S$# 048 Eagles | The Last Resort

Hotel California by the Eagles is one of my favourite albums of the 1970s. It contained three huge hits - Hotel California, New Kid In Town and Life In The Fast Lane - and every track is just as strong. My particular favourite is the album closer, The Last Resort.

Lavishly enveloped with strings, synthesizers and pedal steel, the piano-dominated song has a beautiful arrangement of Don Henley and Glenn Frey's superb tune.

Their lyrics explore the theme of the decimation of the American wilderness by the white man. It's a serious theme, but the majesty of the music prevents the song from over-severity.

She came from Providence,
the 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
and 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
and 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?
There is no more new frontier
We have got to make it here

We satifsy 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