Liberal Arts Blog — The Eagles: “Take It Easy,” “Hotel California,” “Life In The Fast Lane” (Plus A Footnote On Don Henley And Henry David Thoreau)
Liberal Arts Blog — Thursday is the Joy of Music Day
Today’s Topic: The Eagles: “Take it Easy,” “Hotel California,” “Life in the Fast Lane” (plus a footnote on Don Henley and Henry David Thoreau)
First, a little context for those new to the blog. Posts range from classical and folk to rock and jazz from India and China to Africa and the Middle East to North and South America.
Periodically, we cover technical topics like how to sing or tritone substitution on the guitar.
Last week (3/6) we looked at the dark humor of Tom Lehrer with “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park,” “The Vatican Rag,” and ‘When You Are Old and Grey.” Two weeks ago (2/27) three hymns inspired by the magnificent “Finlandia” of Sibelius. Three weeks ago (2/20) the theme was “crazy” with songs by Patsy Cline, Aerosmith, and Fine Young Cannibals.
Four weeks ago (2/13) three comfort songs — by Bob Marley (“Three Little Birds”), Carole King (“You’ve Gotta Friend”), and Cyndi Lauper (“Time after Time”). Five weeks ago (2/6) three songs by Beyonce. Six weeks ago (1/31), three songs by Lorde. Six weeks ago (1/24), three songs by Lata Mangeshkar, the “Nightingale of India.” Seven week ago (1/17), three iconic songs from India — “Chaiyya Chaiyya,” “Baabul Mora,” and “I am a Disco Dancer.”
Before that a six part series on Christmas songs.
Today, three songs by The Eagles — one of the best selling bands of all time. Do you have a favorite Eagles song? Their Greatest Hits album (1975) is the best selling album in the United States ever — topping Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Their Hotel California album (1976) is the fourth best selling album in the US!
“Founding members Glen Frey (guitar, vocals), Don Henley (drums, vocals), Bernie Leadon (guitar, vocals), and Randy Meisner (bass guitar, vocals) had all been recruited by Linda Rondstadt as band members, some touring with her, and all playing on her self-titled third solo studio album (1972), before venturing out on their own as the Eagles on David Geffen’s new Asylum Records label.”
Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
“HOTEL CALIFORNIA” (1976) Don Henley on lead vocals, Glenn Frey wrote the lyrics, Don Felder wrote the melody (he joined the band in 1974 and stayed on until fired in 2001), Felder and Joe Walsh played the concluding guitar solo
1. “On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair, warm smell of colitas rising up through the air, up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light My head grew grew heavy and my sight grew dim. I had to stop for the night, There she stood in the doorway, I heard the mission bell and I was thinking to myself, “This could be heaven or this could be hell.”
2. “Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way, there were voices down the corridor. I thought I heard them say, “Welcome to the Hotel California, such ha lovely place (such a lovely place) such a lovely face, plenty of room at the Hotel California any time of year you can find it here.”
3. ”Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes-Benz, uh, She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys that she calls friend, How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat, Some dance to remember, some dance to forget. So I called up the Captain, “Please bring me my win” He said, “We haven’t had that spirit here since 1969.”
NB: “They’re living it up at the Hotel California, what a nice surprise (what a nice surprise) Bring your alibis…Mirrors on the ceiling, the pink champagne on ice, and she said, “we are all just prisoners here of our own device” and in the master’s chambers, they gathered for the feast, they stab it with their steely knives but they just can’t kill the beast. Last thing I remember I was running for the door I had to find the passage back to the place I was before, “Relax,” said the night man, “We are programmed to receive. You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09839DpTctU
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_California
“TAKE IT EASY” (1971) — lead vocals by Glenn Frey, co-written by Jackson Browne and Frey
1. “Well, I’m a-runnin down the road tryna loosen my load, I’ve got seven women on my mind Four that wanna own me, two that wanna stone me, One says she’s a friend of mine.”
2. Take it easy, take it easy, Don’t let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy, Lighten up while you still can, Don’t even try to understand, just find a place to make your stand. Take it easy.”
3. “Well I’m a standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona such a fine sight to see, it’s a girl in a flatbed Ford slowin’ down to take a look at me. “
NB: Come on, baby, don’t say maybe, I gotta know if your sweet love is gonna save me. We my lose ane we may win thought we will never be heare again, So open up, I’m climbin’ in so take it easy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KQKJLELs9w
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_It_Easy
LIFE IN THE FAST LANE (1977) song sprang from the opening guitar riff of Joe Walsh, but the lyrics were written by Frey and Henley
1. “He was a hard-headed man, he was brutally handsome and she was terminally pretty, She held him up and he held her for ransom, in the heart of the cold, cold, city.”
2. “He had a nasty reputation as a cruel dude, They said he was ruthless, they said he was crude. They had one thing in common, they were good in bed, She’d say “Faster, faster, the lights are turnin’ red.”
3. “Surely, make you lose your mind (Life in the fast lane) huh. Are you with me so far? Eager for action and hot for the game, the coming attraction, the drop of a name, They knew all the right people, they took all the right pills, They threw outrageous parties, they paid heavenly bills.
NB: “There were lines on the mirror, lines on her face, She pretended not to notice, she was caught up in the race, Out every evening, until it was light he was too tired to make it, he was too tired to fight about it…life in the fast lane, everything all the time…blowin’ and burnin’ blinded by thirst, they didn’t see the stop sign, took a turn for the worst. She said “Liste, baby, you can hear the engine ring, we’ve been up and down this highway, haven’t seen a goddamnt thing.” He said, “Call the doctor, I think I’m gonna crash, The doctor say he’s coming’, but you gotta pay in cash.
They went rushin’ down that freeway, messed around and got lost, They didn’t care, they were just dyin to get off and it was surely make you lose your mind… Life in the fast lane uh-huh, Life in the fast lane everything all the time…Life in the fast lane..”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po6QU0z1rSs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_in_the_Fast_Lane
FOOTNOTE — Don Henley (1947 — ) — huge Henry David Thoreau fan, founded “The Walden Woods Project” (1990) - see last six links below
1. Don Henley (1947 — ) only continuous member of the band, drummer and co-lead vocalist.
2. Had a solo career as well.
3. “In 1990 founded the Walden Woods Project to help protect “Walden Woods” from development.”
NB: If you haven’t read “Walden” or “Civil Disobedience” or “Walking” well, do yourself a favor and give them a try. if you are already a big Thoreau fan, well, please share your favorite line.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagles_(band)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_albums_in_the_United_States
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Henley
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walden_Woods_Project
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walden_Pond
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_David_Thoreau
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walden
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Disobedience_(Thoreau)
https://faculty.washington.edu/timbillo/Readings%20and%20documents/Wilderness/Thoreau%20Walking.pdf
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
My spin — then periodically review, re-rank, and exchange your list with those you love. I call this the “Orion Exchange” because seven is about as many as any human can digest at a time. Game?
A LINK TO THE LAST FOUR YEARS OF POSTS ORGANIZED BY THEME:
PDF with headlines — Google Drive
ATTACHMENT BELOW:
#1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page).
#2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People” — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, (11/17/20)
NB: Palestine Orion (Decision) — let’s exchange Orions, let’s find Rumi’s field (“Beyond all ideas of right and wrong, there is a field. Meet me there” Rumi, 13 century Persian Sufi mystic)
YOUR TURN
Time to share the coolest thing you learned in the last week related to music.
Or the coolest thing you learned in your life related to music. Say your favorite song or songs. Or your favorite tips for breathing, posture, or relaxation. Or some insight into the history of music….Or just something random about music… like a joke about drummers. jazz, rock….or share an episode or chapter in your musical autobiography.
This is your chance to make someone else’s day. And perhaps to cement in your memory something important you would otherwise forget. Or to think more deeply than you otherwise would about something that matters to you.
