Taking it to the limit

Way before there was a Google search engine or a sea of other technological ways in which we could get breaking news, there was a ‘Tequila Sunrise.’

I was barely eight years old when I first heard the song. Well in to my teens, another anthem of sorts ‘Take it easy,’ took on a new significance in our troubled times. “We may lose or we may win, but we will never be here again,” sang Don Henley and for some reason, I felt like he was talking to me.

Playing the Eagles every Sunday morning while we did our chores in a Bombay suburb, was purely automatic. There wasn’t a member of the household that complained about the easy feeling that the boys on the faithful Kenwood player belted out. Of course it was the 90’s but those evergreen hits had been written two whole decades before.

To the boys from the band who undoubtedly face a collosal loss, my heart sinks today. I woke up like most of the world, to the sad news that Glenn Frey is no more. Now, yes he hasn’t been breaking records like he used to and I can see a whole host of people on social media writing tributes to him. A few are scratching their heads thinking, ‘Frey who?’ What strikes me is how relevant the music of the Eagles is even to this day.

A group of friends and myself are taking part in an acapella singing competition this weekend. We are far from prepared. When life hits you with children to look after, an endless amount of work to take care of and complex to-do lists, music somehow takes a backseat. Among the Vocal Bandits (a name I put together for the group), I’ve found that we have very little time or faith that we can pull this off. Well I even thought we were ‘toast’ when we listened to a few of the other competitors of the upcoming contest this Friday.

Be that as it may, I was hunting for a song that could may be allow us to harmonise in some fashion. The song ‘Seven bridges’ by the Eagles, kept playing in my head and I heard it on and on again a day before the news that one of their core members had passed on.

Their song writing skills are up there with the greatest. From ‘Lying eyes,’ to the haunting and oft repeated tune of a ‘Witchy Woman,’ to an easy ‘Desperado’ the Eagles have found faith in countless listeners the world over.
While we all wonder if the music industry is being hit by the weight of the loss of such great artists, I want to take a moment to say thank you to these guys. For bringing us up with their melody. For holding forth with a faith that they can indeed, take it to the limit. Its what’s going to make me belt out a tune or more this weekend.

Thank you guys. We’re all so glad that hell indeed does freeze over.