My 100 Favorite Charted Pop Songs: The Boys of Summer
By Four Walls
@FourWalls (66602)
United States
September 9, 2024 10:56am CST
Anyone who’s surprised by the inclusion of this song needs to see me. 
In the decade I’ve been here I think I’ve made it slightly obvious that I like this guy’s singing. And, while this is not my favorite song by him, it’s far and away what I’d call his best single. (Not that it’s his only appearance on this list…
) Here’s today’s no-brainer.
The Boys of Summer - Don Henley
Just an amazing song, all the way around. The guitar work by Heartbreaker Mike Campbell is simple. The lyrics are powerful (“don’t look back, you can never look back, I thought I knew what love was, what did I know?”). And what a vocal delivery.
Did you know that Campbell’s music for this song was originally played for his boss, Tom Petty? Petty didn’t think it fit the vibe of what they were working on at the time (the Southern Accents album), so he passed.
Thanks, Tom. Southern Accents might have been a different album, and we wouldn’t have had this masterpiece.
The Boys of Summer
Written by Don Henley and Mike Campbell
Recorded by Don Henley
From Building the Perfect Beast, 1984
Peak chart position: #5
Today’s country song: “Big in Vegas”
I can see you:
In the decade I’ve been here I think I’ve made it slightly obvious that I like this guy’s singing. And, while this is not my favorite song by him, it’s far and away what I’d call his best single. (Not that it’s his only appearance on this list…) Here’s today’s no-brainer.
The Boys of Summer - Don Henley
Just an amazing song, all the way around. The guitar work by Heartbreaker Mike Campbell is simple. The lyrics are powerful (“don’t look back, you can never look back, I thought I knew what love was, what did I know?”). And what a vocal delivery.
Did you know that Campbell’s music for this song was originally played for his boss, Tom Petty? Petty didn’t think it fit the vibe of what they were working on at the time (the Southern Accents album), so he passed.
Thanks, Tom. Southern Accents might have been a different album, and we wouldn’t have had this masterpiece.
The Boys of Summer
Written by Don Henley and Mike Campbell
Recorded by Don Henley
From Building the Perfect Beast, 1984
Peak chart position: #5
Today’s country song: “Big in Vegas”
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12 people like this
11 responses
@FourWalls (66602)
• United States
9 Sep
Back in the days of Persona Paper I used to have an almost regular feature called “Hatin’ on Henley,” dealing with him doing stoopid $#!+ like having security guards monitoring the freaking lobby of venues hosting his concerts for cell phones, suing Duluth Trading Company for their Henley shirts (which were named for Henley-on-Thames, not Don Henley, long before Henley was a star), etc. Yes, he presents himself as a “tiny male appendage,” and sometimes I wonder if it’s deliberate to keep his privacy. I mean, who’d want to hang out with that, and that may be exactly the way he wants it.
3 people like this
@FourWalls (66602)
• United States
10 Sep
@porwest — yeah, it’s not like he went through anything like Fogerty went through with the songs he wrote with CCR. 
The “estimates” around say that Henley is worth about $250 million. When you’re worth that much moolah complaints about not getting a penny and a half because someone’s playing “All She Wants to Do Is Dance” on the radio during a live YouTube video rings really hollow and reeks of greed.
The “estimates” around say that Henley is worth about $250 million. When you’re worth that much moolah complaints about not getting a penny and a half because someone’s playing “All She Wants to Do Is Dance” on the radio during a live YouTube video rings really hollow and reeks of greed.1 person likes this
@porwest (87545)
• United States
10 Sep
@FourWalls He's just too into the "intellectual rights," thing and I don't think it serves him well. One other musician that was like that was Lars Ullrich. It takes away from the audience experience, I think, when you try too hard to control everything.
Sometimes you have to simply let things roll and even if you aren't getting a dime from something, people MIGHT gravitate to what you WILL get paid for BECAUSE of something else done on their behalf. Just my two cents.
1 person likes this
@much2say (55091)
• Los Angeles, California
9 Sep
This is not my absolute favorite either, but for some reason it made an impact on me . . . of the times/life. Specific parts of that song (guitar riff, that bird sound, lyrics, etc) run through my head at random times. Tom Petty??? Yah, it would have been different!
3 people like this
@FourWalls (66602)
• United States
10 Sep
Don’t come around the boys of summer no more? 
2 people like this
@FourWalls (66602)
• United States
9 Sep
I think it definitely cemented Henley as the “star” of the Eagles.
2 people like this
@FourWalls (66602)
• United States
10 Sep
Oh, that’s an actor. The “theme” of the video (and song) is the aging process and how fast it goes by (like summer, which ends in 11 days here in America).
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (174281)
• United States
9 Sep
I didn't realize from the title that I knew this one. It happens to be one that I like. Have a good week.
3 people like this
@RebeccasFarm (89158)
• Arvada, Colorado
10 Sep
This song should be wrapped in gold.
The memories it evokes for me are golden.
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (78703)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
10 Sep
I know the singer and the song but not a great fan
1 person likes this
@dgobucks226 (35329)
•
21 Sep
The Boys of Summer broke the hearts of Dodger fans when they moved from Brooklyn just like the ex-girlfriend broke that guy's heart. Terrific analogy and just as painful. Could it be one of Don's ex's?
A Deadhead sticker on a caddy. Now that's a cool line! Those Deadheads get around.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (66602)
• United States
21 Sep
Something you never would have expected in the 60s, isn’t it. Deadhead stickers belonged on VW vans.
1 person likes this
@SIDIKIMPOLE (1521)
• Eldoret, Kenya
10 Sep
Really great, had to open the link yo listen! Thank you for sharing!
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (66602)
• United States
20 Sep
Then there was “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” by two brothers who can’t look at the other’s name without getting angry….
1 person likes this
