"Summer of 69" - By Bryan Adams

 By Shelby

About 3 weeks ago we were told to pick a song that had to do with time. We would then have to do a presentation about our song on how it's music, lyrics, and/or structure related back to time. So ... of course, the first thing i had to do was choose a song, which in itself was a difficult process. I probably listened to every song on my iPod trying to find a good song. I also had my friend, who is a music junkie, help me out and send me a few songs too. But I just wasn't satisfied with what I had found. Then, this morning in the car, this song, "Summer of 69", came on the radio. And I started to tell my host mother about how much I liked it and that's when it hit me. This would be the perfect song to do my presentation on! So here is "Summer of 69" by Bryan Adams:

"Summer of 69" Lyrics:

I got my first real six-string
Bought it at the five-and-dime
Played it 'til my fingers bled 

Was summer of '69

(0:20 min.)

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
Yeah - I'd always wanna be there
Those were the best days of my life

(0:50 min.)

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 yeah

(1:10 min.)

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 no or never
Those were the best days of my life

Back in summer of '69

 

(1:40 min.)

Man we were killin' time
We were young and restless
We needed to unwind
I guess nothin' can last forever - forever, no, yeah

(2:10 min.)

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

Standin' on your Mama's porch
You told me that it'd last forever
Oh when you held my hand
I knew that it was now or never
Those were the best days of my life, oh yeah

 (2:40 min.)

Back in summer of '69, uh-huh

It was the summer of 69, oh yeah, me n' my baby in 69

It was the summer, the summer, summer of 69

(3:20 min.)

History:

"Summer of 69" is a song by Canadian artist, Bryan Adams, and was written by Adams and Jim Valance.It was released in June 1985 under A&M Records as the fourth single from Reckless. That year it won the BMI (Broadcast Music Inc.) Citation of Achievement for U.S. for radio airplay and the following ear it won the Procan Award (Performing Rights Organization of Canada) for Canadian airplay. In recent years the song has been making an effect on music charts internationally. And has been described as: "A most wonderful, straightforward, and unpretentious rock 'n' roll pop song."

Analysis:

In this song the singer is reminiscing on his summer of 69. And he tells us that they were the best days of his life. This song takes place in the present but is mainly about the singer's memories of that summer. We are able to realize that these moments are in the past and are his memories from the phrases highlighted in purple. But if we take a look at the phrases highlighted in red, we can see the change in how the singer conception of time changes. He bases his perspective of time on his summer of 69. In the beginning of the song he states; that summer seemed to last forever and you told me that you'd wait forever. But then as the song changes back to the present we see that his outlook on time has changed. He says, man we were killin' time and i guess nothin' can last forever. He even talks about how the times are changin' and to look at everyhing that has came and gone.  He has come to realize that that summer is in the past and will say there. But even though he has realized this, we can tell he still likes to reminisce on that summer because at the end of the song he goes back to the summer of 69.