“Man, Come on”: Why the ‘Big Lebowski’ Joke About the Eagles Was Truer Than You Realized (And What They Had to Say About It)

The Eagles are one of several bands that fall under the easy listening, “dad rock” category, which can make them as divisive as they are adored, and their less-than-complimentary mention in The Big Lebowski is a prime example. It wasn’t just common to dislike The Eagles. Holding disdain for these West Coast soft-rockers was worthy of an on-screen gaff, like when Jeff Bridges’ “The Dude” told his cab driver, “Man, come on. I’ve had a rough night, and I hate the f***in’ Eagles, man.”

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The Dude’s outburst was in response to the taxi driver playing “Peaceful Easy Feeling” on the radio. But his cries fell on deaf ears. The joke continues with the driver kicking The Dude out of his car. A continuation of the rough night, no doubt. Still, at least he didn’t have to listen to the track from The Eagles’ 1972 debut album?

As it turns out, The Dude not liking The Eagles wasn’t just a funny quirk about the character. It was a not-so-subtle jab thrown by producer and musical archivist T Bone Burnett. He once told Rolling Stone that he felt like the band “sort of single-handedly destroyed that whole scene that was brewing back then.”

Although Burnett doesn’t dive too deeply into his take, it would seem that The Eagles’ hyper-commercialization of the hippie movement without any of the socio-political drive might be to blame. That would, after all, likely rub an aging hippie like The Dude (and Burnett) the wrong way.

The Eagles (And the Rolling Stones) Respond to ‘The Big Lebowski’ Joke

For Jeff Bridges, he had the unfortunate privilege of being the face attached to The Dude. Whether he liked it or not, audiences were bound to associate his character in The Big Lebowski with the real-life actor. The musicians Bridges’ character talked about in the movie did, too. “As far as The Eagles, I don’t hate The Eagles like the Dude hates them,” Bridges told Rolling Stone. “I remember I ran into Glenn Frey. He gave me some s***. I can’t remember what he said exactly. But you know, my anus tightened a bit.” What an image!

Funnily enough, The Eagles weren’t the only ones who had a strong reaction to The Big Lebowski joke. According to T Bone Burnett, he was in communication with The Rolling Stones’ manager, Allen Klein, to secure the rights to include Townes Van Zandt’s cover of the British rock band’s song, “Dead Flowers”, at the end of the film. Klein was hesitant, so Burnett invited him to watch an early cut.

“It got to the part where the Dude says, ‘I hate the f***in’ Eagles, man!’ Klein stands up and says, ‘That’s it. You can have the song.’ That was beautiful,” he recalled.

It would seem that life really does imitate art in this sense. And for whatever it’s worth, The Big Lebowski lightheartedly razzing The Eagles obviously didn’t do much to topple their rock ‘n’ roll empire, no matter how divisive it might be. After all, that’s just, like, his opinion, man.

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