"The Boys of Summer"

Okay, I have a confession to make:

I am a really sentimental person.

I wish I could describe it better than that, because it doesn't seem to sum it up. I'm not a pack rat, but there are little scraps of paper I can never throw away. I'm still upset that I never got to "say goodbye" to my bookstore (long story, the short of it is: I was told to go home and they'd call me if they needed my help packing everything up--never got that call). I'm sad when I leave a place and I don't know it. I miss/think about people I met years ago...some of them I can barely remember what they look like (or what their names are).

I'm kinda dealing with that now, with my Bellerive (my dorm). I'm saying goodbye to it forever. But that's not what this blog post is about (I'm saving that for a little later this week, probably my Friday video blog). No, this post is about a song that I love. I love it because when I hear it, for some reason, I get really sentimental. For or about what exactly, I have no idea. But for some reason, whenever I hear Don Henley's classic "The Boys of Summer" I get wistful.

I was listening to a podcast I like, Coverville when it came on. Coverville (http://www.coverville.com/) is hosted by Brian Ibott, and he plays nothing but covers. His shows usually have a theme, and this week's show was summer time/baseball. So, after the obligatory "Put Me In Coach" he played a cover of "The Boys of Summer" by this chick Bree Sharp (http://www.breesharp.com/breesharp.html).

Ugh.

Nothing could be worse than this song sung by a woman. THAT really sent me over the edge (again, I have no idea why). I'm not sobbing on the floor like a baby, but for some reason it made me sad (but that good kind of sad, the one where the pain helps you know that you're alive) and really sentimental. A bitter sweetness. People and things long gone. Summers that came and went.

I get that it's not a happy song. I get that. I get that it's about the feeling I have when I hear it. For that reason alone, it's a great fucking song. I'm not sure if it does this to everyone who hears it, but for whatever reason it connects with me. That's good art people.

Nobody on the road,
nobody on the beach.
I feel it in the air,
the summers out of reach
Empty lake, empty streets,
the sun goes down alone.
I'm driving by your house
though Iknow that you not home...
And I can see you
you brown skin shining in the sun
you got your hair combed back
sunglasses on baby
and I can tell you
my love for you will still be strong
after the boy of summer have gone.
out on the road today
I saw a dead head sticker on a Cadillac
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 for ever
I should just let them go and...
I can see you
your brown skin shining in the sun
you know your walking real slow
smiling at everyone
I can tell you my love for you will still be strong
after the boys of summer have gone.
I never will forget those nights
I wonder if it was a dream
remember how you drove me crazy?
remember how I made you scream?
now I don't understand
what happed to our love?
now baby gonna get you back
gonna show you what i'm made of...
I can see you
your brown skin shining in the sun
you got your top pulled down,
radio on baby and I can tell you
my love for you will still be strong
after the boys of summer have gone.

Just to let you know what a glutton for punishment I am: I've bought this song on iTUNES...as well as the excellent cover The Ataris did a few years back (which I heard in a Hot Topic...I freaked out and left the store, went straight home and bought it online).

I wonder what things out there do this kind of thing to other people? Anyone have a song, or a movie, or whatever that just messes with your emotions? Am I senti-mental or just plain mental?