#187) "The Heart of the Matter" by Don Henley - A candidate for the "They Don't Write 'Em Like This Anymore" Hall of Fame (at least not with any hope of scoring a Top 40 hit), "The Heart of the Matter" might in some ways be considered the swan song to Henley's career (at least the commercially successful portion of it). But in my opinion, outside of perhaps "The Boys of Summer" (which it could be said is in a class by itself), it's also the most shining example of his contribution to pop music overall, a deserving paradigm for the whole Eagles/Don Henley/California rock vibe.
Inasmuch as any of us bother to cobble together music on playlists in hopes of creating the soundtrack of our lives, to whatever extent we assign certain songs a vaunted status and believe we very well could have written them ourselves, the message of this song is the universally held last word for all people everywhere. When the dust has settled from our trials and tribulations, our grand gestures and bitter disappointments, our hey days and hurt feelings, our back stabbing and stabs at glory, it is forgiveness - rather than love - that holds, and will hold, the universe together.
"I've been trying to get down to the heart of the matter / Because the flesh will get weak, and the ashes will scatter..."
#188) "Tush" by ZZ Top - On the other hand, there is a certain "last word" evident in this song too. In the end, each and every one of us is searching for, and/or craving, the profound emotional and psychological depths made accessible by physical contact with others, which, make no mistake, are present - the driving force - in even the seediest one night stand. In other words, every sexual encounter, even the dirty ones, and whether we realize it, is as much a matter of psychological gratification as it is physical.
In any case, I MUCH prefer this version of ZZ Top (from 1975) to the half-baked ZZ Top I grew up with in the early days of MTV. "Legs" (for instance) is for my money among the lamest rock songs (and dumbest videos) ever.
Whereas "Tush" still tears it up, all these years later. Not a lot of this on Top 40 radio anymore either, and that's too bad.
"I've been bad, I've been good / Dallas, Texas, Hollywood / I ain't asking for much..."
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Seriously, "Legs" might one day kick off the list of Top 100 songs I absolutely will NOT be taking with me on 1/48/50...;-)
