You call someplace Paradise/
Kiss it goodbye.
“The Last Resort” is The Eagles take on Manifest Destiny. Henley talks about how the west was referred to as the last resort and look what has happened to it. There is practically nothing left of it. It is all buildings. There is nowhere left to go. What we once called paradise is now…what? Not so great.
In the end he says isn’t it interesting how Christians talk about how Heaven is a paradise? Every time something gets called a paradise it is ruined. The song speaks to conservation but also to human propensity toward excess.
The soft piano coupled with Henley’s earnest story-telling combines to tell a harrowing tale…if we don’t start changing, we are in trouble. This is our last chance to get things right. There is no more new frontier on Earth. This song is a nice change of pace for The Eagles. It’s not a song about women or sex and rocknroll, it shows they are not a one-trick pony.
The Last Resort Lyrics
She came from Providence, the one in Rhode Island
Where the old world shadows hang heavy in the air
She packed her hopes and dreams like a refugee,
Just as her father came across the sea
She heard about a place people were smilin’,
They spoke about the red man’s way, how they loved the land
And they came from everywhere to the Great Divide
Seeking a place to stand or a place to hide
Down in the crowded bars out for a good time,
Can’t wait to tell you all what it’s like up there
And they called it paradise, I don’t know why
Somebody laid the mountains low while the town got high
Then the chilly winds blew down across the desert,
Through the canyons of the coast to the Malibu
Where the pretty people play hungry for power
To light their neon way and give them things to do
Some rich man came and raped the land, nobody caught ’em,
Put up a bunch of ugly boxes and, Jesus, people bought ’em
And they called it paradise, the place to be,
They watched the hazy sun sinking in the sea
You can leave it all behind and sail to Lahaina
Just like the missionaries did so many years ago
They even brought a neon sign ‘Jesus is Coming’,
Brought the white man’s burden down, brought the white man’s reign
Who will provide the grand design, what is yours and what is mine?
‘Cause there is no more new frontier, we have got to make it here
We satisfy our endless needs and justify our bloody deeds
In the name of destiny and in the name of God
And you can see them there on Sunday morning
Stand up and sing about what it’s like up there
They called it paradise, I don’t know why
You call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye.
written by Frey/Henley
