2016-10-31 13:03:32流浪阿狗
老歌亂談(639)Take It To The Limit
此曲最初為老鷹合唱團的貝士手Randy Meisner獨自所作，但一直未能寫完。由於樂團當時正在趕錄專輯《One of These Nights》，希望同時將此曲納入，故由鼓手Don Henley及吉他手Glenn Frey共同協助將此曲完成。1975，這首《Take It To The Limit》在美國告示牌熱門100排行榜達到了第4名，同時也打進了英國排行榜 ( # 12 )。對當時的老鷹合唱團來說，這是一首非常重要及成功的歌曲，
既然此曲為Randy Meisner所主寫，由他來擔任主唱自是合情理不過了。但在1977老鷹合唱團展開「Hotel California」長時間的巡演，Randy Meisner由於胃疾復發及家庭關係有了些狀況，並表達自己其實並不喜歡站在前排成為聚光燈的焦點等等 ( 這應該有點是「屁話」，因為後來Meisner也搞「獨唱」事業，還不是要獨站前排？ )，希望Glenn Frey將此曲從演唱曲目中剔除，因而和Glenn Frey產生了爭執，倆人甚至還在後台有肢體衝突 ( 幹架啦！)。事件之後，Randy Meisner感覺在樂團中受到冷漠對待，終於在1977年9月離開了老鷹合唱團。
其實，Randy Meisner的離團，或許是忍受不了Glenn Frey以「老大」自居的作風，平平都是創團團員，而且Meisner之前是Poco的團員，Poco的前身又是Buffalo Springfield，論資歷論聲望都超過組團時的Frey多多。但由之後雙方的發展和成就，證實了Meisner的才氣還是不及Frey。Meisner離開之後不到3年，老鷹合唱團也跟著在1980解散，但又於1994重組。Meisner聽到了重組的消息後表示願意歸隊，但吃了樂團經理的閉門羹。2013，老鷹合唱團邀請Meisner參與「History of the Eagles」的世界巡迴演唱，但此時的Meisner健康狀況不佳住進了醫院，不得不予以婉拒。而且，由於酗酒及嗑藥，Meisner的財務情況也很糟，據說，他該次住院的帳單，最後還是由曾經老鷹的團友幫他付的。
人生的過程中多少都會遇到重要的抉擇，而無論結果的好壞，都已是無法重來。Randy Meisner離開「老鷹」，應該也是想再創自己事業的巔峰 ( to the limit )，而諷刺的是，若他願一直留在「老鷹」，事業才會有一波又一波的巔峰吧！
All alone at the end of the evening
And the bright lights have faded to blue.
I was thinking 'bout a woman who might have loved me
I never knew.
You know I've always been a dreamer
Spent my life runnin' 'round
And it's so hard to change
Can't seem to settle down
But the dreams I've seen lately keep on turning out
And burning out and turning out the same.
So put me on a highway and show me a sign
And take it to the limit one more time.
You can spend all your time making money,
You can spend all your love making time.
If it all fell to pieces tomorrow
Would you still be mine?
And when you're looking for your freedom
Nobody seems to care
And you can't find the door
Can't find it anywhere
When there's nothing to believe in still you're coming back,
You're running back, you're coming back for more.
So put me on a highway and show me a sign
And take it to the limit one more time.
Take it to the limit, take it to the limit
Take it to the limit one more time
Take it to the limit, take it to the limit
Take it to the limit one more time
Take it to the limit, take it to the limit
Take it to the limit one more time
Take it to the limit, take it to the limit
Take it to the limit one more time
Take it to the limit, take it to the limit
Take it to the limit one more time
Take it to the limit, take it to the limit
Take it to the limit one more time
Take it to the limit, take it to the limit
Take it to the limit one more time