About The Song
“Business As Usual” is a track by the American rock band Eagles, appearing as the seventh song on disc two of their seventh studio album, Long Road Out of Eden. The double-disc album was released on October 30, 2007, by Lost Highway Records in partnership with Eagles Recording Company II, marking the band’s first full studio release in 28 years since The Long Run in 1979. Recording sessions occurred intermittently from 2001 to 2007, following the 2001 dismissal of guitarist Don Felder amid ongoing internal conflicts. The Eagles self-produced the project, with Glenn Frey and Don Henley taking leading roles, supported by engineer Richard Davis and additional players including Scott Crago on drums and Steuart Smith on guitar and other instruments. Long Road Out of Eden debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling over 711,000 copies in its first week despite exclusive initial US distribution through Walmart, Sam’s Club, and the band’s website—a tactic that resulted in a temporary Billboard policy change. It earned 7× Platinum certification from the RIAA for 3.5 million units shipped and reached number one in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Norway. The album received two Grammy Awards: Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for “How Long” and Best Pop Instrumental Performance for “I Dreamed There Was No War.”
“Business As Usual” was not released as a single and did not chart individually on Billboard lists. Album singles included “How Long” (number 23 on Hot Country Songs, number 101 on Hot 100) and “Busy Being Fabulous” (number 28 on Hot Country Songs, number 12 on Adult Contemporary). The song runs 5:31 in duration and features Don Henley on lead vocals with band harmonies. Songwriting credits are shared by Don Henley and touring guitarist Steuart Smith. The track stands out for its pointed critique of consumerism, environmental neglect, and societal complacency, portraying a world where exploitation continues unabated (“business as usual”) despite evident problems like climate change, media denial, and moral erosion. Henley, known for his environmental activism through the Walden Woods Project, infuses the lyrics with frustration over humanity’s prioritization of profit and convenience over sustainability and grace.
Musically, “Business As Usual” is a mid-tempo rock song with a brooding, atmospheric arrangement featuring electric guitars, keyboards, and a steady rhythm section. Henley’s world-weary vocal delivery emphasizes the cynical tone, with lines like “We’re burning time, bleeding grace / Still we worship at the marketplace” and “Business as usual turns your heart into wood” highlighting themes of desensitization and arrogance. The chorus repeats the title phrase as a resigned indictment of ongoing destructive patterns, while verses reference denial of weather/news issues, soul-sucking routines, and hypocritical power structures (“The main jefe talks about our freedom / But this is what he really means… Business as usual”). This positions the song as one of the album’s more direct social commentaries, similar to “Frail Grasp on the Big Picture,” contrasting with lighter or more personal tracks.
The track fits within the Eagles’ mature post-reunion phase after the 1994 Hell Freezes Over tour, amid lineup challenges and a renewed emphasis on recording new material following years of touring. In retrospect, Long Road Out of Eden became the final studio album featuring Glenn Frey, who passed away in 2016. Sources like Wikipedia, Genius, and album reviews describe it as a critique of American capitalism and market worship, with Henley’s lyrics reflecting broader concerns about societal decline. While not a commercial focus, the song adds thematic depth to the project’s narrative of introspection, warning, and reflection, underscoring the band’s continued willingness to address contemporary issues through their signature rock style in their later career stage.
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Lyric
Look at the weather, look at the news
Look at all the people in denial
We’re burning time, bleeding grace
Still we worship at the marketplaceBusiness as usual turns your heart into wood
Monuments to arrogance reach for the sky
Our better nature’s buried in the rubble
Of the dreams we left behindBusiness as usual day after day
Business as usual just grinding awayYou try to be righteous, try to be good
But the soul-suckin’ world is misunderstood
The main jefe talks about our freedom
But this is what he really means…Business as usual how dirty we play
Business as usual don’t you get in the way
Yeah, make you feel helpless
Make you feel like a clown
Business as usualSoul suckin’, soul suckin’ world
Business as usual day after day
Business as usual feel like walking away