Don Henley's Lyric Aficionados Collective Guest Feature: Lisa Svegre
Lisa Svegre shares her journey as a lifelong Eagles fan and her deep emotional connection to Don Henley's song "Talking to the Moon."
Hi, everyone. I have a few housekeeping items before we get to Lisa’s feature.
The Don Henley SHILOH CD giveaway continues through the end of June! All you need to do is sign up for a paid subscription to be entered!
The Guest Feature will occur as often as possible. This is the second edition — the first standalone — since I began this series. We have interest from a lot of folks to do these in the future, but it’s all timing and availability for actually getting it done.
If you’d like to do a Guest Feature, all you have to do is send me a message or comment below!
That’s it!
Lisa Svegre pens our Guest Feature piece this week about her favorite Don Henley song, “Talking to the Moon.” Lisa and I met and are part of the many terrific Don Henley fan groups on Facebook. She’s a huge fan, and super knowledgeable, and I’m honored to give her the spotlight.
By Lisa Svegre
NORWAY —
I became an Eagles fan at the age of ten and fell in love with Don Henley’s voice and the brilliant dynamics in his singing when I heard "The Last Resort" for the first time and was left in tears.
My fandom for Henley began that day. I’ve been following him and the Eagles ever since. Living far north in Norway, I didn’t have any hopes that I’d ever see him or them live.
But good things come to those who wait. In 2019, my daughter, my brother, and I finally got to see them after 42 years of waiting.
Better late than never.
It was just as magical and emotional as I thought it would be. If I hadn’t had the pictures and videos from the concert, I’d probably have felt it was all a dream.
Which was in a way—a dream come true.
“This is a song about small-town Texas,” Henley has said about this song. His Texan roots shine through as he describes the heat, the dust, “the trucks a-passin’ by,” then hearing their mournful sigh from the front porch swing. It’s like he’s painting a picture for the listener (at least for me personally).
The arrangement of the song is really great. I especially like the accordion solo and how he [Bruce Hornsby] changes the tone from major to minor in the part starting with “And the wind across the plains,” and then back to major at “So goodbye, rodeo….”
Eventually, Henley increases the volume from “Talking to the Moon.” It’s so overwhelming, going from soothing to powerful, giving it all as he expresses his pain and sorrow about missing his Lady Love.
The song is breathtaking and an emotional rollercoaster for me personally. I never listen to it without having a box of Kleenex nearby.