Those were the best days of his life.
Singer Bryan Adams, 64, who still goes on tour, has revealed the real meaning behind his hit song “Summer of ’69,” which first came out in 1984.
Fans have long argued about whether he was talking about the year 1969, or the more salacious double-entendre for that number.
According to the Daily Mail, the song’s co-writer Jim Vallance, 71, has previously said, “I don’t pretend to speak for Bryan. Two of us wrote the song . . . Maybe he was thinking about something completely different . . . but I was thinking about that amazing summer when I turned 17.”
However, Adams, who is younger than Vallance and was not 17 that summer, was not on the same page as Vallance.
In a recent interview with the Sunday Times, Adams said, “Well, I was going to call the song ‘Best Days of My Life,’ but mentioning ’69’ felt a bit more provocative. Isn’t this talk a bit sexy for breakfast time?”
“Oh, the best days are now, always now,” he continued. “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.”
Adams has two daughters (ages 10 and 12) with his former assistant Alicia Grimaldi.
“Life is good, I make music when I want and I tour when I want,” he told the Sunday Times. “But I really wish I’d been a dad in my 30s because they’d be in their 20s now, and the dynamic would be different. To be honest I’m just grateful it happened at all.”
About why he didn’t have kids sooner, he said, “It’s not really something I can talk about.”
In a previous 2008 interview, he further said about his famous song, “There is a slight misconception it’s about a year, but it’s not… ‘69’ has nothing to do about a year, it has to do with a sexual position. At the end of the song, the lyric says that ‘it’s me and my baby in a 69.’ You’d have to be pretty thick in the ears if you couldn’t get that lyric . . . I only ever wrote that title because it made me laugh.”
Last year, Adams was a bit more tight-lipped about the track while promoting his 15th album, “So Happy It Hurts.” When journalist Belinda Russell noted 1969 was a big year in history, he quickly shut her down.
“The moon landing, Woodstock. But you were just a kid back then, so what is the story behind ‘Summer of ’69?’ ” she asked at the time.
Adams reportedly replied: “I don’t want to talk about that. I want to talk about the new album. That’s why I’m here.”
