Classic Songs: ‘The Boys of Summer’ by Don Henley.

The Eagles are one of my all time favourite bands. Ask me to choose between band leaders Glen Frey and Don Henley as my favourite Eagle and their contribution to the Eagles success, I tend to steer towards Henley. Both Frey and Henley had relatively successful solo careers which I took great interest in. While they would arguably never reach the level of success they attained in The Eagles, they both continued to write and record some of the most memorable songs of the 80s. Frey with The Heat Is On, Smuggler’s Blues, You Belong To The City and The One You Love. Henley with The End of the Innocence, Dirty Laundry, All She Wants to Do Is Dance and The Boys Of Summer. The latter reached the dizzy heights of the US charts in early 1985, even winning Henley the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for the song in 1986.

I never really thought about it until the other day, Don Henley was 37 when The Boys Of Summer hit the airways. I was nearly thirteen. Back then, I didn’t really appreciate or fully understand the song’s message. But I couldn’t get enough of what would become my favourite lyrics from the song: “Out on the road today/ I saw deadhead sticker on a Cadillac/ A little voice inside my head said/ Don’t look back, you can never look back.” It still gives me goose bumps today. I guess that’s the power of great lyrics, inspired by a Grateful Dead ‘Deadhead’ bumper sticker Henley saw whilst driving on the San Diego freeway. The song as I aged would later become a staple on classic rock radio stations around the world in the decades that followed. Why? I think it has to do with the fact that listeners can easily relate to its nostalgic tone. Henley had an affinity for writing lyrics about things like life and of the questions we ask ourselves of our past.

The Boys of Summer was the lead track from Henley’s second solo studio album Building The Perfect Beast in late 1984. Interestingly, a who’s who of musicians – Steve Porcaro and Jeff Paich of Toto, guitarist Charlie Sexton, Belinda Carlisle, Martha Davis of The Motels, Lindsey Buckingham, Patty Smyth and Mike Campbell to name a few – all supported Henley to create a memorable album. It charted reasonable well for the ex-Eagle, peaking at number four in (my country of) Australia.

I have nothing new to add about how the stars aligned in the making of Henley’s timeless classic The Boys of Summer. So I’m simply going to repeat the famous story how Heartbreakers’ guitarist Mike Campbell one day at home in the middle of Tom Petty’s new record cycle was tinkering with his new toy, a LinnDrum machine. In the process he wrote the music which he demoed for Tom Petty to listen to. At the time Petty felt the music didn’t fit with the album they were currently working on. Seeing that it was a hard pass for Petty, it opened the door for Henley to listen to it. He was impressed and wrote lyrics to it, reflecting on lost youth, regrets (about a girl) and the passage of time. Importantly, Henley re-recorded the music making a significant key change to suit his needs.

Henley once said The Boys of Summer was “the best song of his life.” I can’t argue with that. It will forever be remembered as an iconic, quintessential ‘80s song, famous for its prominent synths, guitar riff and nostalgic lyrics. If the song’s opening lyrics: “Nobody on the road/ Nobody on the beach/ I can feel it in the air/ Summer’s out of reach…” doesn’t hit you in the feels, I’m sorry my friend there is something wrong with you. Because this song to most listeners truly captures what it is to be human – lost, lonely, wistful, loved…. whatever! We all share these human feelings and this is what songs like The Boys of Summer do, they get wired in our DNA.

Please note: I originally published a different version of this article in 2021. It has been updated and expanded here for this classic songs series.