The Last Resort ( Eagles song ) - wikipedia The Last Resort ( Eagles song ) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( July 2011 ) `` The Last Resort '' Song by Eagles from the album Hotel California A-side `` Life in the Fast Lane '' Released May 3, 1977 Format vinyl record Recorded March -- October 1976 Genre Soft rock, country rock Length 7 : 28 Label Asylum Songwriter ( s ) Glenn Frey, Don Henley Producer ( s ) Bill Szymczyk Hotel California track listing `` Hotel California '' `` New Kid in Town '' `` Life in the Fast Lane '' `` Wasted Time '' `` Wasted Time ( Reprise ) '' `` Victim of Love '' `` Pretty Maids All in a Row '' `` Try and Love Again '' `` The Last Resort '' `` The Last Resort '' is a song written by Don Henley and Glenn Frey, which tells about how man inevitably destroys the places he finds beautiful. It was originally released on the Eagles ' album Hotel California on December 8, 1976. It was subsequently released as the B - side of `` Life in the Fast Lane '' single on May 3, 1977. In a 1978 interview with Rolling Stone, Henley said : `` ' The Last Resort ', on Hotel California, is still one of my favorite songs... That 's because I care more about the environment than about writing songs about drugs or love affairs or excesses of any kind. The gist of the song was that when we find something good, we destroy it by our presence -- by the very fact that man is the only animal on earth that is capable of destroying his environment. The environment is the reason I got into politics : to try to do something about what I saw as the complete destruction of most of the resources that we have left. We have mortgaged our future for gain and greed. '' Contents 1 Composition 2 Recording 3 Critical reception 4 Personnel 5 References Composition On an episode of In the Studio with Redbeard ( which devoted an entire episode to the making of Hotel California ), Frey stated : I have to give all the credit for ' The Last Resort ' to ( Don ) Henley. It was the first time that Don, on his own, took it upon himself to write an epic story. We were very much at that time, concerned about the environment and doing anti-nuclear benefit ( concerts ). It seemed the perfect way to wrap up all of the different topics we had explored on the Hotel California album. Don found himself as a lyricist with that song, kind of outdid himself... We 're constantly screwing up paradise and that was the point of the song and that at some point there is going to be no more new frontiers. I mean we 're putting junk, er, garbage into space now. There 's enough crap floating around the planet that we ca n't even use so it just seems to be our way. It 's unfortunate but that is sort of what happens. Frey referred to the song as `` Henley 's opus. '' Henley recalled that he had been reading about `` the raping and pillaging of the West by mining, timber, oil and cattle interests '' at the time he wrote the song. He said that he wanted to expand the song 's scope even further, and so he `` tried to go ' Michener ' with it, '' but was never totally satisfied with how it came out. Recording The band recorded `` The Last Resort '' at the Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida. However, Black Sabbath were also recording Technical Ecstasy in an adjacent studio and played very loudly. The Eagles had to re-recorded the song a number of times to due to noise coming through the wall from the next studio. Critical reception Music critic Dave Thompson considers it an update of Joni Mitchell 's `` Big Yellow Taxi '' but says that it is `` even more weary and despairing. '' Thompson regards the line `` Some rich men came and raped the land. Nobody caught them '' to be a critique of a free market economy. Critic William Ruhlmann said of it that it `` sketches a broad, pessimistic history of America that borders on nihilism. '' Author James Perone says that it ties `` all the previous songs ( from Hotel California ) together in this final reflection of the dark side of California Life. '' He notes, for example, how the song lyrics contrast the beauty of the California desert with ugly suburban houses and ultimately progresses to criticize the concept of manifest destiny, on which American expansion to California was partially based. He regards the key lyric to be the line `` They call it paradise ; I do n't know why, '' noting the emphasis given to it by the resignation of Henley 's voice and by the falling melody. Perone does criticize the use of synthesizer on the song instead of actual string instruments, which he feels sounds artificial. To Eagles ' biographer Marc Eliot, `` The Last Resort '' tells `` the story of a nation 's self - destruction and physical decay told as metaphor for personal creative burnout. '' In 2016, the editors of Rolling Stone rated `` The Last Resort '' as the Eagles # 27 greatest song. Personnel Don Henley - lead vocals, drums, synthesizer Glenn Frey - piano, acoustic guitar, backing vocals Joe Walsh - electric guitar, synthesizer, backing vocals Don Felder - pedal steel guitar, electric guitar, backing vocals Randy Meisner - bass, backing vocals References ^ Jump up to : Ruhlmann, W. `` Hotel California ''. allmusic. Retrieved 2011 - 07 - 01. Jump up ^ Andy Greene. `` Readers Poll : The Ten Best Eagles Songs. '' Rolling Stone, July 29, 2015. ( 1 ) ^ Jump up to : Eagles : The Ultimate Guide. Rolling Stone. 2016. p. 93. Jump up ^ Runtagh, Jordan ( December 8, 2016 ). `` The Eagles ' ' Hotel California ' : 10 Things You Did n't Know ''. Rolling Stone. ^ Jump up to : Thompson, D. ( 2011 ). 1000 Songs That Rock Your World. Krause. p. 163. ISBN 9781440214226. ^ Jump up to : Perone, J. ( 2012 ). The Album : A Guide to Pop Music 's Most Provocative, Influential, and Important Creations, Volume 2. ABC - CLIO. p. 92. ISBN 9780313379062. Jump up ^ Eliot, M. ( 2004 ). To the Limit : The Untold Story of the Eagles. Da Capo Press. p. 150. ISBN 9780306813986. Eagles Glenn Frey Don Henley Bernie Leadon Randy Meisner Don Felder Joe Walsh Timothy B. Schmit Studio albums Eagles Desperado On the Border One of These Nights Hotel California The Long Run Long Road Out of Eden Live albums Eagles Live Hell Freezes Over Farewell 1 Tour - Live from Melbourne Compilation albums Their Greatest Hits ( 1971 -- 1975 ) Eagles Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 The Very Best of the Eagles Selected Works : 1972 -- 1999 The Very Best Of Eagles Singles `` Take It Easy '' `` Witchy Woman '' `` Peaceful Easy Feeling '' `` Tequila Sunrise '' `` Outlaw Man '' `` Already Gone '' `` James Dean '' `` Best of My Love '' `` One of These Nights '' `` Lyin ' Eyes '' `` Take It to the Limit '' `` New Kid in Town '' `` Hotel California '' `` Life in the Fast Lane '' `` Please Come Home for Christmas '' `` Heartache Tonight '' `` The Long Run '' `` I Ca n't Tell You Why '' `` Seven Bridges Road '' `` Get Over It '' `` Love Will Keep Us Alive '' `` Hole in the World '' `` How Long '' `` Busy Being Fabulous '' Other songs `` Desperado '' `` Ol ' ' 55 '' `` The Last Resort '' `` In the City '' Tours Long Road Out of Eden Tour History of the Eagles Tour Related Discography Poco Linda Ronstadt Flying Burrito Brothers Common Thread : The Songs of the Eagles History of the Eagles Heaven and Hell : My Life in the Eagles ( 1974 -- 2001 ) Book Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Last_Resort_(Eagles_song)&oldid=808637172 '' Categories : 1976 songs Eagles ( band ) songs Songs written by Don Henley Songs written by Glenn Frey Song recordings produced by Bill Szymczyk Songs critical of religion Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from July 2011 All articles needing additional references Articles with hAudio microformats Talk Contents About Wikipedia Français Nederlands Norsk nynorsk Edit links This page was last edited on 4 November 2017, at 03 : 53. 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Question: who sang the last resort by the eagles
Answer: Don Henley