by Thomas Marinelli ’26 on October 2, 2025
Arts & Entertainment
It’s 1976. Strung out from being on the road and countless days in the studio recording their latest album, Hotel California, the Eagles were nothing short of burnt out. Hotel California became one of the most popular albums of all time, going on to sell 32 million records worldwide and cementing the band as one of the best of the decade, commercially and artistically. The Eagles never intended to be like most bands, and their lyrics matched their image. Hotel California was not meant to be about living the American dream; it was actually quite the opposite. Even for successful musicians, the picture-perfect reality connoted by the album title was far from what most people had in mind. America was heading into a society of excess in the late 1970s, and it was seeping into the music industry and Hollywood. Soon, music would no longer be about spreading a message of anti-conformity and following dreams, but rather about pursuing materialistic desires and whatever sold best. Knowing this, knowing that it would be hard to follow up their previous album, and with tensions rising by the minute in the band, the Eagles prepared their next release. It would take nearly three years before they put out The Long Run in 1979, a chapter closer to a decade riddled with tensions following Vietnam, Watergate, Hollywood’s rise, and rock’s slow death. All of this was captured in the album, which also marked the end of the Eagles for the time being.
Through 1977 and 1978, the band’s two leaders were at odds. Don Henley, the drummer and vocalist, and Glenn Frey, the guitarist and singer, were constantly clashing over creative differences. Coupled with a new member, Timothy B. Schmit, the presence of ongoing member Joe Walsh, and heavy drug use, the band seemed doomed to remain stagnant in popularity. Punk was on the horizon, and the disco craze was in full effect; rock was starting to show its age, and the California dream was dying. The Eagles had profited greatly as a Los Angeles band with a country-rock feel, but in this changing atmosphere, they had to adjust somehow.
In a way, the Eagles did what they did best: they told stories. The first song on the album, “The Long Run,” is an instant classic, and its message spoke volumes. It’s a song about uncertainty, but played upbeat—addressing fame, the struggle to keep the band alive, or perhaps rock itself. It’s something easier said than done, destined to fade over time. The second song, “I Can’t Tell You Why,” which brought more of a yacht-rock feel to the record, is about a struggling relationship that carries on without knowing how, or if, it can end—sensing a theme. Another track, “Heartache Tonight,” is more celebratory and upbeat, an instant single hit, though it’s about the inevitable end of another relationship. The final song, “The Sad Café,” reflects on the band’s early glory days, now gone with time, almost a final word before shutting down for good.
The album went on to sell over eight million copies—nowhere near the success of Hotel California, but that was expected. By 1980, the band had broken up, nearly ending in a fight on stage between Frey and Don Felder, the band’s guitarist. It was not the glamorous end one might expect, but how many endings are? It was the end of an era, reached by a rough road, but it did something music today rarely does: it didn’t hide anything. Not the way the band felt toward each other, the industry, or the direction of rock. It was disillusionment, fatigue, and nostalgia—but it was all true, and it was all out in the open.
There will always be times at the end of any chapter when one gets burnt out, frustrated, and feels like running away or starting over. But that comes with acceptance—acceptance that it’s okay to feel like that, to let others know, but never to give up. It would be a disservice not to leave everything on the field, even when you think you can’t take it anymore. The Eagles knew it was over, but they also knew there was one last run in them before they could walk away and start something new.