What does “Summer of ’69” means?

Whenever Bryan Adams’ “Summer of ’69“ is played on the airwave or some drunken girls on the pub sing the tune, I always ask people nearby: Does the song refers to the year or the position?

Many people that I asked replied flatly that it was about the year, for obvious reasons: There’s an apostrophe before the “69”, a sign that people take for granted as a shorthand for writing a year. The lyrics clearly describe the year when the narrator (it does not have to be Bryan Adams himself, as he was only 10 years old in 1969) bought his/her first real six string from a five-and-dime and played it until his/her fingers bled. Those were the best years of his/her life. You know the rest. There’s nothing that can be interpreted as some couple performing a give-and-take and only a handful of people with a dirty mind like me would dare to think that the whole song is all about a whole summer full of the famous le soixante-neuf.

As for me, I have always been suspicious of double entendre, so I had always been suspicious of the nature of the song. Or maybe I just have a dirty mind. Anyhow, if you need proof that the whole song is all about THE position, just watch the videoclip and wait until minutes 2:59. Get back here and I’ll show you more.

Now that you’re back, you might not accept the fact that your favorite singer had a dirty mind when he wrote his signature song. So why don’t we just listen from the man himself.

Well…now that I have revealed to you the age-old question of whether “Summer of ’69” refers to the year or the position, I hope you can handle the truth now and still enjoy the song like before you know what it all means :p