Due to a publisher block, we are not authorized to display these lyrics.


Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae, edited by robotdino, anintellectual

The Boys of Summer song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

122 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +6
    My Interpretation

    Whoa, fasten yr safety belts, because my interpretation of this haunting song was always way, way different that anyone else's! In the late 1950s I hit the road and got involved in the urban folk scene, doing a lot of writing and backup guitar stuff, deeply influence by the Beat Generation writers but also by the emerging folk-rock sound in LA and New York. I got into the habit of working summers at resorts, usually by a lake or by the ocean, through the summer season, then collecting unemployment in the winter. You'd always have a wonderful and incredibly sweet romantic fling with one of the college girls during the summer--the hottest memories imaginable--then you'd go visit them in their university digs, and they'd show you off to their college friends. Then in a couple of months, when the chilly winds started to blow, they get tired of you and send you on your way. (No complaints here, cause I wrote some nice songs behind it.)

     Anyway, after the last chorus of 'Don't Think Twice' on the summer love affair, ("don't look back, you never look back") you'd hit the road to New York to see what the boys and girls were singing in the Village at Gerde's Folk City and maybe the Cafe Whah, and then you'd go back to California Dreamin' to work all winter on the songs or the novel you were writing, or whatever...until the resort season started the next summer. And when you had a little spare time, you'd be trying to get traction with the folk-rock group you were organizing. Of course, you were poor as a church mouse throughout this entire process, because those were the dues you were paying.
    
     In those days, late 1950s and on through the 1960s, it was easy to go to a dealership and sign a contract to drive a car across country to a prospective customer on the east coast. (The dealerships even advertized for drivers in the newspaper classified ads.) This practice was commonly called 'deadheading' a car, 'cause you'd only drive it one way, then have to make an arrangement to 'deadhead' another car back wherever you came from. The license plates for such cars were a little weird, so the dealers would commonly put a 'deadhead' sticker on the vehicle so the cops down south wouldn't throw you under the jail, and you didn't have to stop at the weight stations with all the eighteen wheelers...so, long story shorter, I always assumed that's where the line about the "deadhead sticker on the Cadillac" came from. I did the old deadhead with many a Cadillac, I can tell you. Many a make-out session and more with young ladies requesting a road trip with an honest-to-goodness singer-songwriter. Memories, beautiful memories, and again lots of songs came out of it...
    
     I have made it a point to remember the name of every young lady I kissed or made love to. They were all beautiful, even more so in memory. I am just sorry that I couldn't have written a song for every one of them. They deserved it, for being so young and so lovely.
    
     Anyway, I got the hell out of the music business in 1967 in San Francisco, when I realized that there were too many substances to abuse, and that I couldn't handle it. I roamed the earth doing every kind of journalism, and writing books as well. One day a beautiful Filipino lady took me off the road, nursed me back to health, married me, and shared her food, her home, and her life with me. I'm one lucky old man, and I know it. 
    
     But I'll never forget those wild years. Had a partner whose slogan was, "Screw philosophy! People just want to have fun!" And we did. So for me, Don Henley's haunting song reminds me of those nine crazy years between 1958 and 1967. To me the references to empty streets and the empty beaches refers to the end of the resort season, when the beautiful college girls would go back home. (And there's nothing that generates feelings of loneliness and abandonment like a resort town at the end of the season.) The college girls would think about the boys of their summer, and maybe you'd talk on the telephone, then you'd deadhead a car to wherever they were, and carry the torch a bit longer. The brown-tanned skin, the idea of a special love in a special place where the laws of physics and of human societies don't really apply, that's all in the song. It's about thinking about the past, big-time, and appreciating what you had but wanting to go back, just a little. Just enough to have that feeling again. 
    
     The fact that this song has so many cultural reference points for me that probably don't exist for anybody else, just goes to who how a really good lyric is likely to be completely universal. Don Henley and so many other writers of his generation were great poets, in their own way. But for me the very best will always be the Boss, since Springsteen seemed to accomplish what Bob Dylan wanted to do but never could--Springsteen had the longing, the crazy sexual electricity, but also managed to include the love of social justice that drove people in the 1960s and 1970s. But Henley came close, in this song and also 'Sunset Grill,' which has the same California moodiness. I really like his compassion for people who are sometimes on the losing end of the social spectrum.
    SongDreamson April 11, 2013   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Son Şansın - Şarkı Sözleri
Hayalperest
This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere. In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
Album art
Holiday
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday". I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Album art
Magical
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Album art
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Album art
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it. “I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.