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I have been listening to the Eagles since I was in high school and I have always really liked this song. But it wasn't until I had been teaching for a couple of years and a friend of a friend told me about the history lesson she most remembered from high school, that I realized the song's meaning. I just hadn't listened to the words carefully. This friend had always remembered her U.S. History lesson at Westwood High School about Manifest Destiny. Her teacher had centered it around this song. When she told me about it I sort of pretended like I knew exactly what the song was about. I went home and listened to it and checked out the lyrics. What a great lesson! Check out the lyrics for yourself. The song is available on several Eagles CDs. I have it on Hell Freezes Over. We spend an entire class breaking down each verse and trying to pull out major themes. Our test on Native American civil rights usually includes a verse from the song that students must analyze and use to explain what Manifest Destiny was all about. For you students with the curiosity and free time to get to this point in my website, I'll let you in on a little secret. The 2nd to last verse is the one I tend to put on the test most often.
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Lyrics- The Last Resort- The Eagles
She came from Providence, the one in Rhode Island
Where the old world shadows hang heavy in the air
She packed her hopes and dreams like a refugee
Just as her father came across the sea
She heard about a place people were simlin'
They spoke about the red man's way, and how they loved the land
And they came from everywhere to the Great Divide
Seeking a place to stand or a place to hide
Down in the crowded bars, out for a good time,
Can't wait to tell you all, what it's like up there
And they called it paradise I don't know why
Somebody laid the mountains low while the town got high
Then the chilly winds blew down across the desert
through the canyons of the coast, to the Malibu
Where the pretty people play, hungry for power
to light their neon way and give them things to do
Some rich men came and raped the land, nobody caught 'em
Put up a bunch of ugly boxes, and Jesus, people bought 'em
And they called it paradise, the place to be
They watched the hazy sun, sinking in the sea
You can leave it all behind and sail to Lahaina
just like the missionaries did, so many years ago
They even brought a neon sign: "Jesus is coming"
Brought the white man's burden down, Brought the white man's reign
Who will provide the grand design? What is yours and what is mine?
'Cause there is no more new frontier. We have got to make it here
We satisfy our endless needs and justify our bloody deeds,
in the name of destiny and the name of God
And you can see them there, on Sunday morning
They call it paradise, I don't know why
You call someplace paradise,
kiss it goodbye