Haines Falls
April 3, 2022
Seems I am in a nostalgic mood these days. From 1972. I did not really appreciate the meaning of this sone until the past few years. One of my all-time favorites. Joe Walsh added something to the Eagles but the best lineup was the original one with Berne Leadon.
The story behind the song:
Peaceful Easy Feeling is the third single from the Eagles’ self-titled debut album of 1972. It was written by the San Diego-based singer-songwriter Jack Tempchin, after a failed attempt to hook up (1972 meaning, I assume) with a waitress who left and never came back.
As Tempchin had no means to get home, he crashed on the club floor to get some shuteye but couldn’t sleep, so he grabbed his guitar to kill time and composed the song, with the lyrics written on the back of a flyer. After finishing the song in various stages, he headed to Los Angeles to hang out at the Troubadour with Glenn Frey, Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, and various rising stars of the West Coast scene.
Tempchin was staying with Browne when Frey arrived one day to him playing the song. He made a cassette recording and gave it to Frey, who returned the next day with a demo he had whipped up with Linda Ronstadt’s backing band, who became the future Eagles.
The song sings tells the story about a love that’s going well but isn’t probably for keeps, but the character says it’s okay as he has a “peaceful, easy feeling” that won’t be spoiled by anybody. “Peaceful Easy Feeling” was completed by Tempchin at the Der Wienerschnitzel restaurant in San Diego while waiting for his order, so the mayor of San Diego, Jerry Sanders, declared December 1 as Peaceful Easy Feeling day in 2012 to commemorate the song’s 40th anniversary. The said ceremony was held at the restaurant, with the table Tempchin wrote it on being marked with a plaque.
Tempchin received a golden wiener for it as well, proudly declaring to Songfacts: “Lots of people have Grammys. But they don’t have a solid gold wiener.”
I get a kick out of reading people's interpretations of songs on www.sonmeanings.com. For example:
It might be a new love or one that is getting stronger, but no matter what, it is while things are good and look to be getting better. The whole point of not being let down and already being on the ground, is that he isn't letting himself get high expectations or let himself get too close. Relationships in the past have hurt him so deeply that he doesn't let his guard down. He enjoys her, he thinks there might be a future, but the voice and past history tell him to stay unattached.
It is a love song, yes, but it is more about protecting yourself from rushing in emotionally. You never know when it might turn, and you might not see them again. Those who have been hurt enough by strong relationships failing can make the most sense of these lyrics. You want to get close to someone again, to fall in love... but you don't let yourself so you don't get let down... you stay grounded.
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