Songfacts®:

• In this song, Firefall sing about the music from three transformative years: 1965, 1967, and 1969, with a verse dedicated to each year. "I wanted to tell the story of a guy and his girlfriend in the '60s listening to some of the greatest music ever, and incorporate either the titles of the songs or the bands that recorded them," guitarist Jock Bartley said on the Songfacts Podcast. "Back in the '60s, we were experiencing everything really for the first time. It was the counterculture and it was smoking pot. It was sex, drugs and rock and roll - not for all of us, but that was one of the phrases that rolled off my tongue."
• "Way Back When" is the lead single from Comet, their first album since Messenger in 1996. The group's heyday was in the '70s when they landed hits with "You Are the Woman" and "Just Remember I Love You." They went through a number of lineup changes, but for the Comet album still had three members from the classic configuration of the '70s: guitarist Jock Bartley, bass player Mark Andes, and multi-instrumentalist David Muse. It took about four years to complete the album because COVID hit before they could finish. They had to record some songs remotely, which was a new experience for them.
• Many of the artists mentioned in the song, including Bob Dylan and The Byrds, were influences on Firefall, which started out as the backing band for Byrds member Chris Hillman. They feel the music of the '60s led to the '70s sounds that hold up so well.