DON HENLEY

I try to write conversationally; I try to write like people speak and put the emphasis on the right syllable.

Let hope inspire you, but let not idealism blind you. Don't look back, you can never look back.

The Eagles and the critics were not the best of friends.

It was pretty frightening because as we all know, when large, famous groups breakup, a lot of the members don't survive in solo careers.

Sometimes you get the best light from a burning bridge.

I'm always jotting things down on pieces of paper. I've got pieces of paper all over my house.

I'm blessed with a pretty good voice. So just sitting back there banging on the tubs wasn't enough.

I'm certainly not thrilled with everything the Eagles did, but there are some things I'm quite proud of.

The Eagles ended on a rather abrupt note, although in retrospect I realize now that it had been ending for quite some time.

I have a certain pool of subject matter that I like to write about, things that interest me: politics, religion, ecology, and relationships between men and women. And that's usually what I focus on.

Selling eight million copies of your first album will mess you up.

Playing the drums hurts my back.

Lawsuits should not be used to destroy a viable and independent distribution system. The solution lies in the marketplace and not the courtroom.

I'm not on any crusade.

I'm fortunate that I've been in this business long enough that I've earned the right to be left alone by my record company.

I could stand out front and sing Eagles songs that I sing in my set, but I think people enjoy watching me sing and play the drums. It seems to fascinate people. I don't know why.

I think my first instrument was a ukulele that they gave me. I used to know how to play that pretty well.

I don't mind doing two or three Eagles songs and playing the drums. I'm not one of those artists who's going to sit here and deny the past.

I have a bad back partially from playing the drums and singing. I used to have to hold my body in such a position that my spine got out of alignment.

I played drums on Keith Carradine's first record.

Mick Jagger can't even make a successful solo album, and the Stones are the biggest rock group that ever was.

Between each album I try to gain a new insight that I didn't have before and perhaps write a song about something that I've written about before, but from a fresh viewpoint.

Sometimes songwriters and singers forget that. They get a melody in their head and the notes will take precedence, so that they wind up forcing a word onto a melody. It doesn't ring true.

I could have played more complex stuff. I could have been a busier player. But that's not what I wanted to do. I played what I wanted to play.

Some records with drum machines on them sound phony and plastic. It all depends on how you use the tools.