Henley songs about Stevie...

[HenleyFan]

The song was written before Don met Stevie so please explain to me how it's about her.

Also, Don told a long story in concert last summer (at every damn show!) about the inspiration for Witchy Woman. Guess what.....no mention of Stevie.

L&M

Originally Posted by witchy_woman13

look at my name , there was a rumor go'in round .............and i do believe that song was written about her she said of don henley "he taught me how to shop"

[ontheEdgeof17]

Originally Posted by HenleyFan

The song was written before Don met Stevie so please explain to me how it's about her.

Also, Don told a long story in concert last summer (at every damn show!) about the inspiration for Witchy Woman. Guess what.....no mention of Stevie.

L&M

Agreed. I believe WW was written around '73. There's no way the song is about Stevie...unless Don was a big Fritz fan.

[pattymarkle]

Originally Posted by HenleyFan

I understand what you are saying. My point, though, was that the Eagles songwriting process is the opposite of this and if people are pouring over lyrics trying to specifically find Stevie, they aren't going to find her. Like the people who still say that Witchy Woman is about her....

While Stevie's songs may be full of real characters, the Eagles songs really aren't.

L&M

Okay, fair enough. I know you know your Eagles like we know our Stevie and maybe we do tend to look for signs of her when she has given signs of him and others. I had a real hard time coming to grips with her song, "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You". I took that song so personally as a pure love letter to her fans.

She said on Storytellers it was about Joe Walsh and his precious daughter Emma, who had been killed on her way to nursery school one morning. I still believed it was a song to the fans. Then I buy a copy of her tourbook for that year from ebay (I guess they had printing delays with programs a few years ago too ) and it says...

"I wrote a song for the both of them. My life changed on that day. I told the public it was theirs and mine, but it never was, it was my Joe's song, and I would never, ever be the same."

So now I am even more confused. I knew Witchy Woman wasn't about her though.

I'm glad to have a better understanding of how the Eagles write their songs and hopefully you can see why we tend to read a great deal into what Stevie writes, because most of the time, there is a personal story to be told.

Patty

[Tango]

Originally Posted by HenleyFan

The song was written before Don met Stevie so please explain to me how it's about her.

Also, Don told a long story in concert last summer (at every damn show!) about the inspiration for Witchy Woman. Guess what.....no mention of Stevie.

L&M

Hey L&M, it's always good to read you. I don't know if you are familiar with The Penguin much, but there is a section of "Q&A"s with people in or associated with Fleetwood Mac in one context or another, including one by John McVie, the MAC of Fleetwood Mac!

One of the reasons the story of Life In The Fast Lane became accepted was because of one of those Q&A's, one by Gary Hodges. Maybe you'd like to read thorough it yourself:
http://www.fleetwoodmac.net/penguin/qa/hoppy_qa1.htm

You can read what he says himself; apparently he had done some work for Don. On the first page Gary states the song is about Stevie and Lindsey, but later, on page 3, he softens it a little bit. I thought you might enjoy reading it yourself.

[HenleyFan]

Well, that was interesting. From what I can tell Gary just says when he heard Life in the Fastlane it reminded him of Lindsey and Stevie. Don and Glenn tell a different story about the origins of the song (I can type up what Glenn says in the liner notes of the Very Best of if you want me to). So who should we believe....someone who says he thinks it's about this or the writers who say this was the inspiration?

But I guess people will believe what they want to believe. There are still people who think Hotel California is about the devil and/or an insane asylum.

L&M

Originally Posted by Tango

Hey L&M, it's always good to read you. I don't know if you are familiar with The Penguin much, but there is a section of "Q&A"s with people in or associated with Fleetwood Mac in one context or another, including one by John McVie, the MAC of Fleetwood Mac!

One of the reasons the story of Life In The Fast Lane became accepted was because of one of those Q&A's, one by Gary Hodges. Maybe you'd like to read thorough it yourself:
http://www.fleetwoodmac.net/penguin/qa/hoppy_qa1.htm

You can read what he says himself; apparently he had done some work for Don. On the first page Gary states the song is about Stevie and Lindsey, but later, on page 3, he softens it a little bit. I thought you might enjoy reading it yourself.

[pattymarkle]

Originally Posted by HenleyFan

But I guess people will believe what they want to believe. There are still people who think Hotel California is about the devil and/or an insane asylum.

L&M

Well it is isn't it? You know that Church of Satan guy is staring down from the second floor. Oh and the "haven't had that spirit here since 1969" was the year that the Satan church was founded so "God" wasn't there anymore. And all the guys have long hair. And it was on "Asylum" Records.

Geez - I remember those day way to well. Everything was related to Satan. KISS was Knights in Satans Service. Styx of course was all about crossing the River Styx going to hell. I remember the mom of one of my friends, that I must have been corrupting or something, pointing the man on the second floor of Hotel California and saying he was the founder of the Church of Satan. I won't even begin to explain Stevie at this point. GEEZ!

I went and pulled one of my three Hotel California albums (they stack up like old husbands and boyfriends) to see my guy looking down again. Where did these people come up with these ideas?

I need a record player. I don't have a problem worshiping at the alter of my Rock Gods and Goddesses.

Patty

[lagringader&r]

Originally Posted by catinthedark

-----------------------------------------------------
He was a hard-headed man he was brutally handsome
And she was terminally pretty

They knew all the right people
They took all the right pills
They threw outrageous parties
They paid heavenly bills
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 she was too tired to fight about it----------------------------------------------------------

These words could be written about anyone who socializes with a certain group of people, meaning the partiers, the stoners, the cokeheads, the musicians. These words could have been written about most of my friends and me. It's all life in the fast lane when you're hanging with a group that's considered *wild* by common morality. Doesn't even have to be about anyone famous.

My tone is also not meant to be snarky. Just commenting that these lyrics don't mean a whole lot or single Stevie and Lindsey out.

[catinthedark]

Originally Posted by David

I don't see how those lyrics you posted apply any more specifically to Stevie & Lindsey than they do to hundreds of other power couples doing cocaine & partying in the 1970s.

You're right. But as I said, I had heard before that it was about S&L, and so I was just demonstrating why I thought it was possible. I was actually surprised to hear that people didn't think it was about them because of what I had heard. Turns out, maybe those people I'd heard it from were wrong. I stand corrected.

Originally Posted by David

Right. But I had never heard it mentioned before the whole Internet thing started, & once something is posted on the Net, it spreads like wildfire & people encounter it & often assume it's a decades'-old opinion or explanation.

Okay. Well. I had heard it prior to the whole internet thing. I actually lived quite a bit of life before the internet became mainstream. Read: I'm old.

Originally Posted by David

Are you exaggerating? do you only talk to Stevie fans?

Quite the contrary. The only Stevie fans I know are right here on this board.

Originally Posted by David

Bottom line is probably that we all carry around these wonderful fictions in our minds about who wrote about what, & we taylor those fictions to suit our desires.

Actually, I think there was a bit of a grand leap made about how I interpret Stevie's songs, and Don and Glen's songs, for that matter (not necessarily by you, David. But I was getting that feeling while reading all the responses). I was only inquiring about HC and LITFL, basing my comments on what I'd heard. You're all correct: those lyrics could apply to anyone. But since I'd been told it was about them, those particular lyrics seemed to back that notion. As I've said, I stand corrected. I promise never to make such a grievous error again.

But, for the record, I also am not one of the club that believe that all of Stevie's songs are about one specific person with the initials LB. I definitely think many of them are - especially the ones she has confirmed are about him. But I think she often writes about lots of different people and situations and relationships in single songs - she takes little bits of her life and melds them together. It's why her songs are sometimes more difficult to decipher. But I certainly don't think there's anything wrong with people speculating about lyrics - especially when they can be so ambiguous.

P.S. I never thought Witchy Woman was about Stevie either.

[lagringader&r]

Question for HenleyFan (L&M): Did the band ever say what or who Victim of Love and King of Hollywood are about? I'm guessing KOH is just about the Hollywood film industry, breaking in and the infamous casting couch. VOL is probably my fave Eagles song of all time and just wondered what the inspiration was, if any. Btw, I'm glad you stuck around. It's cool having you here.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by sparky

OMG. She certainly DID the Eagles, didn't she ? Can you imagine the conversations these guys have had over a truckload of liquor and coke ? To be a fly on the wall.
Especially Don. That man has been, and from all reports still is, a world class womanizer.Sheesh.

The man knows how to live. A friend of mine worked for Concerts West many years ago and was a road manager for a bunch of different bands. His exploits with J.D. Souther nearly got him divorced. From what he told me, Souther was quite the womanizer himself.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by lagringader&r

Question for HenleyFan (L&M): Did the band ever say what or who Victim of Love and King of Hollywood are about? I'm guessing KOH is just about the Hollywood film industry, breaking in and the infamous casting couch.

King Of Hollywood has to be about the one and only Robert Evans. Just a wild guess on my part, though.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by sparky

I only call Don a "womanizer" because I have heard from so many people that he isn't particularly kind to the women he hooks up with. The ones who aren't famous anyway.

Lear 'em and leave 'em was only for the famous girls, then?

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by ontheEdgeof17

TISL is totally about this one f**ktard who ruined my outlook on love. I got over it.

That record eerily mirrored my life at that time. Only it wasn't all just about a man or men I had known but a whole bunch of other things. The line "I'm afraid soon there'll be no light" and "We will never change again the way we are changing" reflect me watching my brother wither away and die from cancer.
Too much information, I know.

[amber]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

That record eerily mirrored my life at that time. Only it wasn't all just about a man or men I had known but a whole bunch of other things. The line "I'm afraid soon there'll be no light" and "We will never change again the way we are changing" reflect me watching my brother wither away and die from cancer.
Too much information, I know.

No. That would be an extremely painful experience for almost anyone, and I think it's nice to share how you felt.

[Kelly]

Originally Posted by witchy_woman13

look at my name , there was a rumor go'in round .............and i do believe that song was written about her she said of don henley "he taught me how to shop"

The problem with this is that Don wrote the song WW YEARS before he even met Stevie. Perhaps he sees the irony in the lyrics when he thinks about Stevie today but the fact remains, he could NOT have written the song ABOUT Stevie. (Unless he was somehow psychic and saw that Stevie would eventually have a hit song named Rhiannon etc etc)


Obviously Don/Eagles have a different writing style than Stevie. Stevie does in fact, write about real people and real events in her songs. She has said she almost exclusively does that...writes about what is going on around her and in her own life. That does not mean that some of her songs are not a compilation of many events and feelings. They all are not literal narratives of specific events. Some are. Don obviously writes differently, according to Henleyfan. I still question whether it is possible that at times certain members may be misleading...as in vague...when discussing certain lyrics. I do find it sort of odd that these men would NOT write about their personal relationships at times because most writers draw on their own experiences. Perhaps they always write in a general, non specific way and even make up stories but it sounds bizarre to me that ALL their songs would be that way. I can also see how if Don DID write parts of LITFL about SnL, why he would never say so publically. Only HE knows if any specific lines were inspired by REAL events or encounters. Realistically though the song is most likely about just what the Henley fans say it is...the crazy lifestyle of Rock and Rollers in the 70's.