The challenge ‘Heart of the Matter’ posed for Don Henley: “He had been trying to write for a long time”
For any musician, figuring out their identity outside of a band can be a challenge. For some, it means adjusting to a completely new team they may not yet feel comfortable with, while for others, it’s about discovering the sound that will define them as a solo artist. While Don Henley was comfortable with the Eagles for different reasons, some of the music he created in between stands out as his best.
Judging by many of the most successful bands in history, going solo seems to be a natural progression for some members. For Henley, there seemed no doubt that he would be able to make it alone, but discovering his specific sound wouldn’t be without its challenges. With graciousness and dignity intact, Henley did what he did best with albums like Building the Perfect Beast, almost playing it safe until his third record saw him pulling out all the stops.
As his last release on Geffen Records and his final solo release for over a decade, The End of Innocence contained some of his best lyrical work. Whether tackling themes like growing up in America or the act of forgiveness in a tricky relationship, Henley’s words were able to pinprick the intricacies of American society, much like he did within the Eagles, with a heavy reliance on personal experience.
For this reason, among many others, he once discussed the appropriateness of the beginning and closing tracks and how their timelessness means they never leave his side. “‘The End Of The Innocence’ has taken on a whole new meaning now,” he reflected. “When I talk about the lawyers cleaning up all the details and that sort of thing, that resonates with me. ‘The Heart of the Matter’ always resonates with me because we always need forgiveness from somebody.”
Lyrically, ‘The Heart of the Matter’ stands as one of Henley’s most accomplished. Aside from its message, it also presents some of the more complex existential musings, including: “What are those voices outside love’s open door / Make us throw off our contentment / And beg for something more?” It might seem obvious or universal, but it evokes the same kind of inspiration that many of music’s greatest poets captured when turning everyday musings into powerful lyrics.
This was also something Henley had been mulling over for quite some time. Wanting to make a song that tackled forgiveness as a means of finding peace, it wasn’t until Mike Campbell came to him with some ideas that he finally got moving, knowing that he had surpassed the brick wall. According to Campbell, he grew intensely fond of it once he’d finished, a telling sign that he held it close to his heart despite the time it took to perfect it.
“That was a couple of years later, by then I had upscaled my home studio to a 24-track,” he said. “I cut the track at home and played it for [Henley]. He wrote some words, I think he got some help from J.D. Souther on some of the lyrics. He changed the key to fit his voice, then we went in and basically recreated the demo.”
He continued: “I know he was especially proud of that one. He told me that lyric was something he had been trying to write for a long time and it finally came out the way he liked it, something he really wanted to sing. A lot of people like that song.”
For many, the track symbolised the quintessential Henley song, which seems to feel that way to him, too. After all, he later performed the song as part of the Eagles’ reunion tour, knowing what it meant to him as an artist—both in terms of the work he put into it and the moment during his career when it was finalised. Many other songs might epitomise the greatness of Henley, but in terms of artistic development, nothing touches ‘The Heart of the Matter’.
