The Final 3 Songs Glenn Frey Wrote Solo for the Eagles

It would be 30 years before the Eagles released another album following their sixth album, The Long Run, in 1979. After reuniting in 1994 and touring again, by the early 2000s, the Eagles started working on their seventh release, and their first double album, Long Road Out of Eden.

Throughout the album, Glenn Frey and Don Henley took their respective places writing tracks “Busy Being Fabulous,” “What Do I Do with My Heart,” “Fast Company,” among other songs together. Frey also penned three songs solo, which would become his final songs for the Eagles before his death in 2016.

Long before Long Road Out of Eden, Frey wrote two songs solo for the band on their 1972 debut Eagles, including “Chug All Night,” which features him on lead vocals. His second, solo contribution to Eagles was sung by Randy Meisner, the heartfelt ballad “Most of Us Are Sad.”

Videos by American Songwriter

GettyImages-80972193
INDIO, CA – MAY 02: Musician Glenn Frey of the Eagles performs during day 1 of Stagecoach, California’s Country Music Festival held at the Empire Polo Field on May 2, 2008 in Indio, California. (Photo by Karl Walter/Getty Images)

Released October 30, 2007, Long Road Out of Eden went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200, Country, and Rock charts.

In 2012, Frey released his fifth and final solo album, After Hours, and continued touring with the Eagles through 2015. Bookending his extensive songbook with the Eagles, and from the first songs he wrote solo on their debut to the last, here’s a look back at the last three songs Frey penned on his own for the band.

[RELATED: 5 Songs You Didn’t Know Glenn Frey Wrote Solo for the Eagles]

“No More Cloudy Days”


The first song written by Frey on Long Road Out of Eden, “No More Cloudy Days,” centered around the loss of love and the hope of finding it again one day. “I wrote that after I listened to David Gray’s album, the album that had ‘Babylon’ on,” Frey told Undercover in 2005. “It was the first big album for him. I was listening to that song and just started thinking about that kind of style. He was a little bit of the inspiration for that tune.”

Sitting by a foggy window
Staring at the pouring rain
Falling down like lonely teardrops
Memories of love in vain
These cloudy days
Make you want to cry

It breaks your heart when someone leaves
And you don’t know why
I can see that you’ve been hurting
Baby, I’ve been lonely too

I’ve been out here lost and searching
Looking for a girl like you
Now I believe the sun is gonna shine
Don’t you be afraid to love again
Put your hand in mine, baby

“You Are Not Alone”

A more personal song for Frey, “You Are Not Alone,” was written for his firstborn child, daughter Taylor, who was going through a difficult time. Written as a letter from a father to his child, the lyrics emphasize his presence during her hardship.

“[My teenage daughter Taylor] was going through a tough patch, and sometimes you can say in a song what you can’t in a sit-down conversation,” said Frey “I was thinking about how alienated and isolated a lot of kids feel.”

Say goodbye to all your pain and sorrow
Say goodbye to all those lonely nights
Say goodbye to all your blue tomorrows
Now you’re standing in the light

I know sometimes you feel so helpless
Sometimes you feel like you can’t win
Sometimes you feel so isolated
You’ll never have to feel that way again

You are not alone
You’re not alone

“I Dreamed There Was No War” (Instrumental)

Following the opening title track on side two of Long Road Out of Eden is Frey’s third solo-composed piece, “I Dreamed There Was No War,” and the only instrumental on the album.

“I thought, ‘Gosh, what song can follow that?’” said Frey of the instrumental. “We needed a link to clear your mind, the equivalent of looking at a sailboat or trees. I wrote this piece around the time of our Millennium show. I always wanted to do something with Stratocaster and orchestra.”

Photo: Adam Bettcher/WireImage for Starkey Hearing Foundation