My favorite album of all time. I absolutely loved all the songs and learned how to play them all on my guitar. Yes, Desperado is a really sad song. I’ve known many men like him.
I remember. My guy friends sitting around, cans of Bud and Coors, roaches between fingers. This album turning again. I loved the music, too. But it was different for them. It pulled on the thing they tried so hard to keep punched down and hidden.
They were young men in their early prime, doing whatever they wanted while the world still let them. But this song in particular had a way of reminding them that it wasn’t, couldn’t be, forever. And they were already starting to grieve in advance. Then they fired up another, and laughed cavalierly and too loudly at whatever was the topic of conversation at that moment.
And me their friend, a girl in my own early prime, always grabbed by that line:
You better let somebody love you, before it’s too late.
Cans of Bud and Coors, a roach between two fingers, the same record turning again. You just put me back in that room.
We think it will always last. That's the thing nobody on that floor could have said out loud. The boys laughing too loud right after a quiet moment. The next can cracked open a little too fast. That's what it looks like when you feel something and aren't ready to feel it.
Boy, did you just state that perfectly! That’s the way it was back in the 70s early 80s. But I realize now that it’s shaped who we are today. Not totally good but definitely not totally bad! Thank you for a great post!
We females also felt more power than we ever had before - and would ever feel again. But for different reasons than our male friends. The 70s era gave us permission to move our energy in ways our mothers had never known.
But we had no training for it, and hard lessons followed for our social temerity.
Over 2 summers in the early 90s in OC Maryland myself and my friends were in that room with cases of the Beast, Old Milwaukee, listening to Pearl Jam, Ice-T, Cypress Hill, The Orb in a lightning storm, Rage Against the Machine, saying 'we demand to live like kings!' Sometimes, I'm still there.
It was, and in the best way. Such an intensely lived time. Everything was heightened. It was my first time in the States. It was like living in a movie. Because it wasn't real we could do whatever we wanted. There were no limits.
I like this because I have no clue what it was like to be a 19-year-old male. Oddly, it's not that different from being a female of that age and in that time with that music. Thanks for the insight.
But Tom - you still DO feel everything. You have just changed how you express it. That's a great gift. It lies in mastering more universal ways of talking about those feelings instead of internalizing them and isolating yourself with one or two others. That's the difference for adults - it's finding ways to express them more fully. Pity to those who stop having those feelings.
I absolutely loved Linda Ronstadt's version of this song. I felt like she put so much of the ache and longing into it. She and Don Henley were an amazing team back then. Henley's one of my favorite songwriters of all time. Music seeps into your soul and becomes a trigger that lets you time travel through memories and emotions of the past. Thank you for this trip down memory lane.Love, Virg
Tom, it’s fascinating how everyone I know has one, two or more Eagles songs on their favorite go to playlist…they capture a specific time, place, mood. Living in LA, I remember they were Linda Ronstadt’s band. Most memorable was hearing Hotel California for the first time as I walked thru DeGaulle Airport in Paris.
I think I have said it before but Randy Meisner lived about 5 miles from the town I grew up in. He was in a band with my cousin, so we always paid attention to what the Eagles were doing.
Was it different back then? We protested, we rallied and demonstrated (and partied) and things changed. I remember it so vividly because I felt it so strongly. The world was ours we owned it, we were Kings.
What gets me is Jay explaining the song so clearly. Someone is standing right there loving him and he can't let it in. He sees the whole thing, and never notices he's talking about himself. That's most of us, I think. We can diagnose the cowboy on the fence in anyone but the mirror. Beautiful piece.
I’ve been somewhat obsessed with this song for about a year now since I decided to learn it on piano. Seemed simple enough but I was wary of how most, if not all, Eagles songs have intricacies that make their music so great. I learned how to play the chords then melody and words in a reasonable period of time. The next eight or ten months of practicing was about tempo, phrasing and most of all removing notes. Some ray of hope shines through in the middle but the intro and outro are both hollow. I don’t know of any other bands who can match this feeling.
Just a simple observation in response to your excellent post Tom Joad. Thank you!
I knew Randy Meisner of the Eagles. He was born in a small town about 10 miles from me. When he was young he played in a band with my cousin. Out of college I interviewed him when he came out with his first solo album.
My favorite album of all time. I absolutely loved all the songs and learned how to play them all on my guitar. Yes, Desperado is a really sad song. I’ve known many men like him.
I remember. My guy friends sitting around, cans of Bud and Coors, roaches between fingers. This album turning again. I loved the music, too. But it was different for them. It pulled on the thing they tried so hard to keep punched down and hidden.
They were young men in their early prime, doing whatever they wanted while the world still let them. But this song in particular had a way of reminding them that it wasn’t, couldn’t be, forever. And they were already starting to grieve in advance. Then they fired up another, and laughed cavalierly and too loudly at whatever was the topic of conversation at that moment.
And me their friend, a girl in my own early prime, always grabbed by that line:
You better let somebody love you, before it’s too late.
Cans of Bud and Coors, a roach between two fingers, the same record turning again. You just put me back in that room.
We think it will always last. That's the thing nobody on that floor could have said out loud. The boys laughing too loud right after a quiet moment. The next can cracked open a little too fast. That's what it looks like when you feel something and aren't ready to feel it.
Thank you for this.
Boy, did you just state that perfectly! That’s the way it was back in the 70s early 80s. But I realize now that it’s shaped who we are today. Not totally good but definitely not totally bad! Thank you for a great post!
I love the feel of this story. That short amount of time in life that you feel invincible. Kings,mostly.
We females also felt more power than we ever had before - and would ever feel again. But for different reasons than our male friends. The 70s era gave us permission to move our energy in ways our mothers had never known.
But we had no training for it, and hard lessons followed for our social temerity.
Over 2 summers in the early 90s in OC Maryland myself and my friends were in that room with cases of the Beast, Old Milwaukee, listening to Pearl Jam, Ice-T, Cypress Hill, The Orb in a lightning storm, Rage Against the Machine, saying 'we demand to live like kings!' Sometimes, I'm still there.
I tried to capture the idealism of that age. Everything was life or death.
It was, and in the best way. Such an intensely lived time. Everything was heightened. It was my first time in the States. It was like living in a movie. Because it wasn't real we could do whatever we wanted. There were no limits.
I like this because I have no clue what it was like to be a 19-year-old male. Oddly, it's not that different from being a female of that age and in that time with that music. Thanks for the insight.
I can remember this feeling like it was yesterday. We were Kings. We felt everything so dramatically. And I think we all knew it would end.
But Tom - you still DO feel everything. You have just changed how you express it. That's a great gift. It lies in mastering more universal ways of talking about those feelings instead of internalizing them and isolating yourself with one or two others. That's the difference for adults - it's finding ways to express them more fully. Pity to those who stop having those feelings.
Nice piece. I wrote one called Desperado yesterday. Clearly, the song resonates with of us. And your friend.
Great minds..
I absolutely loved Linda Ronstadt's version of this song. I felt like she put so much of the ache and longing into it. She and Don Henley were an amazing team back then. Henley's one of my favorite songwriters of all time. Music seeps into your soul and becomes a trigger that lets you time travel through memories and emotions of the past. Thank you for this trip down memory lane.Love, Virg
Tom, it’s fascinating how everyone I know has one, two or more Eagles songs on their favorite go to playlist…they capture a specific time, place, mood. Living in LA, I remember they were Linda Ronstadt’s band. Most memorable was hearing Hotel California for the first time as I walked thru DeGaulle Airport in Paris.
He moved to California but never made it in music. I think he became a barber.
I hope he has no regrets and enjoys his post-music life.
I think I have said it before but Randy Meisner lived about 5 miles from the town I grew up in. He was in a band with my cousin, so we always paid attention to what the Eagles were doing.
It’s good to know & remember where people came from, who they once were and who they became. Did your cousin continue with his music?
Was it different back then? We protested, we rallied and demonstrated (and partied) and things changed. I remember it so vividly because I felt it so strongly. The world was ours we owned it, we were Kings.
What gets me is Jay explaining the song so clearly. Someone is standing right there loving him and he can't let it in. He sees the whole thing, and never notices he's talking about himself. That's most of us, I think. We can diagnose the cowboy on the fence in anyone but the mirror. Beautiful piece.
Thank you!!
It was Jethro Tull, Miller High Life and whatever weed we could find.
Brings back haunting memories. Thanks.
I want to know what happened to Jay. Will there be a Part 2?
Jay is a retired postal worker in Omaha Nebraska.😀
LOL - so it goes...
That’s why I love this story so much. It is 100% true.😀
I’ve been somewhat obsessed with this song for about a year now since I decided to learn it on piano. Seemed simple enough but I was wary of how most, if not all, Eagles songs have intricacies that make their music so great. I learned how to play the chords then melody and words in a reasonable period of time. The next eight or ten months of practicing was about tempo, phrasing and most of all removing notes. Some ray of hope shines through in the middle but the intro and outro are both hollow. I don’t know of any other bands who can match this feeling.
Just a simple observation in response to your excellent post Tom Joad. Thank you!
I knew Randy Meisner of the Eagles. He was born in a small town about 10 miles from me. When he was young he played in a band with my cousin. Out of college I interviewed him when he came out with his first solo album.
If you are from where I am, you know the Eagles.
Moving memories of that song. Thunder. 👏
Tom, this latest story and the way you write touches me in deep ways. It is so real. So non embellished. So clear.
Your political writing does the same.
I appreciate your talent and your effort.
Your stories change my life.
In slow but profound ways.
Like, how life continues to change you.
Thank you