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

[Brooke]

I was waiting to hear your controversial thoughts on this, Soda, but I understand if you don't want to post them.

I have to say I've always been a little put off by the song, too. Beautifully sung, of course, but it does poke me in the ribs a little.

[MikeA]

I have to come to Don's defense a little bit here. I think there is little doubt that Don was indeed talking about "religiosity." That is not the same as attacking Faith. He may be attacking Faith but that is ambiguous in the lyrics of the song.

No, what he is attacking I think is the ABUSE of Religion. Or the use of it to justify the actions of those Don is referring to. It well could be applied to that group that is protesting at the funerals of Military Personnel killed in the line of duty.

But I don't think he is limiting it to those blatant violations. I think Don was just seeing a general deterioration of Biblical Principals...a deterioration that I myself have seen all too often.

Some rich men came and raped the land
Nobody caught 'em
Put up a bunch of ugly boxes
And Jesus, people bought 'em
And they called it paradise - "the place to be"
They watched the hazy sun sinking in the sea

I don't think there can be a lot of speculation of the use of "Jesus" as an expletive in this context...I stand corrected completely on this part. Just describes a perversion of capitalism that turned out to be a success though possibly the marketing was in fact a red-heron. Like, the idiots, they bought that bill of goods and as a result, what was virgin country is now ruined.

The last part that deals with religion though:

Who will provide the grand design?
What is yours and what is mine?
'Cause there is no more new frontier
We have got to make it here
We satisfy our endless needs
And justify our bloody deeds
In the name of destiny
And in the name of God

This part, I think is referring to what Religion considers Gods Plan as laid out in the Bible. The second part of this, well, this is the part that hits home hardest....Just about anything can be justified with a lot of imagination and no respect. Everything from the Crusades, to the Jihad, to witch burnings to the protests at the funerals. This covers it ALL.

And you can see them there on Sunday morning
They stand up and sing about what it's like up there
They call it paradise; I don't know why
You call someplace paradise, kiss it goodbye

I take this last part as a lament by Don. He sees congregations gathering and professing the Paradise of Heaven...singing it's praises and it's perfection. Then in the last part....if Man can pervert everything else that has been Labeled as a Paradise, look out Heaven....It's being perverted too.

I don't necessarily think he is bashing Christianity as a concept so much as he is that which Man in his greed, destroys. I see that verse as sort of a tongue in cheek statement.

But all of that is just my own take on this song...a song that I've sort of liked the melody of but never cared much for the Darkness that it is the statement of.

[tequila girl]

As I said in the HC Survivor thread The Last Resort is my favourite on that album, I couldn't have begun to dissect it as thouroughly as you have just done Mike and I think you did it perfectly . It always seems to me a very sad and poignant song.

[Freypower]

When I first heard "The Last Resort", my immediate reaction was anger. I felt like it was hating on Christians. I thought that the last part sounded contemptuous of missionaries and people who believed in Jesus and went to church. In fact, it turned me off so much that I burned a version of Hotel California without the song on it to listen to in the car. I still haven't written out what I think because I want to be careful with what I say, but you're not alone in hearing that, TBF (I mean hearing an anti-religious attitude - as I said earlier, I think the line in question is "Jesus, people bought 'em").

If you are specifically referring to the use of the word 'Jesus' as an expletive as 'anti-religious' or perhaps blasphemous I understand that, but I disagree. I just think it is forcefully expressed. To me, if any part of the song is anti-religious it is the last section but I tend to agree with Mike's comments on it.

[Troubadour]

I completely agree with Mike. He said it better than I could.

I don't think the song is necessarily bashing religion or faith, but those who abuse it. It's highlighting the nature of human beings. (I think of it in a similar vein to Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi and Cat Stevens' Where Do The Children Play? "Will we keep on building higher till there's no more room up there?")

I particularly love the lines "Who will provide the grand design - what is yours and what is mine, 'cause there is no more new frontier, we have got to make it here." It's about urging people to concentrate on what they have right now, and trying to make them realise that the earth is not a bottomless resource... land WILL run out. I also think that a lot of Eagles/Don songs urge people to focus on the here and now - not to ridicule people who have faith, but to highlight the fact that we can sometimes get so caught up in thinking about the future or "what else" is out there, that we forget to live and we forget to enjoy the beauty around us. (I'm thinking particularly of They're Not Here, They're Not Coming... "turn your hopes back homeward, hold your children, dry their tears.")

I think The Last Resort is one of the most beautiful and under-appreciated Eagles songs in their catalogue. I don't take it as anti-religious - I take it as a lament about the way the name of God has been used by some people to commit terrible deeds and also the way that human beings have a tendency for greed and destruction. "You call someplace Paradise - kiss it goodbye." Humans will defame everything... first the land, then Heaven.

On the subject of the "Jesus, people bought 'em" line, I am certain that "Jesus" is an expression of frustration or disbelief - an expletive, as others have said. On the Hell Freezes Over DVD, Don shakes his head and I think it's a perfect expression of what that line is meant to convey. I don't think it is meant to be "Jesus people", although I had never considered that interpretation. Very interesting to read the other viewpoints and comments!

[sodascouts]

I thought that the last part sounded contemptuous of missionaries and people who believed in Jesus and went to church. [...] (I mean hearing an anti-religious attitude - as I said earlier, I think the line in question is "Jesus, people bought 'em").

If you are specifically referring to the use of the word 'Jesus' as an expletive as 'anti-religious' or perhaps blasphemous I understand that, but I disagree. I just think it is forcefully expressed. To me, if any part of the song is anti-religious it is the last section but I tend to agree with Mike's comments on it.

As I said in my original post, I was referring to the last part, not the specific line in question.

[MikeA]

Nancy, the part of that lyric that seems questionable to me is:

They call it paradise; I don't know why

He may have needed that "I don't know why" to keep the mechanics of his scheme of rhyming going. Or maybe he has his doubts about Heaven being a "Paradise" but whatever the reasoning behind it, he was trying to get to the real statement which was that in everything else Man has called Paradise, Man has perverted it at best and destroyed it at worst.

[GlennLover]

Mike & Troub, you have pretty well summed up my thoughts on the song & expressed them much better that I could. Thanks

I think in the last part of the song Don is alluding to the fact that even though some people go to church, they may not act very much like Christians.

[MikeA]

Nancy, the part of that lyric that seems questionable to me is: They call it paradise; I don't know why.

Again, I read this another way

They call it paradise, I don't know why: because from what I've seen, anything we called Paradise got ruined by us. Better play it safe and not call Heaven Paradise if we don't want it destroyed too (as he rolls his eyes and shakes his head as he turns and walks away).

I think that is more than I've ever analyzed any song and thought deeper than my poor ole drugged out brain should be taxed with. I think I'll learn the song. I do like the melody and the way the lyrics hang together. <LOL> Might have to relyric it a little to make sure I don't get crucified by my family for singing it though <LOL>

[tequila girl]

They call it paradise, I don't know why: because from what I've seen, anything we called Paradise got ruined by us. Better play it safe and not call Heaven Paradise if we don't want it destroyed too (as he rolls his eyes and shakes his head as he turns and walks away).

That is exactly what he's saying Mike!..... I can read Don like a book!