Friday, November 20, 2015

Take A Picture Of This

Don Henley still delivers...


Henley's latest collection Cass County is clearly a country album.  Nothing at all wrong with that.  More than a few early Eagles tunes have been successfully covered by country bands.  Over the years many of Henley's ballads could easily have been crossover hits.  

If my adult life were a movie, Don Henley's songs could be used for pretty much the whole sound track.  Cass County expands on the narrative choices.  Along with That Old Flame, Words Can Break your Heart, Train in the Distance, and Where I Am Now, Take a Picture of This resonates exquisitely...

A long long time ago
When we were young and pretty
We ruled the world, we stopped the time, we knew it all, we owned this city
Running with the crowd, carefree and proud, I heard somebody say

Take a picture of this
Take a picture of this
Take a picture of this

The years went rushing by, in the twinkling of an eye, we rolled with the changes
The life we knew was gone
Our friends had all moved on, time rearranges
But on our wedding day, they all came back to say, congratulations
Take a picture of this
Take a picture of this
Take a picture of this

Then we raised a family of our own
We were so happy baby
But now those kids have grown and gone

I gave it everything I had, through the good times and the bad
But now I’m down here on the floor, cause I don’t know you anymore

Yeah, that’s a suitcase; yeah, that’s a ticket for a plane
There’s no one here to talk to, no reason to remain
When you spend all your time living in the past
With all those pictures that you took
Here’s one more for the book

Take a picture of this, this is me leaving
Take a picture of this, this is me walking away

Take a picture of this
Take a picture of this
Take a picture of this