One of These Nights

The story of me getting into music is really the story of me getting into the Eagles. When I was in 8th grade, Eagles Greatest Hits Vol. II on cassette was my very first music purchase with my own money. I bought all those records on cassette and then rebought them on CD, when that became a thing early in high school. It was decidedly not the cool thing to do, but it was the blueprint for my obsessive music habit. Poring over lyrics, reading about the band in magazines and in the school library, hoping to see the the Hotel California video on VH1, and spending my own money to see Don Henley live and buy a concert t-shirt at the Woodlands Pavilion.

Because of the Eagles, I started reading about music constantly, and buying other music, like Tom Waits, Gram Parsons, and then branching out to Dylan, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchel, Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones. Eventually, I started listening and reading stuff that wasn’t in Rolling Stone Magazine.

Changed my life, but it started because I liked the Eagles.

One of These Nights isn’t the best Eagles album. But it has the two best Eagles songs: The title track, for sure, and “Take it to the Limit.” I’m going with “One of these Nights” because it’s a song I actually remember hearing when I was four or five. Or earlier.

The Eagles nod to disco is an iconic summer song, and it’s successful for a lot of reasons. Don Felder’s lead guitar and opening guitar harmonies, Don Henley’s credible take on soul singing, Glen Frey’s maturing songwriting. But the MVP of this song is Randy Meisner. It’s Meisner’s bass line that provides the song’s initial hook and his vocals elevate the chorus into an unstoppable #1 hit. Meisner’s bass fills in this song are the cherry on top.

Fave lyrics:

The full moon is calling, the fever is high And the wicked wind whispers and moans You got your demons and you got desires Well, I got a few of my own