Eagles – Waiting in the Weeds

About The Song

“Waiting in the Weeds” is a lengthy ballad clocking in at 7 minutes and 46 seconds, featured as track 7 on disc one of the Eagles’ seventh studio album, Long Road Out of Eden. The double album was released on October 30, 2007, by Eagles Recording Company II, initially distributed exclusively through Wal-Mart and the band’s website before wider availability. It marked the band’s first collection of entirely new studio material since The Long Run in 1979, following a 28-year gap.

The song was written by Don Henley and touring guitarist Steuart Smith, with lead vocals by Henley. Smith also contributed prominent mandolin and guitar parts. Production credits for the album went to the Eagles collectively, along with touring members Steuart Smith, Richard F.W. Davis, and Scott Crago. Recording spanned several years starting around 2001, reflecting the band’s deliberate pace after their 1994 reunion.

Long Road Out of Eden debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, selling over 711,000 copies in its first week in the United States, and eventually earned 7× Platinum certification from the RIAA. It produced singles like “How Long” (which won a Grammy for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group) and “Busy Being Fabulous.” The album received four Grammy nominations in 2009, including Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for “Waiting in the Weeds.”

Although not released as a single, “Waiting in the Weeds” did not chart on Billboard lists. However, it became a highlight in the band’s live performances during the supporting world tour, which extended into multiple years and grossed significantly. Bassist Timothy B. Schmit has cited it as one of his favorites to perform live, describing it as a “sweet song” and a “jewel of the album.”

The track features lush orchestration, Beach Boys-inspired harmonies, and a building arrangement that complements its reflective lyrics. Henley has explained that while the song appears as a love story on the surface, it also serves as an allegory for the band’s long hiatus and patient return, “waiting for some of this bad music to die down” before re-entering the scene.

Long Road Out of Eden was the final Eagles album to feature Glenn Frey before his passing in 2016. The lineup at the time included Frey, Henley, Joe Walsh, and Timothy B. Schmit, with Steuart Smith handling much of the guitar work in place of the departed Don Felder.

Video

Lyric

It’s coming on the end of August
Another summer’s promise almost gone
And though I heard some wise man say
That every dog will have his day
He never mentioned that these dog days get so long
I don’t know when I realized the dream was over
Well, there was no particular hour, no given day
You know, it didn’t go down in flame
There was no final scene, no frozen frame
I just watched it slowly fade away

And I’ve been waiting in the weeds
Waiting for my time to come around again and
Hope is floating on the breeze
Carrying my soul high up above the ground and
I’ve been keepin’ to myself
Knowin’ that the seasons are slowly changing
Even though you’re with somebody else
He’ll never love you like I do

I’ve been biding time with crows and sparrows
While peacocks prance and strut upon the stage
If finding love is just a dance
Proximity and chance
You will excuse me if I skip the masquerade

And I’ve been waiting in the weeds
Waiting for the dust to settle down along the
Back roads running through the fields
Lying on the outskirts of this lonesome town
And I imagine sunlight in your hair
You’re at the county fair
You’re holding hands and laughing
And now the ferris-wheel has stopped
You’re swinging on the top
Suspended there with him
And he’s the darling of the chic
The flavor of the week is melting
Down your pretty summer dress
Baby, what a mess you’re making

I’ve been stumbling through some dark places
Now I’m following the plow
I know I’ve fallen out of your good graces
It’s alright now

And I’ve been waiting in the weeds
Waiting for the summer rain to fall upon the
Wild birds scattering the seeds
Answering the calling of the tide’s eternal tune
The phases of the moon
The chambers of the heart
The egg and dart
Of small gray spiders spinning in the dark
In spite of all the times the web is torn apart

And I’ve been waiting in the weeds
Waiting for my time to come around again and
Hope is floating on the breeze
Carrying my soul high up above the ground and
I’ve been keepin’ to myself
Knowin’ that the seasons are slowly changing
Even though you’re with somebody else
He’ll never love you like I do