About the song

“Life in the Fast Lane” is a song written by Joe Walsh, Glenn Frey and Don Henley, and recorded by American rock band Eagles for the band’s fifth studio album Hotel California (1976). It was the third single released from this album, and peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The song tells the story of a couple who take their excessive lifestyle to the edge. On In the Studio with Redbeard, Glenn Frey revealed that the title came to him one day when he was riding on the freeway with a drug dealer known as “The Count”. Frey asked the dealer to slow down and the response was, “What do you mean? It’s life in the fast lane!” In that same interview, Frey indicated that the song’s central riff was played by Walsh while the band was warming up in rehearsals and Walsh was told to “keep that; it’s a song”. Don Henley recalled that the “song actually sprang from the opening guitar riff. One day, at rehearsal, Joe [Walsh] just busted out that crazy riff and I said ‘What the hell is that? We’ve got to figure out to make a song out of that.” Henley and Frey, the primary lyricists for the band, then wrote the lyrics for the song.

Video

Lyrics

He was a hard-headed manHe was brutally handsome, and she was terminally prettyShe held him up, and he held her for ransomIn the heart of the cold, cold city
He had a nasty reputation as a cruel dudeThey said he was ruthless, they said he was crudeThey had one thing in commonThey were good in bed, she’d say“Faster, faster, the lights are turnin’ red”
surely make you lose your mind(Life in the fast lane) yeah
Are you with me so far?
Eager for action and hot for the gameThe coming attraction, the drop of a nameThey knew all the right people, they took all the right pillsThey threw outrageous parties, they paid heavenly bills
There were lines on the mirror, lines on her faceShe pretended not to notice, she was caught up in the raceOut every evening, until it was lightHe was too tired to make it, she was too tired to fight about it
surely make you lose your mind(Life in the fast lane) yeah(Life in the fast lane) everything, all the time(Life in the fast lane) a-ha
Blowin’ and burnin’, blinded by thirstThey didn’t see the stop sign, took a turn for the worseShe said, “Listen baby, you can hear the engine ring”“We’ve been up and down this highway, haven’t seen a goddam thing”
He said, “Call the doctor, I think I’m gonna crash”“The doctor say he’s comin’, but you gotta pay him cash”They went rushin’ down that freeway, messed around and got lostThey didn’t care, they were just dyin’ to get off, and it was
surely makes you lose your mind(Life in the fast lane) yeah(Life in the fast lane) everything all the time(Life in the fast lane) a-ha