Wasted Time

1976’s Hotel California represents the peak of The Eagles’ career. The collection of songs is amazing, and the album showcased their versatility. The addition of Joe Walsh on guitar added something special to Hotel California. The album included the sinewy mid-tempo groove of the title track, the rock of “Victim Of Love” and “Life In The Fast Lane,” and the epic sweep of “The Last Resort.”

But the song that stood out as unique was “Wasted Time,” a song where co-writers Glenn Frey and Don Henley  displayed some soul. As Frey wrote in the liner notes to The Very Best Of The Eagles, “I loved all the records coming out of Philadelphia at that time. I sent for some sheet music so I could learn some of those songs, and I started creating my own musical ideas with that Philly influence. Don was our Teddy Pendergrass. He could stand out there all alone and just wail. We did a big Philly-type production with strings — definitely not country-rock. You’re not going to find that track on a Crosby, Stills & Nash record or Beach Boys record. Don’s singing abilities stretched so many of our boundaries. He could sing the phone book. It didn’t matter.”

When Henley sings the words, “but you can’t hold your man” it was always like a punch to the gut to me, reminding me of every time a guy broke up with me. Henley’s performance is filled with emotion as he sings about a girl trying to make peace with how her youth is fading away and the realization that “autumn leaves” are suddenly surrounding her. “Oh my God, you can’t believe/It’s happening again,” he sings, suggesting that she’s been down this lonely road too often before. At the end of the song, we realized that he is not a casual observer, but he is breaking up with her! It is a sad, poignant song that asks, is love worth the heartbreak? And I know I for one, am hoping that woman finds love. Don Henley, Glen Frey, Joe Walsh, Don Felder and Randy Meisner were the band members on the song.

Well baby, there you stand
With your little head down in your hand
Oh my God, you can’t believe it’s happening again
Your baby’s gone and you’re all alone
And it looks like the end

Back out on the street
And you’re trying to remember, oh
How do you start it over
You don’t know if you can
You don’t care much for a stranger’s touch
But you can’t hold your man

You never thought you’d be alone
This far down the line
But I know what’s been on your mind
You’re afraid it’s all been wasted time

The autumn leaves have got you thinking
About the first time that you fell, fell
You didn’t love the boy too much
No, no you just loved the boy too well, yeah

So you live from day to day
And you dream about tomorrow
And the hours go by like minutes
And the shadows come to stay
So you take a little something to make them go away

And I could have done so many things, baby
If I could only stop my mind
From wondering what I left behind
And from worrying about this wasted time

The love has come and gone
The years keep rushing on
I remember what you told me
Before you went out on your own
Sometimes to keep it together
You got to leave it alone

So you can get on with your search, baby
And I can get on with mine
Maybe someday we will find
That it wasn’t really wasted time

Songwriters: Glenn Lewis Frey / Donald Hugh Henley

Thursday Inspiration #298 Freak Like Me