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TL;DR:

  • Don Henley’s “The Boys of Summer” was a political take on “the Woodstock generation.”
  • He said the song was also about an intergenerational romantic relationship.
  • Part of the song was inspired by a Grateful Dead sticker.
"The Boys of Summer" singer Don Henley in black-and-white
Don Henley | Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns

Classic rock star Don Henley wrote “The Boys of Summer” as a statement about “the Woodstock generation.” The song includes a reference to the Grateful Dead’s fans. Subsequently, Henley said that line was based on a real experience he had.

Don Henley said the title of his album ‘Building the Perfect Beast’ was inspired by humanity’s evil and shallowness

Henley first became famous as a member of The Eagles. While the band started in the 1970s, some of that 1960s sound and ethos carried over. Starting in 1982, Henley started releasing solo albums.

Henley’s 1984 solo album is called Building the Perfect Beast. During a 1985 interview with the Sun-Sentinel, he said the title “refers to mankind, the fact that we’re the only animal who supposedly has the power to think and reason,” he said. “But we still act like uncivilized animals. In fact, we act worse. We treat each other worse than animals treat each other.”

Henley explained why he felt that way. “When they kill each other, it’s for food,” he said. “They don’t hold each other hostage. It’s about that, and also our obsession with appearances, our obsession with the outer wrappings, so to speak, instead of what’s inside.”

Don Henley’s ‘The Boys of Summer’ is about ‘an older guy talking to a younger girl’ and it’s not about 1 of his relationships

Henley discussed the meaning of the first single from Building the Perfect Beast: “The Boys of Summer.” “It’s a statement about my generation, the ’60s generation, the Woodstock generation, the love-and-peace generation,” he said. “It’s a personal statement in that it’s a statement about my generation. I mean, I didn’t have a girlfriend who was 15 or 16 years younger than me, and I didn’t say, ‘Someday you’re gonna find out that I’m right and they’re wrong.'”

Henley felt the song had layers. “But it is, in the song, sort of an older guy talking to a younger girl,” he said. “But at the end of the song, it’s more of a political-sociological statement.”

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How a middle-class Grateful Dead fan inspired a lyric from ‘The Boys of Summer’

In “The Boys of Summer,” Henley sings about seeing a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac. Subsequently, he dismisses it. According to American Songwriter, Henley explained that lyric during an NME interview from 1985. He said the line was based on an actual experience he had on the San Diego Freeway.

Henley was surprised to see a Deadhead sticker on a $21,000 Cadillac, as he viewed these cars as “the status symbol of the right-wing upper-middle class.” In “The Boys of Summer,” Henley appears to be saying the hippie generation sold out by the 1980s.

“The Boys of Summer” is a great song even if it’s a downer statement about society.

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