Don Henley on the song that “moves” him live: “Not here anymore”
Don Henley never once tried to live the life of a lavish rock star. While there’s no doubt that the Eagles had their fair share of fun as one of the biggest American groups of all time, Henley had a methodical approach every time he sat down to make a record, usually having a clear goal in mind whenever he had a message to give the listener. For any good story song, though, it comes back to Henley’s Americana roots, and ‘The Cost of Living’ is the kind of song that still gets him choked up.
For as massive as the Eagles were in their prime, they were far more eclectic than many people gave them credit for. There was the occasional song that was a little too faceless, and it’s clear that ‘The Dude’ is certainly no fan of their work, but Henley always put his views out there, even if it meant jumping on a soul groove, a hard rock track, or a simple strum-along acoustic cut.
As many ageing rock stars grew older, Henley found himself getting steered more towards country music. While nothing is necessarily wrong with returning to his roots, Cass County was a lot better than most country crossovers because of Henley’s experience. He had studied under people like George Jones and Kenny Rogers, even back in his Eagles days, and if there was anyone who could write about hard living, it was the guy who put the pathos into ‘Desperado’.
Even by Henley’s slice-of-life standards, ‘The Cost of Living’ is one of the most heart-wrenching songs he would ever create. Given that he had been in the public eye for years, hearing him singing about not relying on yesterday and continuing to push himself forward after all these years is something that everyone will have to one day confront in their lives, even if it is tragic.
But if Henley was going to sell this, he wanted to get a real pro behind the scenes to help him. Although Cass County features many fantastic performances by everyone from Dolly Parton to Mick Jagger, hearing Merle Haggard sing alongside Henley’s gruff tenor voice conjures up the image of two men rocking away on their porch talking about life.
Ever since Haggard’s passing in 2016, Henley has had trouble performing the song, saying, “Once in a while, even though he’s no longer with us, sometimes I’ll do ‘The Cost Of Living.’ I feel really fortunate to have been able to sing with Merle Haggard before he left. So that one moves me because he’s not here any more.”
It might be a hard song to get through as a musician, but that doesn’t mean that Henley should retire the track by any means. This is a song that’s all about facing each step of life as it comes, and if he decided it was too emotional to perform, he probably wouldn’t be abiding by the message of the track as well as he could be.
