Songfacts®:

• Singer Mark McGrath told Billboard magazine that this summery tune is a "straight down the center, summer, sunny Sugar Ray song." He added: "From the title 'Boardwalk' to the sound of the song, the harmony, the acoustic guitar, the lyrical content - you're going to hear the song and go 'Wow, that's Sugar Ray for sure.'"
• This was the lead single from Music for Cougars, Sugar Ray's first album for six years. The Californian rock band released their debut longplayer, Lemonade and Brownies in 1995.
• McGrath explained the album title to Rolling Stone: "We were playing at the Grove [mall] here in Hollywood, a funny gig on a Sunday, people walking by with strollers. And a friend of ours goes, 'All your fans are cougars.' That's f---ing brilliant. To me 'cougars' is an empowering word. It's like role reversal. Cougars are proud, they take care of themselves and they know what they want. If you're offended by Music for Cougars on a Sugar Ray record, you've got to take a big look inward."