"Lyin' Eyes" is a song written by

Don Henley Donald Hugh Henley (born July 22, 1947) is an American musician who is a founding member of the rock band the Eagles, for whom he is the drummer and co-lead vocalist, as well as its sole continuous member. Henley sang the lead vocals on Eagles ...

and

Glenn Frey Glenn Lewis Frey (; November 6, 1948 – January 18, 2016) was an American musician. He was a founding member of the rock band Eagles, for whom he was the co-lead singer and frontman, roles he came to share with fellow member Don Henley, with ...

and recorded in 1975 by the American rock band

Eagles Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

, with Frey singing lead vocals. It was the second single from their album '' One of These Nights'', reaching No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and No. 8 on the ''Billboard''

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

chart. It remained their only top 40 country hit until " How Long" in 2007–2008. The Eagles received a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus for "Lyin' Eyes", and were nominated for

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without re ...

Background and writing

The title and idea for the song came when Glenn Frey and Don Henley were in their favorite Los Angeles restaurant/bar Dan Tana's, which was frequented by many beautiful women, and they started talking about beautiful women who were cheating on their husbands. They saw a beautiful young woman with a fat and much older wealthy man, and Frey said: "She can't even hide those lyin' eyes." According to Henley, Frey was the main writer of the song, although he had some input with the verses and the music. The song was written when Frey and Henley were sharing a house in Trousdale, Beverly Hills. Frey said of the writing of the song that "the story had always been there. I don't want to say it wrote itself, but once we started working on it, there were no sticking points. Lyrics just kept coming out, and that's not always the way songs get written." "Lyin' Eyes" is the only song on the '' One of These Nights'' album that Frey sang solo lead on (he shared lead vocals with Henley on "After the Thrill Is Gone"). The song was released as the second single from the album and reached No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, behind “ Island Girl” by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

. "Lyin' Eyes" also crossed over to the Country chart where it reached No. 8, their first on that chart and a feat few rock bands could have achieved at that time.

Critical reception

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' described the song as "a country flavored story of a girl who drives across town daily to meet someone a bit more suited to her than the one she lives with," and praised the instrumentals and harmony vocals. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that "the instrumentation is lightly acoustic, with a sobbing pedal steel lacing together the plaintive lead vocal and chorus" and mentioned "the Eagles' uncanny talent for fitting hit-making riffs together." ''Billboard'' and ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' both ranked "Lyin' Eyes" as the Eagles' seventh-greatest song.

Covers

Among the many covers of "Lyin' Eyes" are

Lynn Anderson Lynn René Anderson (September 26, 1947 – July 30, 2015) was an American country singer and television personality. Her crossover signature recording, " Rose Garden", was a number one hit internationally. She also charted five number one ...

's 1976 recording and Kenny Rankin's 1980 version on his ''After The Roses'' album.

Diamond Rio Diamond Rio is an American country music band from Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of Marty Roe (lead vocals, guitar), Jimmy Olander (lead guitar, banjo), Dan Truman (keyboards), Dana Williams (bass guitar, vocals), Micah Schweinsberg ( ...

also covered the song on the 1993 compilation '' Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles.''

Personnel

– lead vocals, acoustic guitar *

Don Felder Donald William Felder (born September 21, 1947) is an American musician who was the lead guitarist of the rock band Eagles from 1974 to 2001. He is known for co-writing several of the band's songs, most notably "Hotel California". Felder was in ...

– acoustic guitar *

Bernie Leadon Bernard Matthew Leadon III ( ; born July 19, 1947) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Eagles, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Prior to the Eagles, he was a member of thr ...

– lead guitar,

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

, backing vocals *

Randy Meisner Randall Herman Meisner (March 8, 1946 – July 26, 2023) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and founding member of both Eagles and Poco. Throughout his professional musical career, both as group member and session musician, his main r ...

– bass, backing vocals *

– drums, percussion, harmony and backing vocals Additional musician * Jim Ed Norman – piano

Charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 1975 singles 1993 singles Eagles (band) songs Diamond Rio songs Rock ballads Pop ballads Songs about infidelity Songs written by Don Henley Songs written by Glenn Frey Asylum Records singles Song recordings produced by Bill Szymczyk 1975 songs