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"Summer of '69" is a song recorded by the Canadian singer
Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...
from his fourth album, '' Reckless''. It is an up-tempo rock song about a dilemma between settling down or trying to become a rock star. The track was written by Adams and his longtime songwriting collaborator
Jim Vallance James Douglas Vallance (born May 31, 1952) is a Canadian songwriter, arranger and producer. He is best known as the songwriting partner of Canadian musician Bryan Adams. Vallance began his professional career as the original drummer and main song ...
. "Summer of '69" was produced by Adams and Bob Clearmountain. "Summer of '69" was released in June 1985 under
A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...
as the fourth single from ''Reckless''. According to later claims by Adams, the title is a reference to the sex position, not the year; Vallance disputes this assertion, however. The song was released with two
B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...
tracks: "Kids Wanna Rock" and "The Best Was Yet to Come", which had previously appeared on the albums '' Reckless'' and '' Cuts Like a Knife'' respectively. "Summer of '69" received favourable reviews from music critics. The music video for the song, which was filmed by
Steve Barron Steven Barron (born 4 May 1956) is an Irish-British filmmaker and music video director. Among the music videos he has directed are "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson, " Burning Up (Madonna song), Burnin Up" by Madonna, "Summer of '69" and "Run t ...
, features Adams and his
backing band A backup band or backing band is a Band (music), musical ensemble that typically Accompaniment, accompanies a single artist who is the featured performer. The situation may be a live performance or in a Studio recording, recording session, and the ...
in a variety of settings, including running from the police. The single had a strong effect on music charts internationally; in the UK it was acclaimed as one of Adams's best, with its highest peaks being number four in the Netherlands and number five in the United States. Among songs recorded by Canadian artists, it is the most streamed and most digitally purchased song within Canada among songs originally released before the start of the digital download era (approximately 2005). It is also the most played song on Canadian radio among songs by Canadian artists originally released before 1990. "Summer of '69" remains popular to this day in many countries around the world and is known as a quintessential summer song. Adams sang "Summer of '69" during the 2011 Cricket World Cup opening ceremony in Bangladesh. In 2019 Adams performed a duet version of "Summer of '69" with
Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...
during her Reputation Tour in Toronto, Canada.


Conception and themes

After a tour supporting his album '' Cuts Like a Knife'', Adams immediately started the recording sessions for the new album, '' Reckless''. "Summer of '69" was finished on January 25, 1984, co-written with
Jim Vallance James Douglas Vallance (born May 31, 1952) is a Canadian songwriter, arranger and producer. He is best known as the songwriting partner of Canadian musician Bryan Adams. Vallance began his professional career as the original drummer and main song ...
in his basement studio. The song went through a number of changes because neither Adams nor Vallance was convinced it was a strong enough song to be featured on the album. In their first draft, the lyric "summer of '69" appeared only once. At that time the two were planning to title it "Best Days of My Life" instead. While the phrase "Best Days of My Life" appeared seven times in the first draft, on the final draft it had been replaced by "Summer of '69" and appeared only two times throughout the song. The two had been inspired after listening to "
Strawberry Fields Forever "Strawberry Fields Forever" is a song by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was released on 13 February 1967 as a double A-side single with "Penny Lane". It represented ...
" by
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
which was a homage to
John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...
's childhood. They wanted to replicate the same feeling about childhood and living out the dream of becoming musicians. When writing the lyrics "Jimmy quit, Jody got married", Vallance suggested using "Woody quit and Gordy got married", referring to members of his Vanderhoof high school band ''The Tremolones'' (later known as ''4Most''), but Adams liked his version better. Adams mentioned once in an interview that "Jimmy" was one of his early drummers. "Jody" is a reference to Adams' sound manager, Jody Perpick, who got married during the album's recording session. On the song's first demo, it started with a 12-string riff, just like the breakdown section in the middle of the song, but this was replaced with a chunky 6-string intro on the second demo. The song was recorded three to four times, in different ways, with both Adams and Vallance still not convinced that it was finished. "Summer of '69" is written in the key of
D major D major is a major scale based on D (musical note), D, consisting of the pitches D, E (musical note), E, F♯ (musical note), F, G (musical note), G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, and C♯ (musical note), C. Its key signature has two S ...
. When Adams appeared on ''
The Early Show ''The Early Show'' is an American morning television show that aired on CBS from November 1, 1999, to January 7, 2012, replacing the original incarnation of '' CBS This Morning'', and the ninth attempt at a morning news-talk program by the n ...
'' in 2008, he was asked about "Summer of '69" and its lyrical meaning. Adams said the song was not about the summer of 1969; rather, he stated that it was about having sex in the summertime, with "69" being a reference to the sexual position. Also available in video form at Vallance, however, has said that the song's title makes reference to a year. He mentioned
Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American rock musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 30 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he had his ...
's " Running on Empty", which contains references to 1965 and 1969, as having influenced his writing of the song, and recalls Adams citing the film '' Summer of '42'' as having influenced his work." However, Vallance stated on the Song Facts message board that "When we recorded the demo in my basement, towards the end of the song Bryan sang a little naughty bit: 'me and my baby in a '69'. We had a laugh about it at the time, and Bryan decided to keep it when he did the final recording a month or two later."


Critical reception

''
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'' said of the single that it "recalls the sound and arrangement of Springsteen with Adams' own streamlined sheen."


Chart performance

Upon the release of the album '' Reckless'' in November 1984, "Summer of '69" received some airplay on
album-oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the late 1960s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. US rad ...
radio stations but was mostly overshadowed by the tracks "Run to You" and "It's Only Love", only managing to reach number 40 on ''Billboards Top Rock Tracks chart. After it was released as a single in June 1985, "Summer of '69" climbed to number 5 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and helped push ''Reckless'' to the number one position on the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart in August 1985. Like the previous single released from '' Reckless'', "
Heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...
", "Summer of '69" was a commercial success worldwide. On the UK Singles Chart, "Summer of '69" debuted at number fifty-nine, and managed to climb up the chart, and two weeks later reached its peak position of 42, on August 24, 1985. The single remained on the country's chart for four consecutive weeks from August to September 1985, before falling out of the top 100. The track debuted in New Zealand at number twenty-two on September 22, and peaked at number seven in the fifth week on the
New Zealand Singles Chart The Official Aotearoa Music Charts, formerly the Official New Zealand Music Chart (), is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The M ...
. The song debuted at 95 on the Canadian ''RPM'' Singles Chart on June 29, 1985, jumping to fifty in its second week and peaking at eleven on September 14, 1985, after spending seven weeks on the chart. The song debuted at its peak position, number 9, on August 10, on the Norwegian Singles Chart and stayed there for another four weeks before falling off the charts. "Summer of '69" charted on the
Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan (, lit. "the Sweden top list") is the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from IFPI Sverige. It was formerly known as Topplistan (1975–1997) and Hitlistan (1998–2007) and has been known by its current name s ...
for five consecutive weeks. Having debuted at number twenty on December 13, and peaked at number thirteen two weeks later. The single spent another three weeks on the chart before falling off. The track peaked at number seventeen on the Austrian Singles Chart, and remained on the country's chart for five weeks. The single's most commercially successful charting territory was the Netherlands, where it peaked at number 4 on September 22, 1990. The single's least successful chart territory was Germany. Having peaked on the country's singles chart at number sixty-two, the single spent the next five weeks fluctuating down the chart. In 1985 the song won the BMI (Broadcast Music Inc.) Citation of Achievement for US radio airplay, the following year 1986 – Procan Award (Performing Rights Organization of Canada) for Canadian radio airplay and in 2000 it won a Socan Classics Award for more than 100,000 Canadian radio performances. As of 2017, "Summer of '69" was, at number 115, the only song from 1995 or earlier among the 150 most streamed songs of all time in Canada by Canadian artists. As of 2017, it was the 41st highest selling digital song of all time by a Canadian artist in Canada and the highest selling such song from before 2005. Between 1996 and 2017, it was the 53rd most played song by a Canadian artist on Canadian radio stations of all format types, the only song before 1990 in the top 150 most played songs. In May 2021 the
Official Charts Company The Official UK Charts Company Limited (formerly Music Industry Chart Services Limited), trading as the Official Charts Company (OCC) or the Official Charts (formerly the Chart Information Network), is a British inter-professional organisation ...
included it in the list of huge selling summer songs in the UK.


Accolades

"Summer of '69" has found itself in several "best of" lists compiled by various music publications and critics, including the following: In a poll conducted by Decima Research in 2006, "Summer of '69" was voted the best driving song among Canadians who sing in their cars. The song topped the survey with both sexes, and with French and English-speaking Canadians. In 2010, the song was voted the "hottest summer song" in Germany. In another poll, this time by Canadian magazine ''
Chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...
'', "Summer of '69" was voted the fourth best song of all time in 2000; four years earlier it had been voted the twenty-fourth best song of all time. The song was ranked No. 17 on
CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...
's '' 50 Tracks: The Canadian Version''. In 2008, the song was voted the 87th best-song of all time by radio listeners in Norway, becoming the second highest Adams song ranked, the highest being "
(Everything I Do) I Do It for You "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams. Written by Adams, Michael Kamen, and Robert John "Mutt" Lange, the power ballad was the lead single for both the Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves#Music, soundtr ...
" from 1991. It was voted the fourth best song ever on Radio 2, a Belgian radio station, in 2008. In its 2005 list "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born", ''
Blender A blender (sometimes called a mixer (from Latin ''mixus, the PPP of miscere eng. to Mix)'' or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsify food and other substances. A stationary ...
'' ranked the song 70th and commented that the song "made people who hadn't yet had either a first love or a first band nostalgic for the experience".


Music video

The music video, released in 1985, was directed by Irish director
Steve Barron Steven Barron (born 4 May 1956) is an Irish-British filmmaker and music video director. Among the music videos he has directed are "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson, " Burning Up (Madonna song), Burnin Up" by Madonna, "Summer of '69" and "Run t ...
. In 1985 the music video was nominated for an
MTV Video Music Award The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...
in the category for Best Male Video. While the song did not win the award, it was one of the four nominated songs from Adams' fourth studio album ''Reckless''. The video includes appearances by Lysette Anthony and
Garwin Sanford Garwin Sanford (born 14 March 1955) is a Canadian film and television actor known for his roles on ''Stargate SG-1'' and ''Stargate Atlantis''. Career Sanford's most notable roles are Narim in ''Stargate SG-1'' and Simon Wallace in ''Stargat ...
.


Track listing and formats

* 7" single # "Summer of '69" – 3:36 # "The Best Was Yet to Come" – 2:52


Personnel

*
Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...
– Vocals and Rhythm Guitar * Keith Scott – Lead Guitar * Tommy Mandel – Synthesizer and Organ * Dave Taylor – Bass * Pat Steward – Drums *
Jim Vallance James Douglas Vallance (born May 31, 1952) is a Canadian songwriter, arranger and producer. He is best known as the songwriting partner of Canadian musician Bryan Adams. Vallance began his professional career as the original drummer and main song ...
– Tambourine


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Decade-end charts


Certifications and sales


Notes


References

{{Authority control 1984 songs 1985 singles Bryan Adams songs Canadian pop rock songs Fiction set in 1969 Music videos directed by Steve Barron Songs written by Jim Vallance Songs written by Bryan Adams A&M Records singles Song recordings produced by Bob Clearmountain Songs about nostalgia