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1984 single by Don Henley
the song written by Don Henley

"The Boys of Summer" is a song by the American musician Don Henley. The lyrics were written by Henley and the music was composed by Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It was released on October 26, 1984, as the lead single from Henley's album Building the Perfect Beast. It reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US, number one on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart, and number 12 in the UK Singles Chart. The music video won several awards. "The Boys of Summer" was also performed live by Henley with the reunited Eagles; a version is included on the group's 2005 DVD Farewell 1 Tour: Live from Melbourne.

Mike Campbell, the guitarist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, wrote a demo for "The Boys of Summer" while experimenting with a LinnDrum drum machine and Oberheim OB X synthesizer. He showed it to Tom Petty, but Petty felt it did not fit with the record they were working on, Southern Accents. At the suggestion of the producer Jimmy Iovine, Campbell played it for Don Henley, the vocalist and drummer for the Eagles, who wrote the lyrics and recorded the vocal. They re recorded the song after Henley decided to change the key.

"The Boys of Summer" reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart for five weeks. It was his most successful hit in the United Kingdom, reaching No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart. A re release of the single in 1998 also reached No. 12. Billboard called it "dance oriented pop swimming in synths and reverberating guitar". In 1986, Henley won the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for the song. "The Boys of Summer" was ranked No. 416 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. "The Boys of Summer" is included in The Pitchfork 500, Pitchfork Media's "Guide to the Greatest Songs from Punk to Present". Tom Petty was astounded by the track's success. One day, he and Campbell were out on a car drive to listen to a mix of their song "Don't Come Around Here No More", but turned on the ignition and heard "The Boys of Summer". Campbell changed the station in case the song would upset Petty, but another station was also playing the song. Petty enjoyed listening to it and regretted initially turning it down.

The music video to "The Boys of Summer" is a French New Wave influenced piece directed by Jean Baptiste Mondino. Shot in black and white, it shows the main character of the song at three different stages of life (as a young boy, a young adult and middle aged), in each case reminiscing about a past relationship. Interspersed with these scenes are segments of Henley singing the words of the song while riding in a pickup truck. The boy is dressed in a style typical of the 1950s, the teenage lovers are dressed in a style characteristic of the early 1960s while the middle aged man is dressed in the style of the 1980s. As a boy in the 1950s, the protagonist practices playing the drums, suggesting musical aspirations; as a teenager in the 1960s, he walks down a beach with his girlfriend whom he kisses passionately; and as a middle aged man in the 1980s, he appears to be an executive of some sort who is comfortable, but unhappy in life as he sits at his desk remembering his youth. The young boy in the video is played by a seven year old Josh Paul, while the girl is played by Audie England. Interspersed with these scenes are segments of Henley articulating the words of the song while driving in a convertible. At its conclusion, the video uses the post modern concept of exposing its own workings, as with a wry expression Henley drives the car away from a rear projection screen. The video won the Video of the Year at the 1985 MTV Video Music Awards (leading Henley to comment at the Awards the following year that he had won for "riding around in the back of a pickup"). It also won that year's awards for Best Direction, Best Art Direction, and Best Cinematography. The Best Direction award was presented to Mondino by Henley's then former Eagles bandmate Glenn Frey.

In 2002, Spanish trance artist DJ Sammy (with vocals performed by Dutch singer Loona) covered the song. It was released in 2002 as the third and final single from second studio album, Heaven (2002). This cover peaked at number two in the United Kingdom and was one of New Zealand's most successful hits of 2002, reaching number three and earning a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. The music video was filmed in València, Spain, and was released in November 2002.

RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)Ref. (Reference)AustraliaOctober 21, 2002CDCentral StationEuropeNovember 18, 2002Pulp, Urban Records, Urban

In 2003, the rock band the Ataris covered "The Boys of Summer" for their album So Long, Astoria. The song became their second single when a radio station began to play it. The single peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Modern Rock Chart (held off the No. 1 top spot by Linkin Park's "Faint") and No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. It remains their most successful single. The Ataris' version of the song replaced the "Deadhead sticker" reference with one that the band felt was more appropriate to the age group of their fans, namely a "Black Flag sticker", in honor of the punk rock band from the 1980s. Asked in a 2016 interview whether he was okay with the lyric change, Henley responded, "No, not really And if you noticed, we haven't heard much from the Ataris since then." Campbell, however, said that "it's not a song you expect a young band like that to do, but I kind of like their version of it."

The music video was directed by Steven Murashige and was released in July 2003.