
He doesn’t know why they sought something more in other people and there isn’t a sense that this is one person’s fault. Something inside of them made them look beyond each other’s contentment and “beg” for something more. What are these voices outside love's open door The lyrics unfold poetically describing the break-up.

The first verse starts with a phone call from a friend that informs Henley that his passed love has found someone new. “The Heart of the Matter” is a monologue with Henley speaking to himself about his feelings about a love that he has lost. Souther wrote “The Heart of the Matter” for Henley’s third solo album The End of the Innocence in 1989. With their mix of rock, folk and country the Eagles reflected the joy of the American experience with songs like “Take It Easy” and darkness of the American soul with “Hotel California.” Henley with the momentum of the Eagles started a solo career and along with writing partners, Mike Campbell and J. Don Henley’s “The Heart of the Matter” examines forgiveness in a personal and meaningful way that challenges us to reexamine the feelings in our hearts arguing that though it’s impossible to forget, forgiveness lies within ourselves.ĭon Henley became popular as a member of the Eagles, the most successful recording artists of the 1970s maintaining two albums in the top 10 selling albums of all time.

However, few songs examine forgiveness, the final step in the break-up that in many ways is the hardest.


Our popular culture has thoroughly examined almost every facet of love including the first kiss, falling in love, the sexual expression of love and the circumstances and aftermath of break-ups. If forgiveness is not only an act of excusing mistakes but also an act of renouncing our anger than in forgiveness we are not only acting to change the way other people feel but also to effect our own feelings. Maybe it’s because of how she not only disrespected me but also my wife, and maybe it’s because she let me down as a friend. I would like to think that I’m a person who is above holding grudges however one person comes to mind that I have yet to forgive for something she did over four years ago.
