The Don Henley Lyric Inspired by a Burger Joint

Great songwriters possess the ability to take something specific from their own life and see in it something that will resonate with the public at large. And the best of them can do so in a way where you can’t detect the subtleties and nuances that bring this bit of alchemy to bear.

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Such is the case with “Sunset Grill,” a powerful song found on Don Henley‘s smash 1984 hit album Building the Perfect Beast. He wrote it in tribute to a hamburger joint he frequented and greatly enjoyed, but ended up commenting as well on the forced obsolescence of places such as those (and a few other topics for good measure).

Beyond “Sunset”

Don Henley wasn’t all that jazzed about how his solo debut record had turned out. I Can’t Stand Still, released in 1982, spun out a surprise breakaway single in “Dirty Laundry.” But Henley felt he stalled the album’s momentum early on by choosing “Johnny Can’t Read” as the first single. He also blamed Asylum Records for dropping the ball in promoting it.

On Building the Perfect Beast, he moved to Geffen Records, reuniting with former Asylum chief David Geffen. Henley also made a conscious effort to modernize his sound. He and chief collaborator Danny Kortchmar, who had a hand in writing all but two of the album’s tracks and helped produce it, found a comfort level working with synthesizers. It allowed the songs to go toe-to-toe with other hits of the day without sacrificing their substance.

“Sunset Grill” provides an example of these efforts. Written by Henley, Kortchmar, and Benmont Tench (of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers fame), the song features Tench playing massive synth washes that were arranged by none other than Randy Newman. Kortchmar also steps out to the forefront with a winding guitar synthesizer.

What’s interesting is these newfangled sounds were used in the service of a song about old-fashioned values. The Sunset Grill was an actual restaurant in California that was owned by the same family for years. That appealed to Henley (as did the food), as it contrasted what he saw as the growing corporatization of the U.S.

Behind the Lyrics to “Sunset Grill”

Henley also used this scenario as a way of commenting on the LA scene at large. In the first verse, he talks about the sights outside the restaurant, including prostitutes and homeless people. Amidst the harshness of that scene comes a bit of authenticity within the restaurant: There’s an old man there from the old world / To him, it’s all the same / Calls all his customers by name.

The urban life is wearing on the narrator: Hard to come away with anything that feels like dignity / Hard to get home with any pride. Again, he comes back to the faceless, corporate pall cast over everything: These days a man makes you somethin’ / And you never see his face / But there is no hiding place.

In the middle eight, he mixes his sociological rants with something more personal. From the former category comes these scathing lines: Respectable little murders pay / They get more respectable every day. He balances that out by pledging devotion to his beloved, and promising to escape with her.

But he reneges on that just a verse later. At first, he suggests the time isn’t right for departure: Maybe we’ll leave come springtime / Meanwhile have another beer. The final lines play off that old adage about the devil you know: What would we do without all these jerks anyway? / Besides, all our friends are here.

Henley crams a lot into the tight narrative of “Sunset Grill”: a tale about two people frozen by their fear of the new; a lament for a dying way of a life; and a withering assessment of the locale. Those burgers might have been something else to inspire such a massive song.

Photo by Richard E. Aaron/Redferns