What would Bryan Adams be doing if he hadn't recorded Summer of '69?

It's all moot now, though, when ya think about it. Where is he today?

So whether or not it was pulling on a terrible passing spasm of boomer nostalgia, I wasn't old enough to catch on: I just heard it as a quite good song, and I think it's a decent testament to its emotional success that even at age seven (1984, right?) its type of nostalgia resonated with me. Admittedly, from ages 5 to 10 a lot of the pop songs I liked had some sort of wistful or nostalgic quality -- "Leader of the Band," or "Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)."

And indeed vice versa.

nabisco otm, this is a great song.

yet even on poptimistic, no such thing as a guilty pleasure ILX, this song has always seemed a bridge too far. WHO'S WITH ME?

What a crazy thread, when, of all people, Bryan Adams already has a second career, as an in-demand fashion photographer.

I have a different take on this one:

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

As Bryan Adams went on to sell between 65 and 100 million albums worldwide, you have to think Jimmy and Jody were kicking themselves.

What a crazy thread, when, of all people, Bryan Adams already has a second career, as an in-demand fashion photographer.

Not just that but even his previous album went platinum.

Held the song with contempt from the get go, but some twenty years after the fact (since Bryan Adams never went away) it occurred to me that my classmates might have been snickering along to a double entendre in the hook. Was I too pure of mind!?

I think that Adams had to be joking when he said that? The lyrics don't really support the idea that it is meant to be a sexual reference that strongly imo. Fwiw, the song was co-written by Jim Vallance, who gives a line-by-line breakdown of his lyrical intentions here, none of which seem to involve oral sex.

But, death of the author and all, I wonder how many listeners were taking that from the song?

i find it hard to defend this position

real hard

I don't recall seeing the video before. That ending is unexpectedly intense.

It might be fake nostalgia but you all have to admit it evokes it rather well.

man i haven't seen that video since july or august '69 probably.

seriously tho, that video is badass. bizarre. and i def don't remember that ending. whoah.

Bryan Guy Adams OC OBC (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer, guitarist, photographer, philanthropist and activist.

precocious or perverted, you decide

a common position ime is that all of bryan adams's music is bad (i.e. the default position) EXCEPT "summer of '69" which is uniquely good. literally don't understand this position at all. just set yer mind free and allow yourself to enjoy several bryan adams songs.

I like Heaven and Run to You

Precocious enough to accomplish this in his mid-teens!

"In late 1976, Adams became the vocalist for pub band Sweeney Todd, who had only a few months earlier hit number 1 on the Canadian charts with a song "Roxy Roller". Adams was made to sing a re-make of the song for the US, which made it to number 99 on the US charts. The new incarnation of the band released an album If Wishes Were Horses (1977) with Adams billed as "Bryan Guy Adams" on vocals."

Fun contradictory Wikipedia edits here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_Wishes_Were_Horses_(album)

"Run to You" is great

I think Summer of 69 was heartfelt nostalgia you've all just been damaged by winky internet "69.....nice" culture

'run to you' rules

also good? 'when you're gone' with melanie c

Matt Monahan
1 day ago
This song gets played a lot at the strip club I like to go to

REPLY

Have always had a soft spot for some Bryan Adams... Cuts Like A Knife is a great track to me.

My big bro was a big fan of BA and Waking Up the Neighbours was played a lot in my youths. Being that it was produced by Robert John Lange, it's basically just a Def Leppard album with Adams on vocals...

I heard Silent Lucidity in a strip club once

...

he's gone full morrissey