The Long Run, the pessimistic title track from Eagles’ sixth album, came at a time of group stress and musical change. There is a charged, spiky feeling to the song – at odds with Eagles’ image of laidback Californians. Even the title of the song itself, according to its co-writer Don Henley, was ironic, suggesting durability when Eagles were “breaking apart, imploding under the pressure of trying to deliver a worthy follow-up to Hotel California”.
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Who wrote The Long Run?
The Long Run was written by Eagles’ prime songwriting team, Don Henley and Glenn Frey. The dynamic between the two wasn’t always easy, but the tension delivered masterpieces. As a partnership, the Henley-Frey confidence first really blossomed around the time of Desperado, Eagles’ second album. “Glenn used to call Don his secret weapon,” remembered Linda Ronstadt, who had witnessed the birth of Eagles when both Henley and Frey were members of her touring band.
In 1976, Henley shed a little light on their approach to writing songs together. “I know some people write a lot of tunes, pick the best and throw the rest away, but with us they never reach that far,” he said. “We do save ideas, though, especially ballads. We also try to balance an album because we believe it’s a work of art and it should have contrast and continuity at the same time.”
