Friday, April 13, 2007

I (heart) Don Henley

First of all, what's going on here? About a month back I made a joke at the expense of the city of Los Angeles and got taken to task for that (by a Los Angelite, I can only imagine). Then I write a post about Don Henley, and suddenly one of his good friends is reading my blog. And that's totally fine, might I add. Any friend of Don Henley is a good friend of mine (and please tell Don I said that). But it is a tad discombobulating. Apparently it really IS a worldwide web. Go figure.

At any rate, Anonymous (see yesterday's comments), I honestly am a fan of Don Henley. He's a talented musician and songwriter. He also has a fine voice. He did a duet with Trisha Yearwood several years back, a song called 'Walkaway Joe.' It's a song I like very much, and that's largely due to Mr. Henley's accompaniment. I like any song that tells a story. In fact, if I broke it down, I think I'd find the majority of songs I've liked over the years tell a story of some kind. And I don't need the whole story. I just need to know a little bit about the person being sung about and at the end of the song I like to have some vague idea of what happened or might happen to them. That's my criteria.

Anyway, back to Don Henley. As my blogging chum Rand noted, Mr. Henley also wrote (and sang) 'Boys of Summer.' That in itself guarantees him a permanent spot on my good side. A friend I'm no longer in touch with told me that him and a chum took off on a west coast road trip many years back, and as they descended upon the Hollywood hills (I'm not sure that makes sense. I may have gotten that part wrong) on a beautiful summer night, 'The Boys of Summer' came on the radio and it was THE perfect song at THE perfect time. I love moments like that. And I'd have to agree with him as far as his assessment. It must have been like Don Henley himself looked down from heaven and said, 'Here's a little song I wrote back in the early 80's. Maybe you've heard of it, it's called 'The Boys of Summer.'

Not that Don Henley is dead. He's alive and well and I wish him many continued years of good health and prosperity, but when I think of that story, that's where I picture Don standing. I also see him looking down at the earth, standing next to God, and telling God, 'I'd have done that a little differently. And that, too.'

And God saying, 'I know you would have, Don. I know you would have.'

Not that Don Henley is domineering. I just think he has this very precise vision and extremely high standards. And good for him. Obviously, this has served him very well. So to sum up, Anonymous, I agree with you when you say Don Henley is a good and decent fellow. I know he's performed many benefit shows and he was very involved in efforts to save Walden Pond. And I'm a fan of anyone who's a fan of Walden Pond (tell him I said that, too, would you?).

If you ask me, Don Henley is a very intelligent, righteous man on a world where intelligence is too often undervalued and and justice is not upheld often enough. That has to be very aggravating, and I can understand that. And that's one of the many reasons why I (heart) Don Henley.

4 Comments:

Blogger Voix said...

You are totally adorable.

11:23 AM  
Blogger Citizen said...

Why, thank you, Voix. I return the compliment speedily your way.

11:47 AM  
Blogger Rand said...

I totally quoted Don Henley! Ehhh - darn comment moderation!

5:45 PM  
Blogger Citizen said...

I know, Rand. It can be frustrating. Feel free to erase that comment or correct the record, if necessary.

9:53 AM  

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