PMAIAR meaning

I've tried searching and I couldn't find something on this, so here we are (sorry if we aren't meant to do threads on specific songs!)

I was listening to the Hotel Cali album last night and one song which has really grown on me is the one above (the outro is just beautiful). But as I was listening to it I realised that the lyrics aren't quite as 'obvious' as some other Eagles songs - you can't tell just by listening to them what it's about. A bit of thinking and listening has got me believing it's just about growing up and how live changes and people come and go, but is anyone able to offer any better insight?

Cheers

In a 1981 interview with the BBC, Walsh explained: "To make the Eagles really valid as a band, it was important that we co-write things and share things. 'Pretty Maids' is kind of a melancholy reflection on my life so far, and I think we tried to represent it as a statement that would be valid for people from our generation on life so far. Heroes, they come and go... Henley and Frey really thought that it was a good song, and meaningful, and helped me a lot in putting it together. I think the best thing to say is that it's a kind of melancholy observation on life that we hoped would be a valid statement for people from our generation."

The key lines for me are:

Why do we give up our hearts to the past
And why must we grow up so fast?

and 'heroes they come and they go'.

It is a meditation on remembrance & loss & how things don't necessarily turn out how you thought they would. Nothing lasts forever. I love the song; it is my fourth favourite song on that album.

An aside now that we have a topic on it: I assume that Don has been playing drums on it during this tour? The only time I saw them play it back in 1995 he played drums then.

It's a great song. I love how they open their 2nd act with it on the current tour. Yes, Don is on drums.

Yes; I was just able to watch the Minneapolis video which I couldn't yesterday. Love it. :band:

I think it's one of Joe's best songs - I adore it! I am absolutely thrilled they've added it back.

I think it's about growing up, and realizing some hard truths about life as well as letting go of some of the illusions and dreams one had when younger. We see this emphasized in the title, which refers to a line from a children's rhyme called "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary". Joe lists it among the things that are lost to him now: "The storybook comes to a close; gone are the ribbons and bows, things to remember, places to go, pretty maids all in a row." The vestiges of innocence have fallen away, and anyone who still clings to such dreams is a "wishing-well fool."

This is such a beautiful song that I picked my username from it. Not knowing for sure what the song was trying to say, I always thought it was an anti war song. 'My, but we learn so slow, and heroes they come and they go', suggests a sadness that we keep sending troops into harm's way. 'Gone are the ribbons and bows'...we've taken the yellow ribbons off of the trees since they won't be coming home because now they are buried in cemeteries with headstones that look like 'Pretty maids all on a row'.

I know - quite a stretch. There are a lot of lyrics unaccounted for in my scenario. I just put it out there because it's something I've considered.

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Originally Posted by sodascouts

I think it's one of Joe's best songs - I adore it! I am absolutely thrilled they've added it back.

I think it's about growing up, and realizing some hard truths about life as well as letting go of some of the illusions and dreams one had when younger. We see this emphasized in the title, which refers to a line from a children's rhyme called "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary". Joe lists it among the things that are lost to him now: "The storybook comes to a close; gone are the ribbons and bows, things to remember, places to go, pretty maids all in a row." The vestiges of innocence have fallen away, and anyone who still clings to such dreams is a "wishing-well fool."

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Good topic and I totally agree with Soda's interpretation here. However, PM you have a very interesting take on the song that I had never thought of. As we say often here, good songwriting can leave songs open to many different interpretations. Any songwriter will tell you that each listener brings their own meaning to a song.