At an obvious level this song is about tabloid journalism and TV news anchors (more accurately called "newsreaders" in the UK).
At an only slightly less obvious level the song/rant expresses Henley's frustration with music critics, most of whom were very in favor of punk and underground music in the early 80's and viewed Henley, and everybody else from the dinosaur 70's bands, as washed up has-beens.
Well Don showed them, didn't he? You know, all those mopey hits he scored in the 80's and the 90's -- the Boys of Summer, The Heart of the Matter, The End of the Innocence. Henley certainly showed endurance as a songwriter both with the Eagles and on his own. Any critic who wrote off Henley after the Long Run, well, they just needed to sit back, wait, and see who was going to make it ...... in the long run.
At an obvious level this song is about tabloid journalism and TV news anchors (more accurately called "newsreaders" in the UK).
At an only slightly less obvious level the song/rant expresses Henley's frustration with music critics, most of whom were very in favor of punk and underground music in the early 80's and viewed Henley, and everybody else from the dinosaur 70's bands, as washed up has-beens.
Well Don showed them, didn't he? You know, all those mopey hits he scored in the 80's and the 90's -- the Boys of Summer, The Heart of the Matter, The End of the Innocence. Henley certainly showed endurance as a songwriter both with the Eagles and on his own. Any critic who wrote off Henley after the Long Run, well, they just needed to sit back, wait, and see who was going to make it ...... in the long run.