Glenn Frey and Pathos

[Freypower]

How about You Are Not Alone & It's Your World Now?

Is there pathos in Lyin' Eyes in the last section where 'she's so far gone she feels just like a fool' or is it just a cold narrative with no sympathy expressed for her at all? I always feel that when she lies to her husband but 'he knows where she's goin' as she's leavin'' that she has forfeited any sympathy for her situation. But at the end she is so alone.

[sodascouts]

Slow version of Working Man - definitely. "I'm too tired for dreams and plans." So many people feel that way!

Most of Us Are Sad does have that element, but the last verse has hope so it doesn't leave me feeling melancholy at the end. That song is underrated, IMHO, and not aided by the simplistic title. I wish Glenn had sung it.

I think, if one is being generous, one can feel sympathy for the girl in Lyin' Eyes. She does seem to "deserve" her unhappiness, though, in that she chose to marry a man she didn't love for his money.

[StephUK]

This is a really interesting thread. It confirms to me how each of us can interpret lyrics in slightly different ways, and that's what makes songs(and poetry) so special; the writer is expressing how he/she sees a relationship or situation, but how the listener or reader interprets that can depend on their experiences, their nature and their view of love & life.

I would say I'm an emotional person; a romantic & a dreamer. So, Glenns songs of lost love & heartbreak evoke sympathy from me, but I like it when there's a little hope in the last verse........

Almost everybody has lost loves or heartbreaks in their life; most come through them & 'get over it', but for those who don't I think I'd use the word 'Tragic' (as sometimes it really can be).