The Fading Youth in “The Boys Of Summer” by Don Henley

Few songs capture the end of summer like “The Boys Of Summer.” With lyrics written by Henley and music by Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, who originally offered it to Petty, the song was released in 1984 as the lead single from Henley’s second album, Building The Perfect Beast. It’s become one of Henley’s most famous solo hits, and to this day, he considers it to be one of his best.

While some have attributed the song’s title to a book of the same name about baseball, Henley has said he’d never heard of the book and instead took the title from the poem “I See the Boys Of Summer” by Dylan Thomas, which opens with, “I see the boys of summer in their ruin.”

The Metaphor in “The Boys Of Summer”

“The Boys Of Summer” is about more than just a passing season. It’s about the passing of time, having your youth behind you, and looking back on a failed relationship. The opening verse describes a beach town quiet and empty after the busy summer season.

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 you’re not home.

In the second verse, Henley looks back on a relationship, which he compares to a dream. And while he struggles to pinpoint what went wrong between the two of them, he’s determined to prove himself to her and win her back.

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

A Fleeting Season

The chorus describes the woman he’s trying to win back. And he promises his love will endure beyond the fleeting summer season.

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.

The final verse warns against looking back on the past and the fact that it can’t be changed. We can’t go back, we can only leave the past behind us as we move forward.

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…

The mention of “a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac.” It’s a sign of Henley’s generation selling out and was inspired by something he actually saw.

“It was a gift,” Henley said in an interview. “It came from that mysterious place that lyrics sometimes come from. I had been stuck on the bridge section; couldn’t get the words, the melody. One afternoon, I was driving on Interstate 405, somewhere south of Sunset, the cassette of the track blaring through the sound system. I looked to my left and there it was: a 1979 Cadillac Seville with a ‘Deadhead’ sticker on the back. It just struck me as ironic, paradoxical, with a little touch of nostalgia, and it went right into the song.”

In a cover by The Ataris, released in 2003, the band referenced was changed to Black Flag.