The Eagles Wrote ‘The Long Run’ to Show They Weren’t Has-Beens
Classic rock has a habit of sticking around, but many bands were prematurely declared has-beens. The Eagles’ “The Long Run” was a response to claims the band was irrelevant in the face of new genres of music. One of The Eagles explained why the song was layered with irony.
The Eagles’ ‘The Long Run’ was a response to disco and punk
During a 2016 interview with Rolling Stone, The Eagles’ Don Henley discussed how his band transitioned from their 1976 album Hotel California to its successor, 1979’s The Long Run. “Despite the extraordinary success of Hotel California, we were collectively in a pretty dark place during the making of The Long Run, the “Boys of Summer” singer recalled. “Disco had exploded, and punk was on the rise.
“We were beginning to see press articles about how we were passé,” he added. “Those kinds of jabs were part of the inspiration for the song ‘The Long Run’: ‘Who is gonna make it/We’ll find out in the long run.'” For the record, disco didn’t remain relevant for long after The Eagles released The Long Run and punk became less prevalent in the 1980s.
Don Henley explained the irony in The Eagles’ lyrics
Henley explained why The Eagles used the title “The Long Run.” “Irony,” he replied. “The group was breaking apart, imploding under the pressure of trying to deliver a worthy follow-up to Hotel California, and yet we were writing about longevity, posterity. Turns out we were right. Irony upon irony.”
Henley revealed which of The Eagles’ albums he enjoyed crafting the most and which he enjoyed crafting the least. “The recording of every one of our albums had moments of ecstasy and agony,” he recalled. “That’s just the way the process works. But if I had to choose an overall favorite studio experience, it would be the Hotel California album. My least favorite time was the recording of The Long Run, for reasons already explained.”
‘The Long Run’ was the beginning of the end
“The Long Run” reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for 15 weeks. The tune appeared on the album The Long Run. That record was No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for nine weeks and lasted on the chart for 57 weeks altogether. It topped the Billboard 200 longer than any of The Eagles’ other releases.
The Long Run produced two other top-10 singles. One was “Heartache Tonight,” which peaked at No. 1 for a week and spent 15 weeks on the chart in total. The other, “I Can’t Tell You Why,” reached No. 8 and spent 16 weeks on the chart. Any record that includes three hit singles is impressive on a purely commercial basis.
On one level, The Long Run proved that The Eagles were not has-beens. However, the band broke up shortly after the release of The Long Run and did not release another studio album until 2007’s Long Road Out of Eden. While Long Road Out of Eden was a success on the album charts, it failed to produce a song that has stood the test of time.
While The Eagles weren’t over after Hotel California, The Long Run served as the swan song of their commercial relevance.
