Heartache, breakups, and lost love are at the root of most hit rock tracks, except for a 1976 ballad by the Eagles, "The Last Resort," penned by Don Henleyas a conscientious warning.
"The Last Resort" was originally released on the Eagles' biggest hit album Hotel California before it was released as the B-side of their single "Life in the Fast Lane." Sadly, the track never managed to enter the charts, but many call it Henley's opus because of the distinct narrative he created in its lyrics.
The sprawling, seven-minute rock epic was written by Henley and Glenn Frey as a cautionary tale about environmental destruction and cultural exploitation, weaving those themes into a tragic narrative. Henley later said the song was largely inspired by his growing concern for the environment, an issue that ultimately sparked his interest in politics.
"'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," he said to Rolling Stone in 1987.
"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."
His Eagles bandmates felt the same, with Frey having once commented on In the Studio with Redbeard that it was the first time Henley took it upon himself to "write an epic story." Henley, at the time, even remembers having read about "the raping and pillaging of the West by mining, timber, oil, and cattle interests." The track ended up being a topic that all the members could get on board with.
"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," said Frey.
Many critics called "The Last Resort" a pessimistic history of America and "of a nation's self-destruction and physical decay." Its praise among critics led the track to be tagged as one of the Eagles' underrated gems. A fun fact about the song is that the band was recording it in the same studio as Black Sabbath was recording their 7th studio album. Due to all the noise from the heavy metal band, the Eagles had to stop their session multiple times.
Related: 1979 Rock Ballad, Inspired by a Real-Life Nightclub, Became a Nostalgic Soft Rock Classic
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