10 Classic Songs About How The Music Industry Sucks

The music business is not the best occupation for career centered artists. The industry is known to spit out people left and right, and you can go from the biggest acts in the world to not even having a fanbase within the span of a few months. The Eagles were all too aware of the beast though, and New Kid in Town is a look at the old guard looking at where they’ll be.

While The Eagles had been hustling in the California rock scene for almost a decade before making Hotel California, this song sounds like it’s being sung by someone who’s lived through different lifetimes of rock and roll. Going through his life, Glenn Frey paints a beautiful picture of what life as a rock star is really like, going from the hottest band in town to becoming global superstars. Even though you have more riches than you know what to do with, Frey doesn’t seem to see his rock star status as a good thing, talking about how your old friends tend to feel like strangers, either keeping you at arm’s length or trying to exploit you just because of your relationship to them.

Once you get to the final verses though, you start to see where this new kid ends up, settling down with a girl and noticing the other new kids that have come to take his place. He has to choose whether to bow out gracefully or try his hand at sounding current again. Bands might be looking to build their legacy, but in the world of rock and roll, you’re only as good as what you did two months ago.