The 6 Songs Don Felder Co-Wrote During His Time in the Eagles

By the time the Eagles were working on their third release, On the Border, in 1974, Don Henley and Glenn Frey were still heading most of the songwriting duties, writing five and four songs, respectively, for the album. On the Border also marked the first appearance of guitarist Don Felder, playing lead on “Already Gone,” and slide guitar on “Good Day in Hell.” The band was so impressed by Felder’s slide workings on the latter track that they asked him to join and he remained with the Eagles from their fourth album One of These Nights through The Long Run in ’79, a year before their split.

Following his Eagles run, Felder released his 1983 solo debut Airborne, along with contributing to the soundtrack of the animated sci-fi film Heavy Metal: Music from the Motion Picture, with a little help from former bandmates Henley and Timothy B. Schmit on backing vocals on “Heavy Metal (Takin’ a Ride).”

Felder also penned “All of You” for the film and contributed music for the 1985 film Secret Admirer with C. Thomas Howell, and Neil Simon’s The Slugger’s Wife.

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In 2012, Felder revisited his solo career, releasing Road to Forever, followed by American Rock ‘n’ Roll in 2019.

Felder reunited with the Eagles in 1994 for an appearance on the MTV special Hell Freezes Over 1994 and again in ’98 to perform “Take It Easy” and “Hotel California” for the band’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, before his departure in 2001.

Within his initial short run with the Eagles, Felder co-wrote six songs for the band. Here’s a look behind them all.

[RELATED: The Eagles’ Ode to James Dean, Co-written With Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther]

“Too Many Hands” (1975)

Written by Don Felder and Randy Meisner

With Felder now a permanent member of the Eagles, he partnered up with Randy Meisner on “Too Many Hands” from the band’s 1975 album One of These Nights. The song, released as the B-Side to “Lyin’ Eyes,” was inspired by the impact humans have made on the environment, according to Meisner.

“It’s about destroying mother earth and what I don’t like about destroying it,” said Meisner in 1988. “Maybe that’ll be a classic one day—when there’s nobody here to play it.”

She’s one of a kind
Sometimes hard to find
Like a rainbow

Well, she’s lost all her glory
And could tell you some stories
That we all should know

And there are too many hands
Being laid on her
Too many eyes will never see
That it’s dragging her down
But you won’t hear a sound as
She turns ’round

“Visions” (1975)

Written by Don Felder and Don Henley

Felder’s other contribution to One of These Nights, “Visions” became the only song he sang for the Eagles during his time in the band.

Visions, that you stir in my soul
Visions, that will never grow old
Sweet baby, I had some visions of you
If I can’t have it all, just a taste will do
Go ahead and live all your fantasies
(Don’t you ever think about the other side?)
Helps you get from where you are
To where you want to be
(You and me ought to be taking a ride)
You do the best you can
And you make your mistakes
(If you don’t like it, you can say that you tried)
Because all I have to give is whatever it takes

“Hotel California” (1976)

Written by Don Felder, Don Henley, and Glenn Frey

Hotel California was Joe Walsh‘s debut with the Eagles—and what an entrance contributing to “Life in the Fast Lane,” and also co-writing “Pretty Maids All in a Row.” Felder also had a hand in the classic title track, which was predominantly pieced together by Henley and Frey, along with “Victim of Love,” which he co-wrote with Henley, Frey, and J.D. Souther.

Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes-Benz, uh
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys that she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget
So I called up the Captain, “Please bring me my wine”
He said, “We haven’t had that spirit here since 1969”
And still, those voices are calling from far away
Wake you up in the middle of the night just to hear them say

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place (such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face
They’re livin’ it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise (what a nice surprise)
Bring your alibis

“Victim of Love” (1976)

Written by Don Felder, Glenn Frey, Don Henley, and J.D. Souther

As Felder was piecing together some songs for what would become Hotel California, he had another demo that was fleshed out and added to the album, “Victim of Love.”

“Later when we were writing song ideas for what would become the ‘Hotel California’ record, I went back and started listening to some of those little ideas that I had jotted down with little pencil sketches,” recalled Felder in 2015. “I said I was gonna finish this one and two or three others. I wound up writing, I think, 15 or 16 demos including ‘Victim Of Love’ and what became ‘Hotel California.’ And I think there were a bunch of other tracks that I finished and put on a cassette and made multiple copies of that cassette.”

Felder continued, “I gave one to Don and one to Glenn and one to Joe [Walsh], who was in the band, and Randy [Meisner] at the time. And said, “Hey, if there’s anything on this cassette that you like and you want to finish writing with me, let’s get together and either write lyrics or vocals.” Some of them were incomplete sketches

Some people never come clean
I think you know what I mean, oh
You’re walking the wire, pain and desire
Looking for love in between

Tell me your secrets, I’ll tell you mine
This ain’t no time to be cool
And tell all your girlfriends, your been-around-the-world friends
That talk is for losers and fools

Victim of love, I see a broken heart
And I could be wrong, but I’m not, no, I’m not
Victim of love, we’re not so far apart
Show me, what kind of love have you got?

One of These Nights was the last Eagles album to feature the original lineup of Henley, Frey, Meisner, and Bernie Leadon, along with then-newcomer Felder.

“The Disco Strangler” (1979)

Written by Don Felder, Don Henley, and Glenn Frey

The Long Run was the last Eagles album the band recorded with Felder and the band’s final release until nearly two decades later when Henley, Frey, Schmit, and Walsh reunited for Long Road to Eden in 2007. By the end of their run as a band in 1980, The Long Run earned the Eagles another No. 1 with “Heartache Tonight” and a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

On the album, folder left off with two more contributions, including “The Disco Strangler,” what Henley called an “antidote to the Bee Gees discotheque craze‘ at the time, which the band hated. They even slipped in some subtle disco beats to drive their message home.

Looking for the good life
Dressed to kill
She don’t have to worry
‘Cause there’s always someone else who will
Loose and loaded every night
Dancing underneath the flashing light saying
“Look at me, baby, look at me
I’m beautiful, I’m beautiful, I’m somebody!”
Just slip into the arms of the disco strangler

“Those Shoes” (1979)

Written by Don Felder, Glenn Frey, and Don Henley

Sung by Henley, who co-wrote it with Frey and Felder, “Those Shoes” is about a woman who finds herself in some compromising positions.

Tell us what you’re gonna do tonight mama
There must be someplace you can go
In the middle of the tall drinks and the drama
There must be someone you know
God knows you’re lookin’ good enough
But you’re so smooth and the world’s so rough
You might have somethin’ to lose
Oh, no pretty mama
What you gonna do in those shoes?
Got those pretty little straps around your ankles
Got those shiny little chains around your heart
You got to have your independence
But you don’t know just where to start

Shortly after the release of The Long Run, and a difficult tour, the Eagles broke up. Though Felder reunited with the band in the ’90s, he later sued Henley and Frey for wrongful termination in 2001. Frey Henley later countersued Felder for breach of contract around the release of his 2006 book Heaven and Hell: My Life In the Eagles. Both lawsuits were privately settled in 2007.

Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images