(Credits: Far Out / Alamy)
Sat 10 January 2026 2:00, UK
It’s not as though the Eagles never touched upon topics relating to politics and society in their lyrics, but people tend not to think of the band as ever having been overt in their messaging.
You’re more likely to find generalised views of societal collapse rather than a scathing missive about any particular event that was troubling the nation or the world, like, for example, the entirety of Hotel California seems to focus on things having changed and moved on, and the negative impact that these shifts had on society as a whole.
Some individual tracks such as ‘On the Border’ also appear to take on a political slant, with it being subtly critical of Richard Nixon’s presidency, especially with Glenn Frey’s whispered “say goodnight, Dick” at the end of the song being interpreted as a snide dig at the Republican’s impeachment following the Watergate scandal in 1974, the same year that the song was released.
On the other hand, the song ‘Take It Easy’, the band’s first ever single, was seen as needlessly laid back and avoidant of talking about the real issues at hand, and during a time when the US was gradually withdrawing its troops from the war in Vietnam, their message to the world was to simply chill out and accept that everything’s going to be alright.
Considering their history of sending mixed messages about the state of the world, very few could have anticipated that their comeback album, Long Road Out of Eden, released 28 years on from their previous record, would end up being their most political album, and that in their older years, they’d be more willing to speak out about the injustices of the world.
During an interview with CNN in 2007 around the album’s release, Don Henley sat down to chat about the themes of the record, and insisted that the fears they’d previously had surrounding addressing the state of the world had all but disappeared, and with the stakes being lower for their comeback than they were at the height of their career, they didn’t mind seeing out their twilight years knuckling down into weightier topics.
“It’s just like you don’t talk about religion and politics,” Henley argued, before stating his beliefs on how he felt a duty to speak out. “This country was founded on rebellion. We believe that we are patriotic. We believe that everyone has the right to speak out. In fact, we believe that it’s unpatriotic not to speak out.”
He continued by arguing that the Eagles had been unfairly attacked in the past for sitting on the fence, and said that he no longer felt afraid about speaking his mind. “Lord knows, we’ve been criticised enough during our career,” he added.
“When we were younger, it hurt our little feelings. But now we have no feelings! We had them removed. Surgically. This is probably the last Eagles album that we’ll ever make. So we decided to just say whatever we felt like saying. And let the chips fall where they may.”
With Henley’s statement about it being the band’s final album still true to this day, it seems as though their attempt to be more politically engaged and direct with their lyricism on Long Road Out of Eden was necessary for the band to right a presumed wrong, and for them to finally release an album that said everything they’d failed to tackle in their ‘70s heyday to cap off an excellent career.
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