Pundits and pooh-bahs throughout the nation are struggling to explain the excitement generated by this summer's Eagles reunion tour. What is it about a group of California cowboys popular during the Ford and Carter administrations that speaks across the gulf of years to the children of the Clinton era? Is it that we lack anyone with that twangin' post-Byrds sardonic sound? No, we have the Gin Blossoms. Is it that we lack a defining symbol of the California dream? No, we have the Chili Peppers. Is it that we lack our own hardeyed, tight-lipped lady-killing icons? No, we have the guys in the jeans ads. So what is it the Eagles provided that we have not been able to find elsewhere?

Poetry! To be specific--the romantic, symbolic, multi-leveled lyricism of the bard of Mullholland, Don Henley. No other writer (with the possible exceptions of Shakespeare and the the Bible authors) has so completely informed the language of an entire culture. After all, the very first Eagles single introduced into the vernacular an expression--"Take it easy"--still in common use 22 years later! Since then The Donald has ventilated the vulgate with epigrams ("We have met the enemy and his is us"), similes ("sharper than a serpent's tooth") and catch phrases ("coming apart at the seams") that seem as if they were always with us.

Henley is tied up in a lawsuit with his label which has kept him from recording since 1989's The End of the Innocence. Still, a quick listen to that album reminds us of how quickly Henley's turns of phrase find their way into everyday speech. Here is a partial list.

"Whistling past the graveyard" (If Dirt Were Dollars")
"Life goes on." (Heart of the Matter)
"The flesh gets weak" (HOM)
"Noses pressed up against the glass" (Gimme What You Got)
"The home of the brave and the land of the free." (GWYG)
"One day they're here; next day they're gone."(New York Minute)
"The wolf is always at the door"(NYM)
"Hang on tooth and nail"(NYM)
"You might fear the reaper." (Little Tin God)
"How are the mighty fallen." (LTG)
"In a blaze of glory."(LTG)
"Every day's a new day." (Shangri-La)
"Try to hold your head high."(S-L)
"It's hard to follow footprints in the shifting sand." (S-L)
"Who's gonna carry the weight of the world?"(S-L)
"It's sink or swim." (Last Worthless Evening)
"Too many tire tracks in the sands of time."(I Will Not Go Quietly)
"Stop on a dime." (IWNGQ)
"All these heroes with feet of clay."(IWNGQ)