I got my first real six-string
Bought it at the five-and-dime
Played it 'til my fingers bled
It was the summer of '69
Me and some guys from school
Had a band and we tried real hard
Jimmy quit and Jody got married
I shoulda known we'd never get far
Oh, when I look back now
That summer seemed to last forever
And if I had the choice
Ya, I'd always wanna be there
Those were the best days of my life

Hey, ain't no use in complainin'
When you got a job to do
Spent my evenin's down at the drive-in
And that's when I met you, yeah
Standin' on your Mama's porch
You told me that you'd wait forever
Oh, and when you held my hand
I knew that it was now or never
Those were the best days of my life
Oooh, yeah
Back in the summer of '69
Ooooooh

Man, we were killin' time
We were young and restless
We needed to unwind
I guess nothin' could last forever, forever, no

Yeah

And now the times are a-changin'
Look at everything that's come and gone
Sometimes when I play that old six-string
I think about ya wonder what went wrong
Standin' on your Mama's porch
You told me it would last forever
Oh, the way you held my hand
I knew that it was now or never
Those were the best days of my life
Oooh, yeah
Back in the summer of '69
Ooooooh
It was the summer of '69
Oooh, yeah