Okay, those are some deep comments folks. The truth is this song is literally about The Troubadour Bar in LA. Back in the early 70's there was something of a Folk/Country Rock Bohemian brotherhood happening there. It was very special. Back then you could literally go hang out with musical artists of the day (both up&coming and already-signed successful singer-songwriters). The time only lasted for a short while. Don is trying to capture that magical time when they were young, optimistic, knaive... this is a time that he can never go back to. It is a ballad expressing a nastalgic yearning for those years gone bye. The band & its members had changed a great deal from those days, and I believe it shows a maturing of these guys as the approach what they all probably realize is the end of the group. It is really serves as the perfect "swan song" for the eagles, a little more subtle but still much like the song "let it be" for the beatles.
This song is also about the musicians who made it opposed to the ones that didn't but were just as equally talented, they just didn't get the the breaks. So they still hang out at the Troubador..or the "two-bit-whore" as us locals call it. The Trube is the "Sad Cafe"...
This song is also about the musicians who made it opposed to the ones that didn't but were just as equally talented, they just didn't get the the breaks. So they still hang out at the Troubador..or the "two-bit-whore" as us locals call it. The Trube is the "Sad Cafe"...
@renterclint - You are exactly right. In Don's words: " 'The Sad Cafe' was inspired by the Troubadour and Dan Tana's restaurant. We could feel an era passing. The crowd that hung out in the Troubadour and the bands that were performing there were changing. The train tracks that had run down the middle of Santa Monica Boulevard had been ripped out. The train no longer came through - the same train that Steve Martin had once led an entire Troubadour audience to hop aboard and ride up to La Cienega Boulevard, then walk back...
@renterclint - You are exactly right. In Don's words: " 'The Sad Cafe' was inspired by the Troubadour and Dan Tana's restaurant. We could feel an era passing. The crowd that hung out in the Troubadour and the bands that were performing there were changing. The train tracks that had run down the middle of Santa Monica Boulevard had been ripped out. The train no longer came through - the same train that Steve Martin had once led an entire Troubadour audience to hop aboard and ride up to La Cienega Boulevard, then walk back t the club. Those remarkable freewheeling times were receding into the distance."
Excerpted from the article 'Henley Looks Back' from 'Eagles: The Ultimate Guide' (A Rolling Stone Special Publication; pub. Mar 2016; pg 77)
Okay, those are some deep comments folks. The truth is this song is literally about The Troubadour Bar in LA. Back in the early 70's there was something of a Folk/Country Rock Bohemian brotherhood happening there. It was very special. Back then you could literally go hang out with musical artists of the day (both up&coming and already-signed successful singer-songwriters). The time only lasted for a short while. Don is trying to capture that magical time when they were young, optimistic, knaive... this is a time that he can never go back to. It is a ballad expressing a nastalgic yearning for those years gone bye. The band & its members had changed a great deal from those days, and I believe it shows a maturing of these guys as the approach what they all probably realize is the end of the group. It is really serves as the perfect "swan song" for the eagles, a little more subtle but still much like the song "let it be" for the beatles.
Renterclint, well put and said!
Renterclint, well put and said!
This song is also about the musicians who made it opposed to the ones that didn't but were just as equally talented, they just didn't get the the breaks. So they still hang out at the Troubador..or the "two-bit-whore" as us locals call it. The Trube is the "Sad Cafe"...
This song is also about the musicians who made it opposed to the ones that didn't but were just as equally talented, they just didn't get the the breaks. So they still hang out at the Troubador..or the "two-bit-whore" as us locals call it. The Trube is the "Sad Cafe"...
@renterclint - You are exactly right. In Don's words: " 'The Sad Cafe' was inspired by the Troubadour and Dan Tana's restaurant. We could feel an era passing. The crowd that hung out in the Troubadour and the bands that were performing there were changing. The train tracks that had run down the middle of Santa Monica Boulevard had been ripped out. The train no longer came through - the same train that Steve Martin had once led an entire Troubadour audience to hop aboard and ride up to La Cienega Boulevard, then walk back...
@renterclint - You are exactly right. In Don's words: " 'The Sad Cafe' was inspired by the Troubadour and Dan Tana's restaurant. We could feel an era passing. The crowd that hung out in the Troubadour and the bands that were performing there were changing. The train tracks that had run down the middle of Santa Monica Boulevard had been ripped out. The train no longer came through - the same train that Steve Martin had once led an entire Troubadour audience to hop aboard and ride up to La Cienega Boulevard, then walk back t the club. Those remarkable freewheeling times were receding into the distance."
Excerpted from the article 'Henley Looks Back' from 'Eagles: The Ultimate Guide' (A Rolling Stone Special Publication; pub. Mar 2016; pg 77)