It's been nearly 40 years since Bryan Adams first released 'Summer of '69', but the singer is still having to explain what his popular hit is actually about.
"I got my first real six-string / Bought it at the five and dime / Played it 'til my fingers bled / Was the summer of '69..."
Those opening lines have been recited countless times since 1984, with Adams' song proving just as much of a banger today as it was when it was first released.
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No matter how many times some fans have sung the words, though, some are still happily unaware that the song isn't actually about the summer of 1969.
Adams has discussed the meaning of the song previously, but he broached the subject again recently in an interview with The Sunday Times in which he made clear that the '69' lyric wasn't just an innocent reference to a year.
Adams alluded to a more explicit meaning of the song as he explained: "I was going to call the song 'Best Days of My Life; but mentioning ‘69’ felt a bit more provocative."
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Doubling down on what '69' really refers to, he continued: "Isn’t this talk a bit sexy for breakfast time?"
The singer's comments clearly indicate that '69' is a sex reference, meaning Adams was talking about a summer of sex; not an idyllic few weeks in the 1960s.
Adams previously spoke more bluntly about the meaning of the song in 2008, saying: "A lot of people think it's about the year… It's more about making love in the summertime. It's used the ‘69’ as a sexual reference."
However, while Adams seems pretty clear about the meaning of the song, his co-writer Jim Vallance has previously claimed it had a different, more wholesome theme.
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Speaking on the 'Music Night At The Majestic' web series, Vallance said: "We each had our version of our favorite summer from our teen years and incorporated those memories and those thoughts into the lyric."
Whoever's explanation for the song you choose to accept, it's clear the writers wanted to focus on their good experiences at the time.
But while the 'Summer of '69' might have been the best days of Adams' life at the time, he told The Sunday Times that the best days now for him are the ones taking place in the present.
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"When I wrote that song I was trying hard to imagine or fantasize what life would hold, but I’m there now and, you know, it’s great," he said.
Emily Brown