Get over it... but complain a bit first.

[AmarilloByMorning]

Soda nailed it - with the post I merely wished to instigate discussion of some variant, given how much I enjoy the Survivor games, and pursuant to Willie's comment.

For instance... Business as Usual bothers me tremendously, as they assert to criticize corporate organizations, whilst forcing fans to purchase the cd from the vendor who would ensure them the maximum profit margin.

And Get Over It. Really? A) don't a great many of Henley's tunes qualify for admonishment according to the criteria outlined in the lyrics? Long Road Out of Eden, Grasp on the Big Picture, even Dirty Laundry? Isn't the last one a four-minute whine, despite my unequivocal affinity for it? And B) kill all the lawyers? This from the band who litigates at the mere suggestion of something that a judge in some circuit somewhere could feasibly perceive as a transgression? And ps, lawyers are businessmen like everyone else. If someone submits a ten thousand dollar retainer, what are you to do? Take the case, obviously, as you wish to cultivate a living. The problem actually involves the absolute absence of common sense (wow, they serve coffee hot? Who knew?) and human decency/morality. Lawyers equate white blood cells. Do they sometimes wreak more havoc than they rectify? Certainly. But if someone hadn't inflicted an injury for sport, they would want for business, and disappear. (Obviously discounting ambulance chasers and the nimwits who advertise on telly and overcharge, etc... bad seeds in every profession.)

Anyway. Just attempting to rouse discussion. Drag the topic in every/any direction you like.

[sodascouts]

Business as Usual bothers me tremendously, as they assert to criticize corporate organizations, whilst forcing fans to purchase the cd from the vendor who would ensure them the maximum profit margin.

Most of that song seems directed externally, true, but I believe a couple lines from that song recognize the fact that the Eagles themselves are a corporation and thus as caught up in the capitalist mentality as any other corporate entity.

For instance, when Don says "I thought I'd be above it all by now, in some country garden in the shade... but it's business as usual" - perhaps that recognizes that despite his wish for a simpler life, he too has a tendency to look at his art and see dollar signs. (This tendency is evinced by several comments he's made emphasizing that music is a business, and that if musicians don't see profits, they simply will stop making music... which can be interpreted as "the purpose of making music is to make money"). Now, I don't believe money is all Don or the Eagles care about - I respect their artistry - but as I said, money is brought up again and again in Don's interviews.

To further support the idea that he might see himself and the Eagles as participating in "business as usual" and therefore acknowledging his own complicity: The lyric "You try to do good, but business as usual turns your heart into wood." Additionally, at the end of the song "A band of renown" is specifically brought up after "Feel like walking away." It ends with "Business as usual is breaking me down" and repeats "breaking me down."

These seem to communicate a tortured attitude, where one knows one is being greedy but is unable to turn away from temptation. In Don's case, that temptation gets continually shoved in his face by people with a vested interest in seeing Don and the Eagles make the most money possible. Those people are "breaking [him] down."

Perhaps some part of the bitterness and anger in the song, so effectively communicated by his vocal, is directed at himself and his own weakness in allowing himself to be sucked into the corporate machine.

If so, such self-awareness deflects accusations of hypocrisy.

(Side note: I made a video of the song which reflects my personal interpretation it. And yes, it was taken down from YouTube.)

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Still not quite clear on what this thread is supposed to be about, but what the hell. ABM said to drag it in any direction we want, so I will. I totally agree with Soda's interpretation of Business As Usual. I like the song a lot and can really relate to it. In a world where money seems to be everything, I think it's a dilemma that many of us find ourselves in. For example, there are lots of things that I strongly dislike about corporate America. However, I am dependent on it for many things in my life, including my job. As you said ABM, even our legal system has turned into a business. It's come to the point where justice is only available to the wealthy. So while we have to tolerate this 'business as usual', it doesn't mean we have to like it. IMO, that's all Don is doing here is voicing his displeasure, even though he is a participant. I'm sure when these guys were young and just starting out in the music business, they never envisioned themselves as CEOs of a multi-million dollar corporate conglomerate, but that's basically what they've turned into.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

I also love the lines to which Soda has an objection (we've been up & down that highway/haven't seen a goddamn thing) because they sum up so perfectly the emptiness of the couple's lives. However if people are uncomfortable with those lines that is fair enough. But overall, LITFL is one of the best lyrics ever written, for me.

ITA with you about this, FP. To me, that is the best line in a song that has many great lines because it pretty much sums up the whole song to me - this couple is on a track going nowhere.

Some of my other favorite lines in the song that haven't already been mentioned are ...

"Call the doctor, I think I'm gonna crash
The doctor says he's coming, but you got to pay him cash."

This is just a great song with incredibly clever lyrics throughout, IMO.

[Freypower]

Soda nailed it - with the post I merely wished to instigate discussion of some variant, given how much I enjoy the Survivor games, and pursuant to Willie's comment.

For instance... Business as Usual bothers me tremendously, as they assert to criticize corporate organizations, whilst forcing fans to purchase the cd from the vendor who would ensure them the maximum profit margin.

And Get Over It. Really? A) don't a great many of Henley's tunes qualify for admonishment according to the criteria outlined in the lyrics? Long Road Out of Eden, Grasp on the Big Picture, even Dirty Laundry? Isn't the last one a four-minute whine, despite my unequivocal affinity for it? And B) kill all the lawyers? This from the band who litigates at the mere suggestion of something that a judge in some circuit somewhere could feasibly perceive as a transgression? And ps, lawyers are businessmen like everyone else. If someone submits a ten thousand dollar retainer, what are you to do? Take the case, obviously, as you wish to cultivate a living. The problem actually involves the absolute absence of common sense (wow, they serve coffee hot? Who knew?) and human decency/morality. Lawyers equate white blood cells. Do they sometimes wreak more havoc than they rectify? Certainly. But if someone hadn't inflicted an injury for sport, they would want for business, and disappear. (Obviously discounting ambulance chasers and the nimwits who advertise on telly and overcharge, etc... bad seeds in every profession.)

Anyway. Just attempting to rouse discussion. Drag the topic in every/any direction you like.

Re 'let's kill all the lawyers'; I just think they wanted to use Shakespeare's line in a somewhat lighthearted reference to the profusion of litigation in the United States today.

Could you give an example of the band's apparent eagerness to initiate litigation because I cannot think of anything recent apart from Henley vs De Vore.

Get Over It is anti politcal correctness, and just because Henley occasionally espouses 'liberal' views doesn't mean that those songs you mention are what Get Over It is about. If the songs were about him whining about his own life, then you would be spot on.

[TimothyBFan]

Soda nailed it - with the post I merely wished to instigate discussion of some variant, given how much I enjoy the Survivor games, and pursuant to Willie's comment.

For instance... Business as Usual bothers me tremendously, as they assert to criticize corporate organizations, whilst forcing fans to purchase the cd from the vendor who would ensure them the maximum profit margin.

And Get Over It. Really? A) don't a great many of Henley's tunes qualify for admonishment according to the criteria outlined in the lyrics? Long Road Out of Eden, Grasp on the Big Picture, even Dirty Laundry? Isn't the last one a four-minute whine, despite my unequivocal affinity for it? And B) kill all the lawyers? This from the band who litigates at the mere suggestion of something that a judge in some circuit somewhere could feasibly perceive as a transgression? And ps, lawyers are businessmen like everyone else. If someone submits a ten thousand dollar retainer, what are you to do? Take the case, obviously, as you wish to cultivate a living. The problem actually involves the absolute absence of common sense (wow, they serve coffee hot? Who knew?) and human decency/morality. Lawyers equate white blood cells. Do they sometimes wreak more havoc than they rectify? Certainly. But if someone hadn't inflicted an injury for sport, they would want for business, and disappear. (Obviously discounting ambulance chasers and the nimwits who advertise on telly and overcharge, etc... bad seeds in every profession.)

Anyway. Just attempting to rouse discussion. Drag the topic in every/any direction you like.

I cannot disagree with a thing you say here!!!! Well said!

[Prettymaid]

Thank you ABM for getting back here to re-establish the gist of this thread. I was looking forward to reading heated debates about songs and their lyrics and instead got almost two pages of debate over 'offensive' and 'controversial'!

[TimothyBFan]

Bringing this thread up again after my little "experience" with The Last Resort this morning. Here's where I talked about it in the Hotel California Survivor thread.

https://eaglesonlinecentral.com/foru...&postcount=307

Any of you want to have a go at this song? I need to go to the lyrics on EOC and pick it apart a bit more.

I am really interested to get others take on this song a little more than we brought up while playing Survivor. Is it really as controversial as I think or was it just because it was first thing when I opened my eyes this morning and it got me at a vulnerable time?

[Prettymaid]

Well, to me it's an environmental song through and through, although I have to admit I'm not sure what the Lahaina/missionary reference is. The rest of the song is basically, 'Rich people are coming in and taking away the beautiful land and developing it and justifying it in their own way. Watch out if a place is beautiful enough to be called a paradise, because that just means they'll come along and take it too. We've got to save the few places that are left, before they're all gone'

I don't find it preachy, I love the melody and by the time the last verse is being sung and the Eagles are backing it up with their powerful "ah"s, I feel like I'm in paradise!

[Freypower]

To me the Lahaina part is possibly a continuation of the 'spoke about the red man's ways/how they loved the land' but the dominant culture is once again going to obliterate the native culture as they did on the mainland and now 'just like the missionaries did'. It then goes on to talk about 'the white man's burden' i.e. the demands of 'empire'. This then leads into the 'there is no such thing as paradise, real or imaginary (i.e. religion) part.

I am not a religious person & so I basically agree with what appears to be the anti-religious sentiment of the last verse. I can understand, however, why some would object to the line 'stand up & sing about what it's like up there' as if they are being told they are all unable to think for themselves.