• “Summer of ’69” took Adams to No. 5 on the American Billboard Hot 100 in 1985 and gave him a lasting reputation in the music industry.
• It topped the charts in the Netherlands (#4) and the United States (#5). It has since become one of Adams’ most popular songs worldwide.
• “Summer of ’69” is about a band that broke up, which fits Adams and Vallance’s history of bands in high school.
• The line, “Jimmy quit, Jody got married” both referred to previous team members who left their bands, like the sound man who got married around the time the song came together. The couple ended up being featured in the video in a car with a “Just Married” sign.
• Initially, this tune was called “Best Days Of My Life,” with the line “Summer Of ’69” appearing just once in the lyrics. However, the name ended up changing to become the song we all know and love.
• At the time, Adams explained that he received inspiration from the cultural revolution that was occurring at the time, including the ending of the Beatles, the moon landing and his entry into the music industry.
• In 1983, Adams and Vallance had already made impressive contributions to the US singles charts, with “Straight From The Heart,” “Cuts Like A Knife,” and “This Time,” landing at numbers 10, 15 and 24, respectively.

Lyrics

(Musixmatch)

I got my first real six-string

Bought it at the five-and-dime

Played it till my fingers bled

It was the summer of ’69

Me and some guys from school

Had a band and we tried real hard

Jimmy quit and Jody got married

I shoulda known we’d never get far

Oh when I look back now

That summer seemed to last forever

And if I had the choice

Ya – I’d always wanna be there

Those were the best days of my life

Ain’t no use in complainin’

When you got a job to do

Spent my evenin’s down at the drive-in

And that’s when I met you

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

Back in the summer of ’69

Man we were killin’ time

We were young and restless

We needed to unwind

I guess nothin’ can last forever – forever, no

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 ya wonder what went wrong

Standin’ on your mama’s porch

You told me it would last forever

Oh the way you held my hand

I knew that it was now or never

Those were the best days of my life

It was the summer of ’69

It was the summer of ’69

Met my baby in ’69

That’s the whole story right there!

It was the summer

It was the summer

Yeah, summer of ’69