When I read yesterday that Glenn Frey from the band the Eagles had passed away, I was instantly taken back to my room in high school, trying to figure out 12th grade calculus. My oldest brother had gotten me hooked on the Eagles Live album years earlier and I would play the cassette tape over and over while I tried to figure out why the answer I came up with to a particular question didn’t line up with the one listed in the answer key.
The homework was pure hell for me, I always seemed to lag behind everyone else, but I was determined to keep up in class. I rushed home from cross country practice and stayed up well into the night, hunched over the little desk in my room, going over problem after problem.
Don Henley and Glenn Frey kept me company those long nights, warning me to watch out for the Queen of Diamonds and how “she’ll beat you if she’s able” and how the “Queen of Hearts is always your best bet.”
I never really got the handle on calculus, but came away with Henley’s and Frey’s haunting lyrics and melodies deep inside my heart and soul. I learned that when problems came up I needed to “take it easy” and “don’t let the sound of your own wheels make you crazy.”
I learned too what a difference great music can have on your life.
Thank you Glenn Frey. Rest in peace.
Writing from the Heart with Brian 