Musical Gems - The Heart of the Matter

My wife texted the kids and I the other day and asked us what was our fondest memory.  I was thinking about this on my commute to work on the DC Metro.  I listen to my Spotify playlists when I commute and it occurred to me that many of my fond memories are involked by listening to songs that trigger memories of where I was and what I was doing at some time when the song was playing.

Music triggers something primeval.  The only thing as powerful for provolking memories for me, is when I smell certain aromas from my past.

I have a list on my Spotify account (userid: kerkphil) called "Real Gems," and I realized that I like these song just as much for the memories they prompt as I do for the quality of the voices, the playing, and the lyrics.  So I've decide to slowly introduce some of these songs.

The one I chose for today is the last song that played as I was coming home today.  It's entitled, "The Heart of the Matter," and it appeared on Don Henley's 1989 album, The End of the Innocence.

The song was written by Don Henley, Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and J. D. Souther who has been a frequent collaborator with members of the Eagles.  Mike Campbell composed the music and Henley and Souther provided the lyrics.

I got the call today, I didn't want to hear
But I knew that it would come
An old, true friend of ours was talkin' on the phone
She said you found someone
And I thought of all the bad luck
And the struggles we went through
And how I lost me and you lost you
What are those voices outside love's open door
Make us throw off our contentment
And beg for something more?

I'm learning to live without you now
But I miss you sometimes
The more I know, the less I understand,
All the things I thought I knew, I'm learning again
I've been tryin' to get down
To the heart of the matter
But my will gets weak
And my thoughts seem to scatter
But I think it's about forgiveness
Forgiveness
Even if, even if you don't love me anymore

These times are so uncertain
There's a yearning undefined
People filled with rage
We all need a little tenderness
How can love survive in such a graceless age?
Ah, the trust and self-assurance that lead to happiness
They're the very things we kill, I guess
Oh, pride and competition
Cannot fill these empty arms
And the work I put between us, you know it doesn't keep me warm

I'm learning to live with out you now
But I miss you, baby
And the more I know, the less I understand
All the things I thought I'd figured out
I have to learn again
I've been trying to get down
To the heart of the matter
But everything changes
And my friends seem to scatter
But I think it's about forgiveness
Forgiveness
Even if, even if you don't love me anymore

There are people in your life
Who've come and gone
They let you down
You know they've hurt your pride
You better put it all behind you baby
'Cause life goes on
You keep carryin' that anger
It'll eat you up inside baby

I've been trying to get down
To the heart of the matter
But my will gets weak
And my thoughts seem to scatter
But I think it's about forgiveness
Forgiveness
Even if, even if you don't love me

I've been tryin' to get down
To the heart of the matter
Because the flesh will get weak
And the ashes will scatter
So, I'm thinkin' about forgiveness
Forgiveness
Even if , even if you don't love me

Forgiveness, forgiveness, baby
Forgiveness, forgiveness
Forgiveness, forgiveness
Even if, even if you don't love me
Forgiveness, forgiveness
Forgiveness, forgiveness
Forgiveness, forgiveness

Songwriters: Mike Campbell / Don Henley / John David Souther

The Heart of the Matter lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc, Cass County Music / Wisteria Music / Privet Music

The End of the Innocence is great collection of songs, with some wonderful music.  To me the most memorable are the ballads; "The End of the Innocence", "The Last Worthless Evening", "New York Minute", and "The Heart of the Matter".  It was Henley's third solo album, coming after Building the Perfect Beast (1984) and I Can't Stand Still (1982) and it came nine years after the Eagles broke up.  It was released in late June of 1989 and I remember seeing "The Last Worthless Evening" being performed on Saturday Night Live around that time.

My memories of this song center around a cross-country trip the next summer in 1990.  I was in graduate school at the University of Rochester in upstate New York then.  I got a summer job teaching Principle of Economics at Brigham Young University where I had graduated in 1986.  We drove out to Provo from Rochester in early June and then drove back in August.  I vividly remember driving down the interstate, it must've been somewhere along I-90 in South Dakota.  We had an old tan Volvo that I'd bought just that Spring.  We had several albums on cassett tape and this was one of them.  It's near dusk. I'm driving and Yeongmi is in passenger seat. Evan (age 3) and Lynn (age 2) are strapped in their car seats in the back and the land seems flat as a pancake.  We had driven through Wyoming and stopped at Yellowstone, the Tetons, The Devil's Tower, and Mt. Rushmore on the way back.

I really like this song for the perfect marriage of melody and lyrics.  And, as Don Felder once said, Henley's voice is so good you would happily listen to him sing the phone book.  Cambell's guitar playing is perfect; not flashy, but mellow and harmonious.  Larry Klein plays bass and Stan Lynch does the drumming.

Listen to the live version above or find the studio version on Spotify and listen to that one.  Enjoy!