Sad Cafe

[UndertheWire]

A recent interview with JD got me thinking of this song. I've seen it dismissed as being too lke "The Last Resort" but I disagree as it's far more personal and for me, that makes it better.

A&B: You wrote important pages on the Eagles discography. Is there a song that you love more than others?
J.D. Souther: Yes. “The Sad Café” seems more poignant, of course, with Glenn Frey sadly gone, but there are more reasons than that for my affection there.
I had never played that song on stage until about three years ago and the emotional impact it had on the audience and on me was surprising. Some nights the verse after the first bridge takes me by surprise and I have to sing past the lump in my throat because tears are threatening. It’s more emotional for me now than ever before. Frey, Henley, Souther, and Walsh reflecting on the loss of our own innocence following the death of a friend back then, in the days when we thought we would all live forever. I can see the film in my head.

link

A reminder of the lyrics (thanks to Soda):

The Sad Cafe
written: D. Henley, G. Frey, J. Walsh, and J.D. Souther
lead vocal: D. Henley

Out in the shining night
The rain was softly falling
The tracks that ran down the boulevard
Had all been washed away

Out of the silver light
The past came softly calling
And I remember the times we spent
Inside the sad cafe

Oh, it seemed like a holy place
Protected by amazing grace
And we would sing right out loud
The things we could not say
We thought we could change this world
With words like love and freedom
We were part of the lonely crowd
Inside the sad cafe

Oh, expecting to fly
We would meet on that beautiful shore in the sweet by and by

Some of their dreams came true
Some just passed away
And some of them stayed behind
Inside the sad cafe

The clouds rolled in and hid that shore
Now that glory train, it don’t stop here no more
Now I look at the years gone by
And wonder at the powers that be
I don’t know why fortune smiles on some
And lets the rest go free

Maybe the time has drawn the faces I recall
But things in this life change very slowly
If they ever change at all
There’s no use in asking why
It just turned out that way
So meet me at midnight, baby
Inside the sad cafe
Why don’t you meet me at midnight, baby
Inside the sad cafe

As for who was the friend who died, the answer is in the liner notes: "
This song is respectfully dedicated to the memory of John Barrick."


A few years ago, after seeing the doc, I asked who was the seventh person on the infamous Joshua Tree expedition and the Borderers came through and even found a couple of pictures from the doc. This was John Barrick.


As part of the promotion for The Long Run album, Don and Glenn did an interview with Jim Ladd and Glenn elaborated on the liner note. He explained that John Barrick had been their first road manager and that he'd previously worked for The Byrds. He used to work at The Troubadour and would tell Glenn about his days with The Byrds as well as giving Glenn good advice (and free beer!)

[Delilah]

Thanks for the info about John Barrick, UtW. I didn't know any of that. I never thought of "Sad Cafe" being too much like "The Last Resort" but I suppose the basic melodies are somewhat similar and they are both slow, melancholy songs about regret and loss. Interesting.

[Funk 50]

That's a great post UtW.

The Sad Cafe is an overlooked gem in the Eagles cannon as it's a ballad and it's sung mainly by Henley. They already had plenty of brilliant, Henley sung, ballads under their belt, when it was released in 1979.

IMO it's fantastic lyrically but musically, it retreads old ground. I was delighted to see JD adopt the song. His, more jazzy, version of The Sad Cafe is wonderful.

I'd love to hear Joe perform The Sad Cafe. Post Eagles, his backing singers have gone up a notch or two.

[Freypower]

I think it would have been more interesting if Glenn had sung the song. He should have had one more vocal on that album to make up fror Teenage Jail. It wasn't really his type of lyric but if they had shown more flexibility they may not have broken up so acrimoniously. I have always said & will continue to say that letting Henley sing the majority of the songs on the last two albums was a mistake.

I disagree that it is lyrically similar to The Last Resort as it is about a specific time and place whereas TLR covers the entire history of California.

[Annoying Twit]

It's the problem of creating a classic album: later songs may be excellent songs but still look 'not as good' by comparison.

[maryc2130]

I think it would have been more interesting if Glenn had sung the song. He should have had one more vocal on that album to make up fror Teenage Jail. It wasn't really his type of lyric but if they had shown more flexibility they may not have broken up so acrimoniously. I have always said & will continue to say that letting Henley sing the majority of the songs on the last two albums was a mistake.

I disagree that it is lyrically similar to The Last Resort as it is about a specific time and place whereas TLR covers the entire history of California.

I agree that Glenn should have gotten more lead vocals, but I don't think this song should have been one of them. Henley's haunting, intentionally understated vocal is evocative and a big part of what makes TSC a great song, IMHO.

I don't find The Sad Cafe and The Last Resort similar at all, lyrically or musically. Also, The Last Resort is about manifest destiny - part of American history that is not limited to California, although there are some references to California.

[Freypower]

I agree that Glenn should have gotten more lead vocals, but I don't think this song should have been one of them. Henley's haunting, intentionally understated vocal is evocative and a big part of what makes TSC a great song, IMHO.

I don't find The Sad Cafe and The Last Resort similar at all, lyrically or musically. Also, The Last Resort is about manifest destiny - part of American history that is not limited to California, although there are some references to California.

Yes, it's more suited to Don's style, it is obviously mainly his lyric. My comment wasn't so much about this particular song rather that I wish Glenn had had an equivalent to NKIT on this album. But I suppose we did get HT which at least wasn't a ballad. Sorry to go off track - just an observation.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

I love both songs and feel they are both vastly underrated, however, I never thought of them as being similar.

As far as Glenn singing lead on The Sad Cafe, I think it definitely would have worked. I would never say it would have been better than Don's version, but I believe it could have been equally as good, albeit in a different way. As evocative as Don's vocals are on the song, Glenn's voice has a vulnerable quality to it that would have also been extremely effective. JMHO. I feel the same way about several other songs in the Eagles' catalog, but The Last Resort is not one of them - to me, that one is vintage Henley.