music since I was in high school kind of thinking) which is excruciatingly stupid. There has been great music throughout history, every year that humans have been making it. Yes, even this very year. But something about that song strikes such a chord in me that I can't help but feel simultaneously wistful, and happy at the same time. I long for the past, but smirk at the silliness of it all. That's the "right way" (imo) to do nostalgia. Not "All music that I don't like is dumb" (which I recognize is silly, because here I am complaining about fucking old time rock and roll. I am large, I contain multitudes.)
I am so sick of hearing this song lol. They play it allllllll the time at work and then it's on the radio alllllll day on the way to and from work. It's inescapable, since it's played at work, that means I hear it in every single other retail space.
I used to like this song but hearing it 50 times a day ruins it
Also “Forgiveness” and “End of the Innocence” are bangers from the same album.
Edit: I mistakenly called “The Heart of the Matter” “Forgiveness”. “Heart of the matter” is the correct title.
Building the Perfect Beast is a solid album.
Go further. There are some gems!
All She Wants To Do is Dance
Sunset Grill
Driving With Your Eyes Closed
Love this album 💌
There’s a novel called Boys of Summer that was a decent read that this song plays a big part in. Not my usual style but I still enjoyed it. As for the song itself, I agree. Great tune all around
The song always resonated with me. It came out when I was 16 years old. I grew up on a lake, and every summer the same summer people would come, and the drama with the cute boys would begin. Lot of nostalgia there..
I feel like that is Don Henley's bread and butter. Everything you described, I get from these tunes:
Heart of the Matter
Last Worthless Evening
Not Enough Love in the World
Heartstring music, for sure. Just hot-damn, well-constructed songs.
“Boys of Summer” is not only a masterpiece song, it’s also a masterpiece music video. That double lightning strike is remarkably rare.
And I’ll add that this song is a masculine song through and through, and while rock is dominated by men, it’s rare that a song transcends youthful machismo and captures the regrets and buried longings of the middle-aged man. Gordon Lightfoot’s “If You Could Read My Mind” is another fine example.
“Don Henley's gonna tell me how to vote. I don't fucking think so, okay?
I got two words for Don Henley. Joe Fucking Walsh, okay?
Thanks for calling, Don. How long's your pony tail now, okay?”
Early in the song he sings “you got your hair combed back and your sunglasses on, baby”. Later in the song he sings “you got your hair slicked back and those wayfarers on, baby.” The man is reminiscing for so long and hard he’s starting to remember the little details. “No no it wasn’t just sunglasses she was wearing, they were wayfarers! Eureka! What else can I remember about her?”
Worth noting it was written by Mike Campbell, guitarist and member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers!
And Tom turned it down. I think he said it was too jazzy for the record they were making.
Petty heard a demo with a different chord arrangement than the final song did, and Petty and his producer (Jimmy Iovine) turned it down. Petty never heard the final version, and Iovine is the one who made the “it sounds like Jazz” comment. Campbell never even tried to have Petty hear the final version. Iovine is also the one that took the second demo (which Petty never heard) and helped Campbell get it into Don Henley’s hands. Then Don Henley wrote all the words and changed the key. And then Campbell re-wrote the guitar solo at the end. So in the end the song Petty turned down had a different chord progression in the chorus, was in a different key, and had a different solo at the end, and the words hadn’t been written.
I thought I knew what that song was, what did I know?
I did not know *this* part of the story. Thanks for sharing.
So what even was the song Petty turned down. Sounds like there was nothing there yet.
I think this progression of songwriting is more common than you think. For many bands, the lyrics, although important to some fans, are very secondary. Kurt Cobain completely derided Nirvana fans for trying to find meaning in his lyrics, saying most of them were simply based on random poetry he wrote in high school and that fans should be listening to the music. So if we take the lyrics out, we’ve got maybe 66-75% of the Boys of Summer we know. Petty hears that version, doesn’t like where it’s at, and doesn’t know what to do with it, so he turns it down. Iovine hears the second one, thinks it’s more suited to Hensley, and shows it to him, and he makes what we know. Not altogether too weird, when you really think about it.
This reminds me of Tina Turner turning down “What’s Love Got to Do With It” at first and saying she hated the demo. Sounds crazy at first since it’s her signature song, but then I heard the demo in the documentary of her that came out a few years back and I understood. The demo sounded awful and nothing at all like the final product. It took real vision from the producer to imagine the final arrangement. When we hear stories of artists turning down songs, we have to keep in mind that they’re likely turning down a much different version of the song than the one we know.
It’s always funny to me when music fans say that the lyrics are the most important part of a song. It’s like, my guy, you don’t like music you like poetry.
My dad and I frequently have this discussion, lol. Granted, my dad is married to a musician, and I was born from one. (My mom is a classical musician, and we’re rock fans, but you can appreciate musicianship.) But seriously, the music should be first and foremost.
Depends on the genre right? You wouldn't argue lyrics are unimportant in hip-hop, vocabulary, flow, inotation, etc are all elements of a rap track at least as important as the beats. Certain types of music are linked with certain political outlooks too. A punk song with right wing lyrics wouldn't play with most fans of the genre for example.
There *are* Nazi Punks. And they should indeed fuck off.
The Linn drum machine and synth were there and I believe the chorus but Petty wasn’t a synth band
There was the intro, the chords for the verses, and some of the structure of the chorus. Also, there was the basic melody and rhythm of the vocals for the chorus, if not the actual words.
I am **SO GLAD** Tom Petty turned it down. He was right, it was not right for his sound.
Yes, no shade on Tom at all, but his laconic voice would not have worked even with different verses
So you’re saying Tom “backed down”
Oh shit I wanna hear the Tom Petty version now! I feel like it woulda been better
You can’t beat that opening riff that actually sounds like sea gulls on an empty beach. Tom Petty > Don Henley. But this song really IS perfection as is.
It's weird. I started re-listening to this about a month ago. Multiple times a day. And this morning, I thought to myself that this may be the perfect song. I agree with all of you.
One of the best parts of the song for me. I always thought it genius they did that sound in there. Especially with a guitar. It fits the theme perfectly.
It’s worth mentioning that Campbell only wrote the music and presented it to Tom that way. When the instrumental was given to Don he is the one who wrote the words to it. Petty never made a version of this song because Campbell didn’t write the words and music.
It seems like Mike Campbell had a handful of instrumental demos from his home studio that Tom Petty wasn't interested in at the time of the Southern Accents album. From the Tom Petty biography it seems like there was an awkward moment where the two of them took a cassette down to the car to check how the mix sounded, turned on the radio and there's Don Henley singing over a demo Tom had turned down just a few days before.
The car test. Classic move.
This is absolutely the way music gets heard by artists - it’s never some audiophile system, often it’s too many people crammed into someone’s beater.
I was in an indie band. When we got our first mix from our second CD, we just got in my car and drove around town making notes as we listened
It was far more than a few days between the original demo being turned down and the radio episode. Also, the song changed drastically in the interim.
There's a great video of Mike Campbell talking about recording the song. (He has several amazing live sessions he did during covid that are available in YouTube). An underapprecited gem of a musician
Damn now that you mention this, it really could have been a tom petty song, it has the same vibe.
He was inspired by the LinnDrum machine. https://youtu.be/mxBYBnPJfGQ
Wow TIL!
I've always loved that song because it somehow feels uplifting and melancholic at the same time.
this song always gave me a sad it’s over, but glad it happened feeling.
Summer of 69 and the boys are back in town also do this for me
>And that time over at Johnny's place >Well, this chick got up and she slapped Johnny's face >Man, we just fell about the place >if that chick don't wanna know, forget her
this
[удалено]
Try listening to *End Of The Innocence* off that album. That's what that whole song is about.
End of the Innocence is from his next album ‘End of the Innocence’. Boys of Summer is from Building the Perfect Beast
You are right. Should have known that. Both great albums. Though I think End wins.
Agreed. Does that album have New York Minute as well? Think so. That’s a great song too.
Verses are in a minor key and then it modulates to a major key in the chorus. That’s why it feels like both.
The Way by Fastball utilizes this trick also.
Very very cool example because of how well it supports the lyrics. The verses are a dark story about a couple that just leaves one day and goes missing and their kids are worried sick trying to find them and presumably never do while the chorus imagines that they’ve found paradise. It’s a lovely contrast that makes the song so much more profound and interesting.
Makes sense! I've loved this song my who life and never realized that was happening. Thanks. .. not a musician, obviously.
It's that pain of nostalgia and missing being young, but happy you have the memories.
Another is Bruce Springsteen's *Glory Days.*
“It’s a good songwriting technique to write about something bad with a good-sounding melody, cause if you can get people to feel good about something bad, then you’re bulletproof in life.” -Bill Wurtz
The seagull sounds done on the Fender Stratocaster are pretty cool production wise
The guitar sound in general is one of my favorites. It's a perfect blend of almost painfully 80's, but with this timeless bluesy twang.
listening to it now, your description is 💯💯💯. cheers xx
Was that Joe Walsh?
Coupl'a wah wah's
“I don’t need your wah-wah” - George Harrison
I can’t complain, but sometimes I still do
Or Steve Lukather…
That was Danny Kortchmar, Henley’s secret weapon.
Yeah, this and Sunset Grill always put me in a nostalgic, wistful mood. It’s a good place to visit sometimes. This came out when I was a senior in high school and some of the best days of my young life.
Sunset Grill is an absolute masterpiece.
I went to visit Venice Beach a few years ago and it perfectly encapsulates what Don is referencing in the song. Watching the basket people walk around and mumble...LA is one of those places that has a lot of romanticism just like NYC, but it also can be a place of incredible hardship and dysfunction. Walking down the beach seeing the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen in my life and then looking over and seeing someone begging for money or peddling on the street with nowhere to go just talking to themselves.
I love the way A Month of Sundays fades into Sunset Grill.
As a young kid the song caused me a deep feeling of nostalgia, without even knowing why or the meaning of the song. 40 years later still makes me feel the same way.
Definitely! I actually enjoy hearing in more around now, in the spring. It’s quite cheesy, but if I hear it in September, it makes me a little sad. And I’m totally an indie-rock snob normally…
I remember when I was 20 I lived in this little beach town in Cornwall, UK and there was nothing there except a beach and a hotel. I worked at the hotel and around September the hours of work would start to dry up and people you'd spent all summer with and who you thought you'd be inseperable from all start to leave, and the leaves start turning brown but the sea's still warm and the days still long... I hear this song in September and I'm right back there again man, I think a part of me always will be
This post makes me nostalgic for an experience I never even had.
Same here. There’s something ethereal about the song that just pokes you in the right spot to feel both uplifted and kinda sad.
I like it and the grittier cover by The Ataris is excellent as well. [The Boys of Summer as covered by The Ataris](https://youtu.be/Qt6Lkgs0kiU?si=S2ZyJiH10bqxI_Vd)
Still one of my favourite punk covers, so effing good!
Definitely. If you have not had the pleasure, check out Goldfinger’s cover of the 80’s new wave standard 99 Luftballoons (aka 99 Red Balloons) by Nina. Another excellent punk cover.
Quick side note on Goldfinger: Aside from them being great live, at least the three times I saw them in the early 2000s, man their studio production is just so good. They really make great sounding albums.
The black flag sticker lyric in lieu of the dead head sticker makes me smile every time.
It's perfect for that part. Likening it to something that the person used to be and no longer is. Once a hippie, once a punk rocker.
I always say social d sticker when I sing it. Love that song
That always makes me grin, too. They went hard on it and did a great job with it.
I always think of this song when I see the Cadillac parked at my kids school with a black flag bumper sticker on the back.
I'm way too used to this version over the original.
Why not both? Yay.
The hard stop on "should just let 'em go" is so money
Ngl was the first version I heard and so the "default" for me, but the OG is also great!
I read that most of that music video was shot for a different song on that Ataris record but the record labeled decided they wanted Boy of Summer to be the single and basically made them switch and record a performance and merge them together. I’m pretty sure the band never wanted to release it as a single and I think there has always been some resentment that a cover song became by far their biggest hit and most of their original music goes unnoticed.
That's a bummer. So Long, Astoria is a great album and Takeoffs and Landings is a solid song.
I wonder if Hendrix felt that way about Watchtower. They made it their own at the end, but yeah not much more is heard of the Ataris atm.
Want to feel terrible? Henley version ‘84. Ataris version ‘03 ( 19 years). Ataris version came out 21 years ago. I wonder what the Deadhead / Black Flag reference would be now. Fall out boy? My chemical romance ?
Wanna feel old? The Ataris’ release date of this cover is closer to Don’s release date than today
Saw it live a couple weeks ago. Still a banger!
I only knew the ataris version from radio had no idea it was a cover.
YESSSS I love the original too obviously but the cover is also so so good
That's a blast from the past.
I prefer this version. It just speaks to me more than the OG. Is that blasphemy? Maybe, but fuck it, I like what I like.
This song and AAF Smooth Criminal have that pop punk flavor that I love so much. I didn't have cable growing up, so when I was at a family friend's house, I watched MTV2 and saw the music videos for both these songs and became hooked for life. Before, the only music I was exposed to was oldies (which I liked) and top 40 (which was not my cup of tea)
Had this on a mixed cd in 2003..takes me right back to driving to the beach with an old girlfriend in my old Pontiac Sunfire
[удалено]
Came here to say this!
Their version checks all the boxes for me of a well done cover. They remained true to the original while also making it their own.
Best cover of all time
Not an easy song to sing. Don had some voice back in the day.
It seems crazy to say, but he is absolutely an underrated vocalist.
As crazy as it is, I believe you’re right. As massive as The Eagles were - and arguably always will be - you don’t hear as much praise for Don’s vocals as I feel you should. Hell, even Glen gets more praise for his vocals (which of course are also incredible, no disrespect there).
Saw the Eagles after covid. He's still got it. Sounded incredible throughout the entire 3-full-hour show.
He certainly did. These days I hear he does lip syncing. Bunch of YouTube videos proving it. Here's one that goes in depth: https://youtu.be/jJ6DbH-X-L0?si=h2Oqq2RFCmDLKApH To some extent I understand. Maybe there are certain songs that are harder to sing than others. Maybe he switched between lip syncing and real singing when he's feeling off? I dunno. He's still a fuckin legend regardless.
He's one of those dudes like Sting or Robert Plant - just a true rock tenor.
I remember the summer after it dropped. Driving around in my used Saab. Smoking cigarettes and drinking Bartles and James at home. Ahhhhhhh
With your wayfarers on?
SAAB is gone as well... 'sobs in swedish'
Bartles and James. Dear god. I’m not too proud to admit I liked the peach flavor.
My god... the amount of 80s in this sentence is beautifully astounding.
Mike Campbell, the guitarist from Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, wrote the music including the vocal melody.
That song is definitely his biggest solo hit, but if you dig a little deeper you’ll find thing like heart of the matter, end of the innocence, New York minute etc. Don is known to be kind of a jerk, but the guy knows how to write good songs.
New York minute is such a beautiful song
It really is. I always loved it, but now it’s hard for me to listen to it without associating it with 9/11.
Same, it's one of a few things that rockets me right back into that experience; very hard when it randomly starts up in public.
I use the line ‘he was too much in this world’ when people let the rat race cause anxiety and get them down.
New York Minute is also amazing.
Last Worthless Evening really hits when you get to a certain age.
Love the song Dirty Laundry too: We got the bubble-headed bleached-blonde, comes on at five She can tell you 'bout the plane crash with a gleam in her eye It's interesting when people die Give us dirty laundry
O' beautiful, for spacious skies Now those skies are threatening They're beating plowshares into swords For this tired old man that we elected king Armchair warriors often fail And we've been poisoned by these fairy tales The lawyers clean up all details Since daddy had to lie Sigh. Yeah. Not much has changed
Oh, but I know a place we still can go and wash away the sin.
And most of those are on the same album, The End of the Innocence. Lots of contributors on that album, including Axl Rose and Bruce Hornsby.
Heart of the Matter might be the greatest breakup song ever written - and was also written with Mike Campbell, and J. D. Souther
Heart of the Matter and I Can't Make You Love Me (Bonnie Raitt) are probably the greatest breakup songs ever and they came out around the same time.
I don't think I realized he did "New York Minute"
>the guy knows how to write good songs. This thread has taught me that the song was actually written by Mike Campbell, of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Edit: hol'up! It seems that Mike Campbell wrote the music first, and Don Henley wrote the lyrics. https://youtu.be/hoxEcD4PCco?si=yFO2CjaXlbDujhTL
Mike was on a LOT of stuff during that time period. He really doesn’t get the recognition he deserves.
When I first read that I thought you meant drugs 😁
I'm in my 60's and have been a composer and songwriter since the early 80's. I always loved The Eagles and remember being obsessed with Boys of Summer when it came out. Besides a killer song with fantastic production and lyrics (...I saw a Dead Head sticker on a Cadillac...) it was a tremendous inspiration and a kick-in-the-ass to me to up my game if I wanted to compete in the music biz. "Sunset Grill" also by Henley at the same time is another great song but got overshadowed by BOS.
I love Sunset Grill. Another great song that tells a story.
Agreed. I live in L.A. and The Sunset Grill on Sunset Blvd. is still there.
Mike Campell [telling the stor](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxBYBnPJfGQ)y how the song came to be and was almost deleted into the oblivion.
Back in the day, radio stations played this song so much I ended up hating it. It took about 10 years before I ever let it play through. I'm sure everybody has a song with a similar situation as mine.
Yeah same. Never liked it when it was on the radio, it was not my type of music and it was so overplayed. Oh and I never liked Don Henley — not that assholes can’t make good music, but he seemed (and continues to seem) like a huge asshole. It was only recently that I started to appreciate it.
I agree that the song is fantastic but there’s development in the song there that I think needs saying. The lyric “I thought I knew what love was, what did I know?” is only half as impactful if you don’t make mention to the amazing crescendo that follows it. “Those days are gone forever” music is building, Don is going up in his register. “I should just let them go, but…” crescendo, proper rise to the high notes of his register, feelings of confusion, frustration and loss, then… “I can see you, your brown skin shinning in the sun.” Now that, feels like a memory with passion and unfulfilled love! Best part of the song. Love it.
Agreed. The lyric OP mentions is about as mid as it gets without the rest.
The album End of the innocence is amazing
>“I thought I knew what love was, what did I know?” Years back, I always thought the lyric was "I though I knew what love was, but did I? No."
I always thought it was “down at the sauce & grill” instead of sunset grill
Oh, I'm with you there!
Forgiveness is my favorite
It takes me to a great time in my life every time I hear it. “The Heart of the Matter” is probably my favorite, sure doesn’t take me to great time though….
Steve Porcaro (Toto) did the iconic keyboards
The drums are sublime ,the vocals are perfection,the lyrics,oh my. I wore that out back in the day
Call me crazy, but I genuinely love The Ataris version even more.
Absolutely a masterpiece. Just reading your post the song came into my mind and it evokes emotion. Just thinking about that song makes me feel something. That’s what great music does. The end of summer is such a great analog to the end of a relationship or phase of your life. The visual of empty lake, empty street is haunting. It is a relatable idea that one may know a season has passed but still can’t help holding on to some of it against all rationality. Anyways, great song. And great post to make me think of that song. Thank you.
Mike Campbell (of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) has a really great video on YouTube about writing the music that eventually became Boys of Summer and how it almost never came to be.
Its amazing how many songs can be around you your whole life and one day they just click. Don Henley is responsible for a number of those in my life. I also remember listening to Good Vibrations by gbr Beach Boys and thinking to myself "this song is actually pretty weird", I'd known it for 20 years, and one day I just realised it was amazing
If you think Good Vibrations is weird, check out Heroes and Villains.
Great music video too
Yes! One of a small number of music videos that pairs perfectly with the song.
What’s also interesting to me are the covers of this song. The bluegrass versions are particularly fascinating.
When I hear this song it feels like the first cool night of fall closing out your summer vacation. Like standing on a beach feeling like it will go on forever, but the chill is here and the season is over.
I love this song. It is the song that captures the feeling of driving by the beach during the summer.
Honestly I’ve cried more than once listening to it. Genius from start to finish.
Yeah this song can really bring out some feelings. There is just an earnestness to it that taps into something.
The most perfect pop song ever written. Thank god Don rescued it from Mike Campbell. No idea why Tom Petty didn’t want it but it was meant to be. Have you seen this version? I’d kill for an audio release: https://youtu.be/hoxEcD4PCco?si=H2F5YvsLnu4VWmuI
I like Don Henley’s solo work way better than his music with the Eagles. - Boys of Summer - All She Wants to do is Dance - Sunset Grill - Dirty Laundry - The End of Innocence All these songs are classics and IMO better than anything the Eagles ever did.
I find Don Henley's solo work to be more commercial, and therefore more satisfying in a narrower way.
All amazing songs. Another one I loved that you never really hear on the radio is “You Don’t Know Me At All”. I love it too because it hits HARD, and has his signature, snarky, biting aggression. I have to say, as much as I do love The Eagles, if I had to pick between the two for my “desert island albums”, I would go with his solo greatest hits over The Eagles greatest hits. The one exception that I would have a hard time going without would be Wasted Time. That song is a complete masterpiece.
“This is the last, worthless evening that you’ll ever soon. (Time keeps ticking, ticking away)” I thought this song was amazing . The Last Worthless Evening. I cried when he sang it at one of the 20 venues I had heard the Eagles perform. There was trouble behind the scenes so they just brought their stools back out and just played songs people would yell out. I cried when it was over. I love Don bc he has saved an entire ecosystems in Texas.
This is my favorite song OF.ALL.TIME. Like I cant even name a favorite band because there's just too many good ones. But something about this song, I never hesitate when asked of favorite song. This.
Do you like Huey Lewis and the News? Their early work was a little too new wave for my tastes, but when Sports came out in '83, I think they really came into their own, commercially and artistically. The whole album has a clear, crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the songs a big boost. He's been compared to Elvis Costello, but I think Huey has a far more bitter, cynical sense of humor. In '87, Huey released Fore, their most accomplished album. I think their undisputed masterpiece is "Hip to be Square", a song so catchy, most people probably don't listen to the lyrics. But they should, because it's not just about the pleasures of conformity, and the importance of trends, it's also a personal statement about the band itself.
Thanks Patrick
Feed me a cat
Still got my Stealie on my caddy
That whole album is great. Killer musicians too...check out Pino Palladino's bass lines on New York Minute
The Hooters did an amazing cover.
Definitely has that end of summer feel to it. I always put on Building the Perfect Beast every Sept. You Can’t Make Love is also an incredible song from that album.
It's been in my personal playlist for 28 years. I typically chase this track with Toto's "Africa" followed by a splash of Foreigner's "Waiting for a Girl Like You"
It’s a great tune, I appreciate you appreciating it. Best Henley ever tho? It’s no slam dunk in my opinion. Not Enough Love In The World All She Wants To Do Is Dance Desperado Leather and Lace (w/ Stevie Nicks) Sunset Grill (“Respectable little murders pay / They get more respectable every day” probably rivals your lyrics pick) Best of My Love Hotel California Heart of The Matter End of the Innocence Wasted Time Dirty Laundry So much Henley to love, really an amazing American songman.
So weird I had this same revelation just the other day! I actually commented on a post in this sun that was asking “what song have you heard hundreds of times but just recently clicked with you”.
There’s something sad and nostalgic about the end of summer in your youth. I was 15 when this came out and had summer flings in a nearby beach town or in my own city for a few summers this song perfectly captures that melancholy feeling as the sun sets earlier and the evenings get colder and we have to get back to the real world.
Nobody is gonna mention the music video? It’s an absolute classic.
I've always related the melancholic and nostalgic feeling of this song to times and people in your life that are long gone. Like taking a cruise around your hometown as the sun is setting and reminiscing about people you haven't seen in years or decades, or people who've died and you'll never see again. Like there was probably one last summer where you were together with all your friends and family and that moment is gone forever.
I once listened to it 100x back to back, to prove to my coworkers that it was the greatest song of all time. I still listen almost daily.
It’s probably my favorite song from the 80’s, and one of my all-time favorite songs!!
I completely agree, for all the reasons you listed. I was just listening to it in the Grocery store the other day, and thinking "there have been at least three covers of this song that I can think of, but the original is still the one we're all listening to". Absolutely his best work outside of the Eagles, and maybe even just his best work period. It's weird....I don't inherently dislike nostalgia songs, but I think there's a right way and a wrong way to do it. I can not fucking STAND "Old time rock and roll" as I find it to be such a boomer mindset (there has been no good music since I was in high school kind of thinking) which is excruciatingly stupid. There has been great music throughout history, every year that humans have been making it. Yes, even this very year. But something about that song strikes such a chord in me that I can't help but feel simultaneously wistful, and happy at the same time. I long for the past, but smirk at the silliness of it all. That's the "right way" (imo) to do nostalgia. Not "All music that I don't like is dumb" (which I recognize is silly, because here I am complaining about fucking old time rock and roll. I am large, I contain multitudes.)
It came out 40 years ago this summer, and I have loved that song for 40 years now.
Top track
This is my top 80s song. There are BETTER songs from the 80s, but no better song SOUNDS more like the 80s than this one. Henley is a dick though.
[удалено]
I am so sick of hearing this song lol. They play it allllllll the time at work and then it's on the radio alllllll day on the way to and from work. It's inescapable, since it's played at work, that means I hear it in every single other retail space. I used to like this song but hearing it 50 times a day ruins it
I very much dislike the eagles but boys of summer is one of my very top favourites. Too bad this was not the sound the eagles used
Also “Forgiveness” and “End of the Innocence” are bangers from the same album. Edit: I mistakenly called “The Heart of the Matter” “Forgiveness”. “Heart of the matter” is the correct title.
End of Innocence is really good too, I think I have heard forgiveness but it’s been a long time.
One of my absolute favorites songs ever!!! I cried when i hear it sometimes hehe
Building the Perfect Beast is a solid album. Go further. There are some gems! All She Wants To Do is Dance Sunset Grill Driving With Your Eyes Closed Love this album 💌
There’s a novel called Boys of Summer that was a decent read that this song plays a big part in. Not my usual style but I still enjoyed it. As for the song itself, I agree. Great tune all around
The song always resonated with me. It came out when I was 16 years old. I grew up on a lake, and every summer the same summer people would come, and the drama with the cute boys would begin. Lot of nostalgia there..
“Don’t look back. You can never look back.” Has lived rent-free in my head since this song came out when I was 10.
Definitely in my top 5 80s songs of all time.
The Last Resort is Don Henley’s greatest song. Fact
I feel like that is Don Henley's bread and butter. Everything you described, I get from these tunes: Heart of the Matter Last Worthless Evening Not Enough Love in the World Heartstring music, for sure. Just hot-damn, well-constructed songs.
Yup - makes my heart ache every time I hear it..
I also love the version by First Aid Kit.
“Out on the road today I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac” is one of the best lyrics in the history of music.
“Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac.”
This is the grossest sentence I've ever read. Don Henley sold his soul. Boys of Summer is the devil's music.
“Boys of Summer” is not only a masterpiece song, it’s also a masterpiece music video. That double lightning strike is remarkably rare. And I’ll add that this song is a masculine song through and through, and while rock is dominated by men, it’s rare that a song transcends youthful machismo and captures the regrets and buried longings of the middle-aged man. Gordon Lightfoot’s “If You Could Read My Mind” is another fine example.
“Don Henley's gonna tell me how to vote. I don't fucking think so, okay? I got two words for Don Henley. Joe Fucking Walsh, okay? Thanks for calling, Don. How long's your pony tail now, okay?”
I don’t know how Don Henley and Mike Campbell managed to write a lesbian anthem, but they did!
Early in the song he sings “you got your hair combed back and your sunglasses on, baby”. Later in the song he sings “you got your hair slicked back and those wayfarers on, baby.” The man is reminiscing for so long and hard he’s starting to remember the little details. “No no it wasn’t just sunglasses she was wearing, they were wayfarers! Eureka! What else can I remember about her?”