‘Summer of ’69’ was released in 1985. It is about nostalgia for the teenage years of freedom and following your passions. According to Wikipedia, Bryan Adams was quoted in an interview as describing this song as being “built on the theme of nostalgia, such as the cultural revolution, the break-up of the Beatles, his discovery of music and the moon landing; but also a character who plays until his fingers bleed and sexual discovery.”
Lyrics
I got my first real six-string
Bought it at the five-and-dime
Played it ’til my fingers bled
Was the summer of sixty-nine
Bought it at the five-and-dime
Played it ’til my fingers bled
Was the summer of sixty-nine
Me and some guys from school
Had a band and we tried real hard
Jimmy quit, Jody got married
I should’ve known we’d never get far
Had a band and we tried real hard
Jimmy quit, Jody got married
I should’ve known we’d never get far
Oh, when I look back now
That summer seemed to last forever
And if I had the choice
Yeah, I’d always wanna be there
Those were the best days of my life
That summer seemed to last forever
And if I had the choice
Yeah, I’d always wanna be there
Those were the best days of my life
Ain’t no use in complainin’
When you’ve got a job to do
Spent my evenings down at the drive-in
And that’s when I met you, yeah
When you’ve got a job to do
Spent my evenings down at the drive-in
And that’s when I met you, yeah
Standin’ on your mama’s porch
You told me that you’d wait forever
Oh, and when you held my hand
I knew that it was now or never
Those were the best days of my life
You told me that you’d wait forever
Oh, and when you held my hand
I knew that it was now or never
Those were the best days of my life
Oh, yeah
Back in the summer of sixty-nine, oh
Back in the summer of sixty-nine, oh
Man, we were killin’ time, we were young and restless
We needed to unwind
I guess nothin’ can last forever, forever, no
We needed to unwind
I guess nothin’ can last forever, forever, no
Yeah
And now the times are changin’
Look at everything that’s come and gone
Sometimes when I play that old six-string
I think about you, wonder what went wrong
Look at everything that’s come and gone
Sometimes when I play that old six-string
I think about you, wonder what went wrong
Standin’ on your mama’s porch
You told me that it’d last forever
Oh, and when you held my hand
I knew that it was now or never
Those were the best days of my life
You told me that it’d last forever
Oh, and when you held my hand
I knew that it was now or never
Those were the best days of my life
Oh, yeah
Back in the summer of sixty-nine, oh
It was the summer of sixty-nine, oh, yeah
Me and my baby in sixty-nine, oh
It was the summer, the summer, the summer of sixty-nine, yeah
Back in the summer of sixty-nine, oh
It was the summer of sixty-nine, oh, yeah
Me and my baby in sixty-nine, oh
It was the summer, the summer, the summer of sixty-nine, yeah
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Songwriters: Bryan Adams / James Douglas Vallance
Summer of ’69 lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group