Glenn Frey Wanted the Handwritten Lyrics to 1 Eagles Song Back
Classic rock stars don’t always think about the long term. For example, Glenn Frey said he wanted the handwritten lyrics to an Eagles song back. The tune once had many lines that were left unused.
1 of Eagles’ songs almost seemed to write itself
During a 2003 interview with The Uncool, Frey discussed where his band wrote “Lyin’ Eyes” while in Los Angeles.
“The house was up on Briarcrest Lane,” he said. “That’s where we wrote ‘One of These Nights,’ ‘Lyin’ Eyes,’ ‘Take It to the Limit,’ ‘After The Thrill Is Gone,’ and a couple of other tunes for the One of These Nights album.
“But ‘Lyin’ Eyes’ — the story had always been there,” he added. “I don’t want to say it wrote itself, but once we started working on it, there were no sticking points. Lyrics just kept coming out, and that’s not always the way songs get written. I think songwriting is a lot like pushing a boulder up a hill. I’d love to get the legal pad for ‘Lyin’ Eyes’ again, because I think there were verses we didn’t use.”
‘Lyin’ Eyes’ is part of the band’s long history of sexism
Don Henley discussed the writing of “Lyin’ Eyes.” “‘Lyin’ Eyes’ is one of the songs written when Glenn and I were roommates in a house we rented up in Trousdale,” the “Boys of Summer” singer said. “It was built in 1942 by the actress Dorothy Lamour.” Lamour was a movie star known for her roles in Old Hollywood movies like The Jungle Princess, Road to Singapore, and Road to Bali.
Henley and Frey lived on opposite sides of Lamour’s home, which they called both “The Eagles’ Nest” and “The House With the Million Dollar View.” The view from the home was a 360-degree panorama. It allowed the singers to view the twinkling lights below, as well as snow-capped peaks and the Pacific Ocean. Henley and Frey were also staying in this house when they penned The Eagles’ “One of These Nights.” Henley said this epoch of The Eagles’ career was their “Satanic country-rock period.”
“Lyin’ Eyes” is notable because it’s part of a long history of The Eagles portraying women unflatteringly in their songs. So many of the women in their songs seem sensual and diabolical, whether it’s the unfaithful lady in “Lyin’ Eyes,” the Satanic witch in “Witchy Woman,” the devil’s daughter in “One of These Nights,” or the prisoner from “Hotel California.” Many classic rock bands went back and forth between portraying women as harlots and as unattainable dream girls, but The Eagles only seemed to make the former choice.
How Eagles’ ‘Lyin’ Eyes’ performed
“Lyin’ Eyes” reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, lasting on the chart for 14 weeks. The tune appeared on the album One of These Nights. That record peaked at No. 1 for five of its 56 weeks on the Billboard 200.
One of These Nights produced two more hits. One was the title track. That tune peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for one of its 17 weeks on the chart. The other hit was “Take It to the Limit.” That song climbed to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and lasted on the chart for 23 weeks.
“Lyin’ Eyes” is excellent even if we’ll never hear all of it.
