Bob Dylan was never too proud to acclaim songs by other artists that he admired. In past interviews, he’s called out the Rolling Stones‘ “Wild Horses,” “Ventilator Blues,” and “Angie” as favorites. He also called Glen Campbell‘s 1968 hit “Witchita Lineman,” written by Jimmy Webb, “the greatest song ever written.”
Dylan even said he wished he had written Johnny Thunders’ solo punk ballad “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory,” according to the 2018 biography of the New York Dolls guitarist, Looking for Johnny. Thunders, in turn, was a fan of Dylan’s and covered his “Like a Rolling Stone.”
In 2020, Dylan also named some of his favorite songs by the Eagles, all coincidentally from the band’s 1976 opus Hotel California.
Here’s a look at three songs by the Eagles that Dylan called his favorites.
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[RELATED: The Regrets and Confusion of the Eagles’ Post-Revelry Ode “Funky New Year”]
“New Kid in Town” (1976)
Written by Glenn Frey, Don Henley, and JD Souther
Along with co-writing the Eagles’ hits “Heartache Tonight” and “Best of My Love,” the band’s first No. 1, JD Souther also penned the lead single from Hotel California “New Kid in Town.”
The song, according to Souther, emerged from the band’s fascination with gunfire as an analogy. “The point was at some point some kid would come riding into town that was much faster than you and he’d say so, and then he’d prove it,” said Souther in 2011. “That’s the story of life. That’s the story of aging, especially coming out of your teenage and young man years and as you approach 30, you begin to see that things don’t stay the same forever, and that there’s a lot other guys like you and gals like you that want the same thing that are coming up, and they want their moment, too, and they’re going to get it.
Souther continued, ” And it’s fine. It’s as it should be.”
There’s talk on the street
It sounds so familiar
Great expectations
Everybody’s watching you
People you meet
They all seem to know you
Even your old friends
Treat you like you’re something new
Johnny-come-lately
The new kid in town
Everybody loves you
So don’t let them down
“New Kid in Town” was also the only song Glenn Frey sang on Hotel California and reflected the “fleeting nature of fame,” according to Don Henley. “We were basically saying, ‘Look, we know we’re red hot right now, but we also know that somebody’s going to come along and replace us,’” said Henley, “both in music and in love.”
“Pretty Maids All in a Row” (1976)
Written by Joe Walsh and Joe Vitale
“That could be one of the best songs ever,” said Dylan of the Eagles’ Hotel California track “Pretty Maids All in a Row.” Written by Joe Walsh and his former Barnstorm bandmate—who also became a touring member of the Eagles—Joe Vitale, “Pretty Maids All in a Row” was one of two tracks he co-wrote for Hotel California, along with “Life in the Fast Lane” (another Dylan favorite).
Walsh described “Pretty Maids All in a Row” as a melancholy observation on life that we hoped would be a valid statement for people from our generation.”
Hi there, how are ya?
It’s been a long time
It seems like we’ve come a long way
My, but we learn so slow
And heroes, they come and they go
And leave us behind
As if we’re supposed to know
Why do we give up our hearts to the past?
And why must we grow up so fast?
And all you wishing-well fools with your fortunes
Someone should send you a rose
With love from a friend, it’s nice to hear from you again
And the storybook comes to a close
Gone are the ribbons and bows
Things to remember, places to go
Pretty maids all in a row
“To make the Eagles really valid as a band, it was important that we co-write things and share things,” said Walsh. “‘Pretty Maids’ is kind of a melancholy reflection on my life so far, and I think we tried to represent it as a statement that would be valid for people from our generation on life so far. Heroes, they come and go. Henley and Frey really thought that it was a good song, and meaningful, and helped me a lot in putting it together.”
“Life in the Fast Lane” (1976)
Written by Joe Walsh, Glenn Frey, and Don Henley
The title of “Life in the Fast Lane” came to Glenn Frey one day while driving with a drug dealer called ‘The Count.” In the 2013 Eagles documentary History of the Eagles, Frey recalled the moment he gathered the song title. “I was riding shotgun in a Corvette with a drug dealer on the way to a poker game,” said Frey. “The next thing I know we’re doing 90. … I say, ‘Hey man.’ He grins and goes, ‘Life in the fast lane.’ I thought, ‘Now there’s a song title.”
Released as the third single from Hotel California, “Life in the Fast Lane” peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.
He was a hard-headed man, he was brutally handsome
And she was terminally pretty
She held him up and he held her for ransom
In the heart of the cold, cold city
He had a nasty reputation as a cruel dude
They said he was ruthless, they said he was crude
They had one thing in common, they were good in bed
She’d say, “Faster, faster, the lights are turnin’ red”
Surely make you lose your mind
(Life in the fast lane) huh
Are you with me so far?
Photo: George Rose/Getty Images
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