When Adams appeared on "The Early Show" in 2008, he was asked about "Summer of '69" and its lyrical meaning. Adams said the song was not about the summer of 1969 but about sex and making love in the summertime. "69" is a reference to the sexual position 69. Vallance, however, has gone for the more conventional interpretation of the title being a reference to a year. He notes Jackson Browne's "Running on Empty", which contains references to 1965 and 1969, as his own influence, and recalls Adams citing the film "Summer of '42" as his. However, Vallance stated on the Song Facts message board that "When we recorded the demo in my basement, towards the end of the song Bryan sang a little naughty bit: 'me and my baby in a ’69'. We had a laugh about it at the time, and Bryan decided to keep it when he did the final recording a month or two later."