There is nothing I enjoy more than unbridled hate directed at a band.
But "Take It Easy" is kinda awesome.
Well, I'm a standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona
and such a fine sight to see
It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford
slowin' down to take a look at me
Now I can totally see how this exemplifies everything people hate about the Eagles. The arrogance, the vanity, etc. But come on...as fantasy, does it get any better than this? Don't all dudes dream about a girl picking them up like this? When I was a kid, every time I'd ride my bike home from my pal's house, I'd dream that the Flanagan girls would drive by, roll down their windows, and invite my down to their house on the river. Pretty much every day...for probably three years (12-14).
And the next bit is better:
Come on, baby, don't say maybe
I gotta know if your sweet love is gonna save me
We may lose and we may win
but we will never be here again
so open up, I'm climbin' in, so take it easy
Is this really happening? Or is it just in the narrator's imagination? Doesn't really matter either way, because it's the perfect description of post-Pill, pre-AIDS casual sex that my entire generation (those who came of age between Eddie Muphy's "Comedian" album and Magic Johnson proving you could live with HIV) missed out on.
Plus, musically, it's undeniable. The CSN harmonies, those guitar tones, the banjo in the second half? So good. Sure, it's a little antiseptic for country rock, but come on. It just sounds like a hazy 70s afternoon where all the grownups are wearing cutoffs and smoking doobies. Plus look how stoned Frey looks in
this video (I'm not going to torture you by embedding it!).
Lighten up while you stil can...