If you were to spend the rest of your life....

[Ive always been a dreamer]

My take on the song (maybe totally wrong) is the relationship is very recently broken... not a long past relationship, but one that still has all the passion (you know where you call and have nothing to say, drive by the house, can't sleep, can't eat period...)

Your comments are really interesting, bender. It's funny how things like our life experiences cause us to process things so differently. I don't get the sense of any time in the lyrics of The Boys of Summer. I never really thought about the song in terms of how long ago the relationship took place. And then, after I read your comments and thought about it in those terms, I came up with the opposite interpretation. It seems to me that it may have been a while since they split, but he can't move on even after all this time. Obviously, no right or wrong here - but, I thought it was funny how different my interpretation was from yours.

As far as Tom Petty turning the song down, I had heard that before. No disrepect to Tom, but all I can say is for us. I can't imagine that anyone could have done that song even close to as well as Don did it. JMHO

[bernie's bender]

that is what is great about art. it has its context and its meaning and then it has what we bring to it...

(and why I put the whole part about I could be and probably am wrong)....

You are so right about personal experience.. For me, I had two really tough romantic things happen to me (and a bunch of smaller disappointments) but during a specifically tragic situation for me... I remember that song playing late into the night when I would drive and think... and so that coupled with re-looking at the lyrics today... I come to my interpretation...

I just got home from playing tonight and I was reminded of how cool it is to be in a dark car with the glow of the stereo... and a song playing loud in the darkness....

I like that the song has that driving beat rather than being just slow...

Check out "Venetian Blue" by Shawn Colvin... that song haunts me... when I need to connect to old things, old memories, things I need to reach back to to remind of who I am and how it all came to be... I can listen to that and it brings me back.... like a time machine... I don't know why, but it washes over me and I'm transported...

Sometimes I can almost see the snow on my old truck back then.. in Virginia and Kentucky... and the lights and the stopped time moments...

it is the magic of music for me.

[TimothyBFan]

Great song. (Mike Campbell had the music all together and took it to Tom Petty for the heartbreakers and TP passed.... gotta love that)

I didn't know that!! That's pretty funny! I can actually see Tom doing that song and rather well also I might add. Interesting.

[Prettymaid]

I didn't know that!! That's pretty funny! I can actually see Tom doing that song and rather well also I might add. Interesting.

Wille, you took the words right out of my mouth! I can hear Tom doing a good version of BOS.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Well PM and Willie, honestly, I'm waaaayyyy biased about this cause I'm not a real big Tom Petty fan. Too bad we don't have a version of the song by him, then we could put it up against Don's in a Survivor game here.

[Prettymaid]

Well PM and Willie, honestly, I'm waaaayyyy biased about this cause I'm not a real big Tom Petty fan. Too bad we don't have a version of the song by him, then we could put it up against Don's in a Survivor game here.

Now I never said I would prefer Tom's version to Don's! I just said I can actually hear how it would sound, and I think it could work!

[TimothyBFan]

Now I never said I would prefer Tom's version to Don's! I just said I can actually hear how it would sound, and I think it could work!

[bernie's bender]

Wille, you took the words right out of my mouth! I can hear Tom doing a good version of BOS.

I think it would be interesting to hear TP sing it, but remember Campbell only wrote the music, the words are all Henley, although I think he had Petty in mind as he wrote the melody and put the words together "after the boys of summer are gooone." is classic Petty style.

The other interesting part is knowing that Stevie had begged the Heartbreakers to take her in even while FM was the biggest band in the world... and BOS was after the Stevie/Don thing... I've wondered if besides getting to have the 'american keith richards' make a record with you, if Don wasn't poking Stevie in the eye by making a 'better record' than the stuff she did with Tom and Mike.

I'm hoping the two guys got together, had some fun and made a great record. A good friend of mine was one of Don's guitar players back then and said that Don was actually really really great to work for.