This song is about a woman who cheats on her husband. She is very confused and down, and tells her husband she is going to see a friend when she is actually going to meet her lover. She goes across town to meet the boy with "Fiery eyes and dreams no one can steal."
She gets there and she falls into his arms, but has to leave to go back home. She swears someday she will come back forever, because she is happy there. As the song continues, she ponders her emotions - "She wonders, how it ever got this crazy..." She just wants to feel loved and happy but she is torn. (thanks, James - The Hideout, PA)
In the DVD Hell Freezes Over, the Eagles discussed this song's origins. When they were a struggling band in Los Angeles, they saw a lot of beautiful women around Hollywood who were married to wealthy, successful men, and wondered if they were unhappy. One night they were drinking in a bar (their favorite watering hole: Dan Tana's) when they spotted this stunning young woman; two steps behind her was a much older, fat, rich guy. As they were half laughing at them, Glenn Frey commented, "Look at her, she can't even hide those lyin eyes!"
Realizing they had a song title, the band members began grabbing for cocktail napkins to write down lyrics to go with that great observation.
In the History of the Eagles documentary, Don Henley offered a slightly different interpretation: "It was about all these girls that would come down to Dan Tana's looking beautiful. They'd be there from 8 O'clock until midnight having drinks with all of us rockers, then they'd go home because they were kept women."
Glenn Frey sang lead, Bernie Leadon was on lead guitar.
This won a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.
In 2008, an Irish prosecutor quoted the words to this song ("You can't hide those lyin' eyes...") in her closing statement at a trial involving the email lyingeyes98@yahoo.ie. The Dublin jury convicted Sharon Collins of conspiring to have her older partner and his two sons killed. Using the lyingeyes98 email, she contacted a hit man at hire_hitman@yahoo.com to do the deed, apparently unaware that emails can be traced.
According to Don Felder, who was a guitarist with the Eagles at the time, Glenn Frey was extremely particular about how he sang the first word in this song: "City."
"It would either be a little early, or a little late, or the 'T' would be too sharp," he told Ultimate Classic Rock. "But every time that word goes by now and I hear it, I can appreciate the time and dedication and perseverance that it took to get it perfect."
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