Eagles similes and metaphors

[sodascouts]

There's an ambiguous metaphor in "Business As Usual" at the end - "barrel of monkeys." What's he referring to? Is he equating it with the "band of renown" from the next line (presumably the Eagles)?

The larger context:

"Business as usual
Day after day
Business as usual
Feel like walking away
A barrel of monkeys
A band of renown
Business as usual
Is breakin' me down"

I think the "barrel of monkeys" - which derives from the old phrase "more fun than a barrel of monkeys" - might be the Eagles ("band of renown") in the sense that obviously, they are a business entity that he's felt like walking away from on occasion, yet it's supposed to be fun. The connotation of "monkey" outside of the phrase can extend to the image of the circus monkey trained to dress up, do tricks, and act silly all in the name of entertaining the masses. In that light, it's a demeaning comparison and thus would be expressing a cynical view of the band as professional entertainers.

[UndertheWire]

How can a train can be lonely?

[tjh532]

This may be a bit off topic-

I had a teacher I work with use the phrase 'Life in the Fast Lane' yesterday, and of course the song immediately became stuck in my head! But she isn't the type to have listened to the Eagles much (she admittedly doesn't listen to much music at all).

It got me to thinking about this thread, and how sometimes the lyrics of a song become part of our vernacular without us ever realizing it. Can anyone else think of a line from an Eagles song that has become a common place phrase? ( or adage, since we are talking about figurative language!)

[Freypower]

This may be a bit off topic-

I had a teacher I work with use the phrase 'Life in the Fast Lane' yesterday, and of course the song immediately became stuck in my head! But she isn't the type to have listened to the Eagles much (she admittedly doesn't listen to much music at all).

It got me to thinking about this thread, and how sometimes the lyrics of a song become part of our vernacular without us ever realizing it. Can anyone else think of a line from an Eagles song that has become a common place phrase? ( or adage, since we are talking about figurative language!)

Life In The Fast Lane as you said, and 'you can check out any time you like/but you can never leave'. I think the phrases 'Tiffany twisted & 'Mercedes bends' are thrown around from time to time.

To answer UTW about 'lonely as a train' I think of it as a train speeding across the plains of America in the middle of the night, with nothing else in sight. Think of the 'lonesome whistle' in Hank Williams' I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry.

[shunlvswx]

Lines on the mirror, lines on her face.

I've been thinking about that one for a while. I guess that line could mean that the lifestyle that her and her husband is living is making her age quickly. I could be wrong. I also thought about cocaine for the lines on the mirror.

[Freypower]

Lines on the mirror, lines on her face.

I've been thinking about that one for a while. I guess that line could mean that the lifestyle that her and her husband is living is making her age quickly. I could be wrong. I also thought about cocaine for the lines on the mirror.

That's exactly what it refers to.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Soda - I absolutely agree with your analysis re: Business As Usual and also shun's interp of the 'lines' in LITFL.

And to add another little line as one of my favorites, which I'm surprised hasn't already been mentioned - probably one of the most well-known lines in all of music ... "you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave"!

[thelastresort]

How common a phrase was 'Take it easy' pre-Eagles?

And yeah, the 'lonely as a train' line only really works if you think about it in an American (or even Australian) context - the huge locomotive meandering it way through canyons and over plains in the dead of night with no-one else around (let alone awake) for miles around. We don't really have the same set-up in Britain!

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Thanks, tlr. I also meant to comment on both of these things that you brought up. I agree with everyone's assessment of the 'lonely train'. As far as the phrase 'take it easy' even though Jackson song didn't invent the phrase, it was not until the success of the Eagles recording it that it became widely used as part of the everyday vernacular like it is now.

[thelastresort]

Thanks for the info IABAD.

Another one - The Last Resort (we could be here all night dissecting it, but there's just a couple of lines I wish to focus on!) - there's a couple of lines in it which to me seem to lay the blame Christians for how America turned out:

'And you can see them there, on Sunday morning' - I think is quite clear cut;
'And Jesus people bought 'em' - is that a reference to Christians, or just the use of Jesus as an exclamation and blaming people in general?