How a town commemorated an Eagles song with a statue
What is the best way to acknowledge good music? Some people buy posters and T-shirts, brandishing their love for an album for all to see. Others go a step further and get tattoos of lyrics and album covers. Some have first dances at their weddings, and others follow bands worldwide, but very few get statues erected in tribute to a song. Well, that’s precisely what happened with this Eagles track.
It’s always funny to see the impact that music can have. Insignificant street corners that signify where two people met, first kissed or exchanged ideas become tourist attractions for the masses. History happens all around us, and every drain and street corner will have significance, but because a certain one in particular resulted in a song, it takes precedence.
If you go to a specific corner in Winslow, Arizona, you will likely see someone taking a photo of it. This is the place referenced in the Eagles song ‘Take It Easy’, which was the first song on the band’s debut album that skyrocketed to number one. It was a monumental moment for the band, and it put a specific street corner on the map.
The song’s first draft was written by Jackson Browne, who lived in the same apartment block as Glenn Frey. Browne had a rough outline of the song done but needed help with adding the finishing touches. He showed this unfinished draft to Frey one day, a struggling songwriter at the time who added his spin to it to produce the final product that people know and love today.
Frey came up with one of the most crucial lines in the song, which was the iconic lyric in the second verse, “it’s a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford, slowing down to take a look at me.” He also proposed extending the “E” in “Easy”.
Looking back, Frey considers this one of the most important songs that the Eagles ever released, given it was the opener for the debut and acted as the perfect introduction for people who were only just finding out about the band. In an interview, he said the song represented “America’s first image of our band with the vistas of the Southwest and the beginning of what became country rock.”
Fans agreed, and the song is still considered by many to be a favourite. Many people have done something to commemorate the track, but none have gone quite as far as the town of Winslow, Arizona, which erected a statue in its honour. It still stands today and is frequently admired as it shows a painting of a girl in a flatbed Ford, an homage to that lyric, which will now stand the test of time.
