A song about the bittersweet ache of a summer romance that’s destined to end with the season.
In the late 1970s, as the decade was winding down, a sound emerged that perfectly captured the spirit of youthful innocence and the burgeoning bittersweetness of first loves. This sound was the voice of Leif Garrett, the quintessential teen idol of the era, and it was never more poignant than on his 1979 hit, “When I Think Of You.” This track wasn’t just another bubblegum pop song; it was an emotional time capsule, a reflective ballad that spoke directly to a generation of young people grappling with the fleeting nature of their own lives and loves.
Released in August 1979, the song appeared on his 1978 album, Feel the Need, and quickly became a staple on the radio waves. While it didn’t reach the dizzying heights of his previous hit, “I Was Made for Dancin’,” it still performed respectfully, charting at #78 on the Billboard Hot 100 and a more impressive #11 on the US Adult Contemporary chart. This dual-chart performance is telling; it shows that while the song resonated with his core teen audience, its reflective, melodic nature also appealed to a slightly older demographic, perhaps even the parents who were buying the records for their kids. The story behind the song is one of shared experience and universal emotion. Written by James Williams, the lyrics paint a vivid picture of a summer romance—one filled with “sunny days in June,” “dancing in the street,” and “running on the beach.” These are the classic, idyllic moments that define youthful love, and Garrett’s earnest, heartfelt delivery made them feel incredibly real.
But the song’s true power lies in its melancholy turn. The chorus brings us back to the stark reality: “But summer’s ending, when it left, you left too / Now there’s nothin’ to do but wait for the summer.” It’s a simple, yet profound, sentiment. It speaks to that universal feeling of longing and loss when a beautiful, temporary moment comes to an end. For so many of us who grew up in that time, the song became the soundtrack to the last days of summer break, a gentle reminder that the carefree days of youth were, much like the season itself, fleeting. We’d be back to school, and the person we spent those magical months with would be gone, a memory we’d hold onto until the following year.
Leif Garrett himself was more than just a singer; he was a phenomenon. His clean-cut looks and boyish charm made him a regular on the covers of teen magazines like Tiger Beat and 16 Magazine. He was a successful child actor, appearing in films like Walking Tall and television shows like Family and Wonder Woman. The music career, in many ways, was a natural extension of his celebrity, but he always maintained a certain genuineness that set him apart. In later years, his struggles with personal demons became public, a tragic contrast to the sunny image he projected in his youth. This adds an even deeper layer of poignancy to a song like “When I Think of You.” When we listen to it now, we hear not just a young man singing about a lost love, but a voice from a bygone era, a reflection of a time when life, and music, seemed a little simpler, a little more innocent. It is a testament to the song’s enduring power that it can still evoke such strong feelings of nostalgia and longing, transporting us back to those long-ago summers and the loves we thought would last forever.