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!)