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Don Henley – The Boys of Summer Lyrics 11 years ago
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 driving by your house
Though I know that you're not home.

COMMENT: Mental backdrop set, narration...

But I can see you, Your brown skin shining in the sun.
You got your hair combed back And your sunglasses on, baby.
I can tell you my love for you will still be strong
After the boys of summer have gone.
COMMENT: So he's got a vivid mental picture of a girl...stirs up strong emotional feelings...first reference to "the boys of summer"...who are they ...or WHAT may they represent?



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.
COMMENT: self-explanatory aye

I don't understand what happened to our love.But, baby, I'm gonna get you back,
I'm gonna show you what I'm made of.
COMMENT: So after the night of romance she obviously moved on...but he was stuck on her.

I can see you, Your brown skin shining in the sun.
I see you walking real slow And you're smiling at everyone.
And I can tell you my love for you will still be strong
After the boys of summer have gone.
COMMENT: A clearer picture of the character is given here, she's confident, sultry, beautiful young skin, gregarious, well liked, fun loving...Second reference to TBOS...

Out on the road today I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac.
COMMENT: I simply think it gives us a date reference to the late 60's early 70's

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 'em go, but
COMMENT: Mentally he knows it wasn't really LOVE, trying to talk himself out of it...but...here comes that glorious vision again...

I can see you, Your brown skin shining 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.
COMMENT: just more mental snapshots of her in this typical summer setting at the shore...

I can see you, Your brown skin shining in the sun.
You got that hair slicked back, And those Wayfarers on, baby.
COMMENT: Additional visual info...reference to the brand name sunglasses "Wayfarer" helps identify the approximate years this scene occurred.
And I can tell you my love for you will still be strong,
After the boys of summer have gone.
COMMENT: final reference to "the boys of summer"...

CONCLUSION: The phrase "Boys of Summer"...I think it is just a poetic, more drawn out, rhythmic way to say Summer. Having said that, for me it's kinda' cool because when I hear that phrase TBOS, I immediately think of the end of the Baseball season, as baseball players are referred to as "the boys of summer".

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