I was just a teen when this came out.  We didn't have TV in those years, which I think was mostly a financial decision by the parents (we were nearly "poor" and there were violin lessons and summer basketball camp for me - I was a budding point guard).  But one summer, there must have been a special offer because we had cable again for about 3 months, and then as school started they let it lapse.  During that time was the only time I got to see MTV growing up and it was right when Boomtown was getting a lot of play.  I immediately loved the song.

1) For me, the first hook was the melody.  Both the verses and choruses were really memorable and singable.  It worked musically.

2) I picked up on the fact that David was singing really serious lyrics, almost like Dylan or something, but he was very strong in the upper range in the chorus.  I liked that combination immediately.  Didn't really find something else that did that for me until Kevin Gilbert years later.  And I found Kevin BEFORE knowing that they would do some work together.

3) A particular stroke of genius is the phrase "succulent sound" and the way he sings it.  I don't know if I've ever heard the word "succulent" in a song before, and its a particularly powerful image here.

4) Even as a teen, I was questioning just how negative David was about the "Yuppie aesthetic" in that song.  I could see where that kind of materialistic big-city life could be both annoying and maybe destructive, but I lived in a 17,000 person town.  That seemed light years away and didn't really square with my experience.  Later starting post-college work in a bigger town, I could start to see some of what David talks about in that song, but I also didn't think it was as pervasive as Boomtown made it seem.  Perhaps Boomtown was something that had to be born in Los Angeles of the 80s.  

5) I notice the song above is credited to Baerwald only.  Is this because the lyric is all his?  I'm assuming the actual song is a Baerwald/Ricketts co-write?   It does make me sad that the rumored reunion album between them didn't materialize.  I absolutely loved David's NFU material (both versions), and I would have welcomed one more project that combines his musicality and knack with vocal melodies with lyrics that sharply refined.  I think now about songs like "Why," "Nothing's Gonna Bring Me Down," and "If" and I lament the absence of his particular quality in the music world.