♫ The Last Resort ♫

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, History, music, Social commentary

Welcome back to Eagles Week!  Most weeks are only seven days long, but Eagles Week, as it turns out, is a bit longer, so it doesn’t end here, today, for there are still one or two more I want to play!  And here on Filosofa’s Word, anything goes, even an eight-day week!  Thanks for today’s song go to our friend Clive, without whom I never would have even known about this song!

Today’s Eagles’ song is one that didn’t make the charts and isn’t well-known, but in a 1978 interview with Rolling Stone, Don Henley said …

“‘The Last Resort’, on Hotel California, is still one of my favorite songs… That’s because I care more about the environment than about writing songs about drugs or love affairs or excesses of any kind. The gist of the song was that when we find something good, we destroy it by our presence — by the very fact that man is the only animal on earth that is capable of destroying his environment. The environment is the reason I got into politics: to try to do something about what I saw as the complete destruction of most of the resources that we have left. We have mortgaged our future for gain and greed.”

And Glenn Frey, who co-wrote the song with Henley, said …

“I have to give all the credit for ‘The Last Resort’ to (Don) Henley. It was the first time that Don, on his own, took it upon himself to write an epic story. We were very much at that time, concerned about the environment and doing anti-nuclear benefit (concerts). It seemed the perfect way to wrap up all of the different topics we had explored on the Hotel California album. Don found himself as a lyricist with that song, kind of outdid himself…We’re constantly screwing up paradise and that was the point of the song and that at some point there is going to be no more new frontiers. I mean we’re putting junk, er, garbage into space now. There’s enough crap floating around the planet that we can’t even use so it just seems to be our way. It’s unfortunate but that is sort of what happens.”

Although the song did not make the charts, in 2016 the editors of Rolling Stone rated The Last Resort as the Eagles #27 greatest song. Ultimate Classic Rock critic Sterling Whitaker rated it as the Eagles most underrated song, calling it “an epic track that presented the entire world as a resort being destroyed by the greedy, self-serving and short-sighted machinations of the human race” with “an alluring pop arrangement.”

Take a listen, see what you think.  Have you heard this one before?

The Last Resort

Eagles

She came from Providence
One in Rhode Island
Where the old world shadows hang
Heavy in the air
She packed her hopes and dreams
Like a refugee
Just as her father came across the sea

She heard about a place
People were smilin’
They spoke about the red man’s way
And how they loved the land

And they came from everywhere
To the Great Divide
Seeking a place to stand
Or a place to hide

Down in the crowded bars
Out for a good time
Can’t wait to tell you all
What it’s like up there

And they called it paradise
I don’t know why
Somebody laid the mountains low
While the town got high

Then the chilly winds blew down
Across the desert
Through the canyons of the coast
To the Malibu

Where the pretty people play
Hungry for power
To light their neon way
Give them things to do

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

You can leave it all behind
Sail to Lahaina
Just like the missionaries did
So many years ago

They even brought a neon sign
“Jesus is coming”
Brought the white man’s burden down
Brought the white man’s reign

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

And you can see them there
On Sunday morning
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

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Glenn Lewis Frey / Donald Hugh Henley

The Last Resort lyrics © Cass County Music, Red Cloud Music

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23 thoughts on “♫ The Last Resort ♫”

  1. You know, listening while watching, it seems vaguely familiar. But listening while reading along, I really think this is the first time I’ve heard it, and wowza. I’m a big Henley fan, but this is outstanding from all the rest, IMO. Thank you all!

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Thanks to Clive for bringing this one to your attention. For my money, it’s the best set of lyrics Don Henley has ever written; maybe ever will write. First time I heard it, I was a high school senior, so the significance of it was kind of lost on me then but now, boy…and it resonates way more today than when he wrote it. One of my all-time Eagles favorites. Kudos to you, Jill! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

    Liked by 2 people

  3. I think Rolling Stone underrated this – it should be in their top 5 at least, in my view. It is an epic, a masterpiece of a song, and is one of those that I can still remember where I was the first time I heard it. It made a big impact and I’ve loved it ever since. There is a lot of truth in it, not that those who need to hear it will take notice.

    Liked by 4 people

  4. I didn’t know that eight days a week was an Eagles thing. I heard it came from a Dingle born drummer complaining he was just an an overworked chauffeur. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

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