According to Bobby Goldsboro, the song was loosely based on something that happened to him with someone older, but not as romantic as that depicted in the song. The song was recorded largely as Goldsboro had envisioned apart from the piano riff that started the song and repeated throughout the song as well as the ending descending scale, which were written by his pianist conductor Timmy Tappan. The song was preceded by the sounds of ocean waves and seagulls, taken from a sound effect library. The label had wanted to remove these sounds to shorten the song, but Goldsboro insisted that they be kept. The song is about someone reminiscing about being a 17-year-old boy in his first romantic experience with a 31-year-old woman during the summer. Using a repeating piano riff, 12-string guitar, and an orchestral string arrangement (engineered by Ernie Winfrey), the song was suggestive enough to spark some controversy at the time. The sound of seagulls combined with the string arrangement at the start of the record, which last 57 seconds until the vocals come in, creates the impression of being on a beach in mid-summer. Whilst Goldsboro was writing the music, he and his band made a television appearance on
The Tonight Show. During this appearance Goldsboro played part of the song on guitar when musician Tappan first played the piano riff that dominated part of the song. It has been suggested that the musical theme of the song may have provided inspiration for
Jean-Claude Borelly's 1975 hit "Dolannes Melodie". ==Chart history==