10 Perfect Songs That Were Written Incredibly Fast

When The Eagles walked into the studio to cut Hotel California, there was no time for messing around anymore. The past few records had some of the biggest singles of their career, and if they screwed everything up here, it would have been the moment where their career went down the tubes. Once they had newcomer Joe Walsh in tow, they ended up turning something as simple as band practice into a classic song.

Though the title Life in the Fast Lane came from a line that one of Glenn Frey's drug dealers said driving through LA, the actual song was just a spontaneous thing that Joe had played to warm up his fingers. He had had the lick for some time as just an exercise to test his dexterity, but Glenn saw something different in it, thinking it had the potential to be a hit. Rolling with the rest of the session, the one lick became the epitome of the seedy side of Hollywood, with people just trying to make their dreams come true even if it means having to get their hands dirty in the process.

It also completely tied the concept of the record up as well, balancing out the starry eyed kid in New Kid in Town with the dangers that might await him on the other side if he goes too far. So even if you are just noodling and trying out different sounds with your guitar, you always have to keep your ears open for when something wild jumps out.