The Eagles’ One of These Nights

One of These Nights

The Eagles

1977

The title track is arguably groundbreaking in its range. I mean we’ve all heard “One of These Nights” often enough to easily recall the song, but I doubt anyone who’s listened to it carefully could categorize it. Gun to my head, I guess I’d call it hard country disco rock. And even that leaves out soul and pop, which are also part of the equation. On paper, it sounds like the most unlistenable, marketing inspired, Frankensteinian mash-up of disparate genres you could conceive. But the song’s a gem and one of only a handful that I enjoy every single time I hear it.

The trick is that the song’s undefinable essence provokes such a complex response. The back beat is awkward, with drummer Don Henley sounding tired and unsure, as if he were still learning how to approach the song, if not the drums in general.  Bassist, Randy Meisner, grooves on a high note riff that sounds like it was played underwater.  Lead guitarist, Don Felder, leans into an arresting, milky, fuzz tone and delivers what is not only the best solo on this record, or on any of this band’s records, but one of the greatest solo’s in all of rock and roll. Don Henley’s voice soars above the track but never over reaches, resulting in one of his most understated and personal recorded vocal performances. Glenn Frey and Meisner join in on the chorus to create gorgeous multipart harmonies.  Yet, the words they are singing are downright threatening….with Henley “searching for the daughter of the devil himself” and swearing to “find you” and “get you one of these nights.”

Rock lyrics are always open to interpretation, but this is certainly not the only song on One of These Nights where women seem to wind up in a bad place.  In fact, it’s hard to actively listen to the record without considering the intentions of the men who wrote these lyrics and their harsh depictions of women. Beyond “One of These Nights,” consider the subject of “Hollywood Waltz” who “looks another year older. From too many lovers who used her and ran.” Later in the song, when Springtime comes:

“the lady is “grieving.
The lovers just stand there with nothing to say.
They got what they wanted, they’re packing and leaving.
To look for another to love the same way.”

And of course, there’s one of the band’s biggest hits, “Lyin Eyes,” about a young, gold-digging women who marries a “rich old man” for convenience, periodically regrets the trade-off and cheats on him with a “fiery” boy across town. What’s amazing, is how the band adorns these words with such beautiful chords, melodies, and harmonies that what they are actually singing almost slips by you. And they sing with such sincerity, you want to give them the benefit of the doubt and think perhaps it’s sympathy that inspires them.

Although they were already stars in 1975, this was a breakthrough record for the Eagles. Excepting the inclusion of Bernie Leadon’s disposable banjo-led instrumental, “Journey of the Sorcerer,” the songwriting and production on One of These Nights were sharper than on any previous release.  With Don Felder’s guitar gaining prominence in the band, the Eagles took another baby step away from their trademark county rock toward an edgier hard rock sound on “One of These Nights,” “Too Many Hands,” and “Visions.”   Hedging their bet, the Eagles kept one foot in the past, including several of  their more traditional country rock numbers like “Lying Eyes,” “After the Thrill is Gone,” and “Hollywood Waltz.”  At times it sounds like a musical tug of war.   The scales tipped in favor of rock when founding member Bernie Leadon left the band soon after the record was released, taking his encyclopedic knowledge of county and bluegrass influences with him.

While the record contains a handful of certified Eagles classics and is considered to be the release that turned them into the biggest band in America, it often feels slight and transitional. Even staples like “Take it To the Limit” sound overproduced and overblown to disguise the song’s bland foundation. The problem likely stems from the strength of the lead off track, “One of These Nights.” Heavy, haunting and eccentric in all the right places, the song set a standard the band could not match on this release, rendering even the better songs disappointing. Still, the music is so well-played, so well sung and so well produced that you keep listening. And as those damning lyrics rub up against all the pretty sounds you have to wonder if they really mean what you think they do. Drawn to the mystery and in love with the title track, I keep coming back for answers.

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