Don Henley - The Boys Of Summer Chords & Tabs

 The Boys Of Summer
 by Don Henley

Transcribed by Larry WHittaker (dugoutlar@hotmail.com)
***** TUNE TO E FLAT FOR THIS SONG *****
Otherwise the chorus chords will not work.

Key:	H - Hammer-On	P - Pull-Off
 	^F - Full Bend	^H - Half Bend 
	/ - Slide up	\ - Slide down
	~ - Vibrato

Use a clean standard tone with chorus effect for chord richness and
make good use of neck and bridge pickup switching. A few leads use the
bridge pickup with distortion. I have loved this song ever since it 
was release and since none of the tabs I found were exactly accurate,
I decided to give it a go. 

Please mail me if you find anything that needs changing.  Thanks.
 
Intro
***** USE NECK PICKUP *****
e------|--|-----------|--|----------|--|--P-------|--|---P----P---------|
B------|--|-----------|--|----------|--|-8-5------|--|-10-8--8-5--------|
G-7/9~-|--|-----7-----|--|-----7----|--|-----7/9~-|--|-----------7--7/9-|
D------|--|-7/9---9~--|--|-7/9---9~-|--|----------|--|------------------|
A------|--|-----------|--|----------|--|----------|--|------------------|
E------|--|-----------|--|----------|--|----------|--|------------------|

e---P---------|
B-12-10~------|
G-------------|
D-------------|
A---------7\--|
E-------------|

Verse
The rhythm played underneath the verse is simply an easy A7 arpeggio
(Once each per line - 8x total) 

 |---------PM----------|
e------------------------------|
B-----0-0----------0--0--------| 
G---------2-2--------2---------|
D-2-2----------2-2-------------|
A------------------------------|
E------------------------------|
(Conversely it can be played even easier if you wish - I play this)
 |---------PM-----------|
e------------------------------|
B------------------------------| 
G------------------------------|
D-----9-9-7-7------9-7-9-------|
A-7-7----------7-7-------------|
E------------------------------|

Nobody on the road
Nobody on the beach
I feel it in the air
The summer's out of reach
Empty lake, empty streets
The sun goes down alone
I'm drivin' by your house
Though I know you're not at home


Chorus
(eh, close enough for government work - arpeggiate as you like)
Play 2x
***** Switch to BRIDGE PICKUP *****
            Dsus4
  G       D   | D   D       C(add9)
e-3-3-----2---3-2---2-0-----0-0------------------------|
B-3--3----3---3-3---3--3----3--3-----------------------|
G-0---0---2---2-2---2---2---0---0----------------------|
D-0-------0---0-0---0-------2--------------------------|
A-X-------------------------3--------------------------|
E-3----------------------------------------------------|

G		  D  Dsus4 D
But I can see you,  your brown skin shining in the sun
D				      C(add9)
You got your hair combed back and your  sunglasses on, baby
G		  D  Dsus4 D
I can tell you my love for you will still be strong
D		  C(add9)
After the boys of summer have gone

***** Switch to NECK PICKUP *****
                                                 P
e------|---|---------------|---|----------|---|-10-7-----|---|-------|
B------|---|---------------|---|----------|---|------10--|---|-------|
G-7-9~-|---|--H--7---P-H---|---|---7-9-7~-|---|----------|---|-------|
D------|---|-7-9----9-7-9--|---|-/9-------|---|----------|---|--7\---|
A------|---|---------------|---|----------|---|----------|---|-------|
E------|---|---------------|---|----------|---|----------|---|-------|


Repeat Verse
[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/d/don_henley/the_boys_of_summer_tab.html ]
I never will forget those nights
I wonder if it was a dream
Remember how you made me crazy?
Remember how I made you scream
Now I don't understand what happened to our love
But babe, I'm gonna get you back


(Distorted fill near end of verse)
***** Switch to BRIDGE PICKUP *****

I'm gonna show you what I'm made of
e--------------------------------12----|
B--------------------------------------|
G-----------12-12^H------12-14^F-------|
D-----------12-12^H--/14---------------|
A--------------------------------------|
E--------------------------------------|

Repeat Chorus

I can see you-
Your brown skin shinin' in the sun
I see you walkin' real slow and you're smilin' at everyone
I can tell you my love for you will still be strong
After the boys of summer have gone


Bridge:
(Simple open string G chord arpeggio - This rings better)
|----------PM--------------|
e-0-0-----------0--0-------------------|
B-----3-3--------3----3---3------------|	
G---------0-0-----0----0---0-----------|	
D--------------------------------------|
A--------------------------------------|
E--------------------------------------|

(Conversely it can be played even easier if you wish)
 |---------PM-------------------|
e--------------------------------------|
B--------------------------------------|
G-9-9--7-7--0-0--9-7-0-9--7-0--7-0-----| 
D--------------------------------------|
A--------------------------------------|
E--------------------------------------|

Interlude
(May be played as what's comfortable to you but these are the notes sounded)
   P		           P H P                    |------DISTORTION------|
e-10-7------||---P-----||-5-3-5-3---3--P-----H---||------------------------|
B------10~~-||-12-10~~-||---------5---5-3---3-5--||-----8---8-10-10^F------|
G-----------||---------||-----------------4------||/9-9---9-----------9-9~-|
D-----------||---------||------------------------||------------------------|
A-----------||---------||------------------------||------------------------|
E-----------||---------||------------------------||------------------------|

Repeat Verse:
(The seagull sounds may be a synth effect but can be created by scraping the pick
against the higher strings with a delay effect. A metal pick works even better, i.e. a dime)

Out on the road today, I saw a Dead Head sticker on a Cadillac
A little voice Inside my head said, "Don't look back. You can never look back."
I thought I knew what love was
What did I know?
Those days are gone forever
I should just let them go but-

Repeat Chorus: (2X)

I can see you-
Your brown skin shinin' in the sun
You got that top pulled down and that radio on, baby
And I can tell you my love for you will still be strong
After the boys of summer have gone

I can see you-
Your brown skin shinin' in the sun
You got that hair slicked back and those Wayfarers on, baby
I can tell you my love for you will still be strong
After the boys of summer have gone

Outro: 
(Perhaps played by two guitars (2 tracks), but very easily done with one.)
(The first time through play the first bar, and 2nd time play the 2nd bar)
	                         |--1st bar--|   |---------2nd bar--------|
e-7--7~-----7--7~----7--7~----||-7------------||------------------H--P-----|
B--10--8-8~--10--8-8~-10--8-8~||--10-8~-8-7---||--H-8-H-8-H-8--H-8-10-8-P--|
G-------7---------7--------7--||-----------7~-||-7-9-7-9-7-9--7-9------9-7-|
D-----------------------------||--------------||---------------------------|
A-----------------------------||--------------||---------------------------|
E-----------------------------||--------------||---------------------------|