I sorta wanna know as well, it seems like everyone I talk to seems to not like the Eagles, I think they are pretty good, but that could also be because both my parents like em and I grew up listening to them.
Although the Eagles never really seemed to "get" that SD was making fun of them. Walter Becker called the Eagles "the White Drifters" a couple of times in the press, and yet when SD asked Henley/Frey/Schmidt to sing backup on "FM," they jumped at the chance. A strange relationship.
They're just ... well, they're just the f#ckin' Eagles, aiight? I'm sorry, it's just that they're the Eagles.
I love when DanHiggsBeard talks about the Eagles. Some people just hate the Eagles, I am pretty much one of those guys. I know alot of people who like them, so its not one of those "I will probably hate you you if you love ______ " (eg. Billy Joel). Alot of people of who I am fond are fond of the Eagles. I personally do not like the Eagles because their music seem to exist in a world in which there is no such thing as "a sense of humor" or "taking yourself much too seriously." Their words and music match up quite well in that way. I actually love them ironically; they are blowhards, the Michael Jordans of self-absorbed musicianship. Elvis, Beatles, James Brown, Stones, Chuck Berry.... anyone decent has a sense of musical humor. The Eagles were just so inappropriately.... earnest, and they have this faux-gravitas that sounds, to my ears, very very hilarious. All 43 minutes of Lyin Eyes are just soaked in that patronizing, condescending SoCal narrative. Again, it's not just lyrics, their music is just as humorless and bland. If I may: G C "She gets up, pours herself a strong one C D Stares out at the stars up in the sky G C Another night, its gonne be a long one C D G She draws the shade and hangs her head to cry." For some reason that verse makes me laugh and laugh. That song is sooooo long, it just never quits. Snotty editorializing aside, I think in Hotel Callifornia, they are going for a sort of surreal, Kubrick-esque "Shining" hotel feel with that "captain, wine, 69" lyric, that's what it makes me think of. I think it's just a limp double-play on the word 'spirit' that happened to rhyme, and vaguely conjures up a late-60's spirit in sort of a murky, creepy way. Who the hell calls up a captain and says "please bring me my wine"? As usual, the line does not work, but is vague enough - and delivered with such a straight face -- that is sounds like it should mean something. Like maybe you're an idiot for not getting it. Which, of couse, no one is because it does not mean anything. I also hate the Supremes.
Have always loved the Eagles. What's not cool about them? "mirrors on the ceiling, pink champagne on ice, we are all just prisoners here of our own device" For me, the song's a 4-5 minute haunting metaphor about self-absorbed materialism. D R
Personally, I like the Eagles and I always thought Don Henley (for all of his misguided political leanings) was an outstanding lyricist. I think the song was a statement on the coked up California of the 1970's, where everyone was a "prisoner of their own device." Humor or none, I'd much rather listen to the Eagles than the garbage that infests modern radio today.
So I called up the captain, "Please bring me my whine" He said, 'We haven't had that spirit here since 1969' " It refers to asking "The Captain" to bring over that whiner "Tennille" to a sleazy motel for a deviant rendezvous. The Captain responded by pointing out the fact that Tennille hadn't "delivered the deviant goods" since 1969. Maybe. Maybe no.
I am sooo very very tired of old people constantly berating good artists' music. The Eagles f-ing rocked and everybody knows it. Hotel California was the most awesomest song ever! I have tried to stab it with my steely knives on several occasions with no avail, and, much to y'all's chagrin, it cannot be killed. I decided to use this killer track to some poetry I recently came upon. Listen for it on the new Mega 101... This can be found on my website: www.notalentass-hack.com (seriously, sing this poem to the "Hotel California" song. It fits in a weird way.)
I think you are right. She always struck me as kind of a frigid b****, although an amazingly talented performer who the American populace just wasn't smart enough to appreciate. She should have joined the Eagles. The NFL team, I mean, not the band.
Why don't some of y'all save the vitriol for a band that truly deserves it, like say Styx or Night Ranger. The Eagles are paying the price for being too successful. I like them, even if their lyrics sometimes fell short as in "Take it to the limit". They were good but not great.
Hey, when the Eagles get their own forum on this BBS, then you can complain. Until then, Styx is off limits!
