When I was young Don Henley’s song “The End of The Innocence” played a pivotal role in establishing my love for music. The thematic subject matter about getting older and losing the carefree life of being at home with your parents spoke to me in a visceral way, serving as sort of a reminder that as time goes on life tends to get more complicated. I can’t tell you how many mix tapes I made for girls this song made its way onto (had to be at least eight) and was perhaps my way to romanticize the potential fleeting nature of young love.
As I got older and had two kids of my own, this song began to take on even more meaning– nowadays it has become about watching the innocence in my son and daughter’s bright eyes and knowing that one day that sense of innocence will one day come to an end. As a parent you try and protect your children as much as you can but still provide them the space for them to become self-sufficient, a balancing act that’s difficult to achieve and in constant need of tweaks and adjustments. I listened to this song at the park the other day as I watched them both play on the playground and it brought me to tears. Part of that was my emotional connection with the song going back 25 years, the other being the holidays and just soaking up all these wonderful little moments when they’re young and so gobsmacked by all the little treasures that life hands them every single day. And of course part of it is the beautiful piano chords, played by the great Bruce Hornsby (you can read me pontificate about his landmark 1986 album The Way It Is here) that sets the mood for Henley oh so perfectly.
It’s really an incredible song, one that has been a rare one which I have had the blessing to traverse my entire life with. And I’m sure in the decades to come it will continue to morph and change in meaning while still remaining a bedrock of who I am, an indelible part of my soul that forever stays a part of me. It’s nostalgia in a purely distilled form of audio bliss.
It would be easy for the rest of 1989’s The End of The Innocence to sort of just exist in relation to such an incredible opening number, but as you would likely expect from Henley, he manages to continue to push the pace throughout the album and deliver some of the finest pop rock albums of the 80’s over 10 songs. “New York Minute” is a study in dramatic dynamics, with a slowly building verse that replete with moody atmospherics of brass sections and synthesizers, making the whole thing feel like the soundtrack of a noir murder mystery. The rabble-rousing of “I Will Not Go Quietly” zigs and zags with a frenetic lead guitar part before exploding into an anthemic chorus that emboldens you to celebrate your individuality. And the heartbroken sorrow of “The Heart Of The Matter” (and by the same token its cousin “The Last Worthless Evening”) that seems to find celebration in lost love and the moments that were shared even if there isn’t a happy ending at the end of the journey is a unique songwriting twist which makes more and more sense as the years roll on by. Put simply, The End of The Innocence is an album that showcases all of the things that makes Don Henley great, an album which peels back the layers of life gently to show all of the imperfections underneath, while still emphatically exclaiming that the journey is truly the reward.
A final note— one thing I really appreciate about The End of The Innocence as a whole is how willing Don Henley is to let the songs play out in extended jams, almost like a live album. There is only one single song (“How Bad Do You Want It?”) that is under four minutes long, and the majority of the tracks on the album run 5 minutes plus. It gives the album a life of its own that underscores the songwriting which celebrates this magical ride of life we’re all on.
Standout Songs: “The End of The Innocence”, “The Heart of The Matter”, “New York Minute”, “I Will Not Go Quietly”, “The Last Worthless Evening”
Matthew. 