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How Fever Helped the Eagles Write a Classic Song

Posted on by angelo

How Fever Inspired Eagles' Don Henley to Write One of Their Most Popular Songs

(Credits: Far Out / Alamy)

For most people, suffering from a bout of the flu often means one thing and one thing only: rest and recuperation. That’s mainly because the mere thought of being productive in any way is exhausting. For Don Henley of the Eagles, however, reading about one of the most influential writers and painters of all time during a time of intense illness struck him with an inspiration he couldn’t ignore.

The Eagles’ early days were like a fever dream: playing alongside Linda Ronstadt seemed both inspiring and uncertain, as the two tried to match their drive to succeed with their musical abilities. It didn’t help that at the time, many major acts were dominating the business. As Ronstadt later recounted, “I had no idea what I was doing. It wasn’t until 1980 that I really started learning to sing.”

The collaboration, however, produced an indescribable magic, especially when Henley and Glenn Frey realized they wanted to go it alone. The duo probably owes Ronstadt the support and encouragement they needed to get started, but the singer maintains that it was thanks to them. “I helped form the Eagles, yes,” she said. “But it was their talent and their interaction with each other that really made the difference. I asked my friend John Boylan if he could help me put a band together.”

Even though they haven’t quite figured out how to establish a country-rock sound of their own, the Eagles’ self-titled debut album certainly caught the attention of critics and music fans alike, for better or worse. Over time, it’s become clearer that it’s actually for the better, given the handful of songs that have stood the test of time well.

One of those tracks is the album’s second single, “Witchy Woman,” co-written by Henley and Bernie Leadon and inspired by a series of “charming, seductive” women who left a lasting impression on them. The song’s genesis came from a riff Leadon started playing one day that Henley said sounded like “a Hollywood movie version of Indian music.”

However, the lyrics come from a biography Henley was reading about Zelda Fitzgerald at the height of her flu. In his feverish, semi-delirious state, reading about Fitzgerald’s struggles with her husband’s alcoholism and his own mental health issues led him down a specific path of inspiration about the types of women he wanted to include in the song. “I think that played a part in the mix somehow, with amorphous images of girls I’d met at the Whisky (a Go Go) and the Troubadour,” Henley recalls.

Interestingly, Henley later assured that the women in the song are not portrayed in a negative light and that each of them adopted their own charm and charisma in a unique way. One of them was a roommate he had in the 1970s who practiced “white witchcraft,” that is, she engaged in spiritual activities with positive intentions. Henley, of course, did not pay much attention to it, stating, “I never took anything seriously.”

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How Fever Helped the Eagles Write a Classic Song

Posted on by angelo

How Fever Inspired Eagles' Don Henley to Write One of Their Most Popular Songs

(Credits: Far Out / Alamy)

For most people, suffering from a bout of the flu often means one thing and one thing only: rest and recuperation. This is mainly because the mere thought of being productive in any way is exhausting. However, for Don Henley of the Eagles, reading about one of the most influential writers and painters of all time during a time of intense illness struck him with an inspiration he couldn’t ignore.

The Eagles’ early days were like a fever dream: playing alongside Linda Ronstadt seemed both inspiring and uncertain, as the two tried to match their drive to succeed with their musical abilities. It didn’t help that at the time, many major acts were dominating the business. As Ronstadt later recounted, “I had no idea what I was doing. It wasn’t until 1980 that I really started learning to sing.”

The collaboration, however, produced an indescribable magic, especially when Henley and Glenn Frey realized they wanted to go it alone. The duo probably owes Ronstadt the support and encouragement they needed to get started, but the singer maintains that it was thanks to them. “I helped form the Eagles, yes,” she said. “But it was their talent and their interaction with each other that really made the difference. I asked my friend John Boylan if he could help me put a band together.”

Even though they haven’t quite figured out how to establish a country-rock sound of their own, the Eagles’ self-titled debut album certainly caught the attention of critics and music fans alike, for better or worse. Over time, it’s become clearer that it’s actually for the better, given the handful of songs that have stood the test of time well.

One of those tracks is the album’s second single, “Witchy Woman,” co-written by Henley and Bernie Leadon and inspired by a series of “charming, seductive” women who left a lasting impression on them. The song’s genesis came from a riff Leadon started playing one day that Henley said sounded like “a Hollywood movie version of Indian music.”

However, the lyrics come from a biography Henley was reading about Zelda Fitzgerald at the height of her flu. In his feverish, semi-delirious state, reading about Fitzgerald’s struggles with her husband’s alcoholism and his own mental health issues led him down a specific path of inspiration about the types of women he wanted to include in the song. “I think that played a part in the mix somehow, with amorphous images of girls I’d met at the Whisky (a Go Go) and the Troubadour,” Henley recalls.

Interestingly, Henley later assured that the women in the song are not portrayed in a negative light and that each of them adopted their own charm and charisma in a unique way. One of them was a roommate he had in the 1970s who practiced “white witchcraft,” that is, she engaged in spiritual activities with positive intentions. Henley, of course, did not pay much attention to it, stating, “I never took anything seriously.”

Related topics