Formed in
1971 by Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, and Randy Meisner, the Eagles were
one of the biggest bands of the 1970s. Like Rod and Al Stewart, their
songs were ballads, sung in a haunting tone, with cryptic lyrics. And excruciatingly
heterosexist, about a man longing for The Woman He Lost, or else about a man being
destroyed by an Evil Woman. But in high school in the 1970s, I made them symbolic
of my quest to escape the heterosexist wife-house-factory trajectory that all the
adults were plotting out for me, and find...what else was there? One of these Nights: September 1975,
when I first learned about "Swishes" (our derogatory term for gay people),
and the "what girl do you like" interrogations intensified. The full moon is calling, the fever is high
And the wicked wind whispers, and moans The narrator's soul is destroyed by an Evil Woman.
What better indictment of the heterosexist mandate to "like girls!" Lyin' Eyes: October 1975, when I started
working as an athletic trainer, and saw vast numbers of naked jocks in the locker
room: On the other side of town a boy is
waiting, with fiery eyes and dreams no one could steal. An Evil Woman is cheating on her husband. But
all I heard was the boy with fiery eyes waiting for me. Take It to the Limit: January 1976,
when I befriended a girl who wanted to marry Donny Osmond, but everyone thought
we are romantic partners, and my father constantly evoked my future as her husband,
working in the factory, living in a small square house, dying inside. Put me on a highway, and show me a sign,
And take it to the limit one more time The
narrator is driving down the highway to return to The Woman He Lost. But
all I heard was escape. New Kid
in Town: March 1977, when I was dating Verne, the preacher's son, but
worried that he would leave me for someone else (turns out he left me because he
got a girl pregnant): You're walking away
and they're talking behind you They will never forget you 'til somebody
new comes along The narrator
is back in town after a long absence, trying to return to The Woman He Lost. But
all I heard was the possibility of loss. Hotel California: June 1977, when I
danced with a leatherboy at a church conference in Switzerland, and
thought for the first time that someone I knew might be gay. Mirrors on the ceiling, and pink champagne on ice,
and she said, "We are all just prisoners here, of our own device." The narrator is drawn into a surrealistic hotel,
where his soul is destroyed by an Evil Woman. It's meant to be an indictment of
the glitzy California lifestyle, complete with gay people: "a lot of pretty,
pretty boys she called friends." But all I heard was a nightmare of heterosexual
agony, with girls plying you with champagne and pretty boys who can only be friends,
and there's no escape: "Relax,"
said the Nightman, "We are programmed to receive. You can check out anytime
you like, but you can never leave." Except maybe in the arms of a leatherboy in Switzerland,
who "danced to forget." See also:
Rod and Al Stewart.
As a dude who denied his homoeroticism for a long time/"rode the fence"... Desperado feels like it was written for me, especially because I had my dream guy interested in me but I couldn't admit how much I cared etc. My life is basically a train wreck except for my bubbling personality of a coping mechanism for my suppressed sexuality... he saw something in me and took me under his wing and I led him on. IDK it's too late.
ReplyDeleteDesperado
Why don't you come to your senses?
You've been out ridin' fences
For so long now
Oh, you're a hard one
But I know that you got your reasons
These things that are pleasin' you
Can hurt you somehow
last lines feel like internalized homophobia.. the whole song just fits my life. I hate what I put him through.
This is totally random but would you ever write about Gavin Rossdale of Bush? He dated Pete Robinson/"Marilyn" who was in with Boy George. Downplayed it for years but admitted to more since the divorce from Gwen Stefani. Anyway I loved the band growing up but now recognize myself in many of the lyrics and internal process.
IMO their #1 hit "Glycerine" is about internalized homophobia poisons a relationship
https://www.reddit.com/r/lyrics/comments/klfcn5/what_is_glycerine_by_bush_about/