Red Sox Fans Can't Hide Their Lyin' Eyes

Did you know the Eagles' song "Lyin' Eyes" is about the Boston Red Sox?

You don't buy that, huh?

Well, the song did reach Number 2 on the Billboard chart in October 1975, a month when the Red Sox were in the World Series, complete with the legendary Game Six when Carlton Fisk did the Fenway Twist.

You still don't believe me?

Okay, check out the lyrics:

City girls just seem to find out early

The city, of course, is Boston.

how to open doors with just a smile.

Could be defined as charming the ticket vendors. Or maybe the scalpers.

A rich old man, and she won't have to worry.
She'll dress up all in lace and go in style.

The rich old man is Tom Yawkey.

But late at night, her big old house gets lonely.

Probably a townhouse on Beacon Hill. Or maybe a bed-and-breakfast in Allston.

I guess every form of refuge has its price.

Yes, even baseball.

And it breaks her heart to think her love is only
given to a man with hands as cold as ice.

Not sure who this could be – it's been a while since I posted this anywhere. I came up with this theory while Ted Williams was still alive, well before the infamous cold storage of his remains, so it didn’t refer to that. Maybe it was how Ted could be cold with the press. Or maybe it’s a husband, or boyfriend, who doesn't like baseball. In Boston, that’s a rarer thing than someone who admits to voting for that turkey Scott Brown.

So she tells him she must go out for the evening
to comfort an old friend who's feelin' down.

Johnny Pesky, perhaps?

But he knows where she's goin' as she's leavin':
She is headed for the cheatin' side of town.

Kenmore Square.

On the other side of town her boy is waiting
with fiery eyes and dreams no one could steal.

Damn, that's a great line. Being 1975, this boy cannot be Ted, or Harry Agganis, or Carl Yastrzemski, or even Tony Conigliaro. It’s got to be either Fisk or Fred Lynn. Being Boston and being 1975, there ain’t no way this white girl is going to make Jim Rice "her boy."

She drives on through the night anticipating,
'cause he makes her feel the way she used to feel.

She drives on, and on, and on, because, well, have you ever seen traffic in Boston? She may be pretty, but it ain't.

She rushes to his arms, they fall together.
She whispers that it's only for a while.

She knows the Sox will blow it in the end. The only times when they don't blow it is when they don't get close enough to blow it.

She swears that soon she'll be comin' back forever.

Someday, they will win the World Series. She’s sure of it. If only she knew...

She pulls away and leaves him with a smile.

If only she knew it was all a sham.

She gets up and pours herself a strong one.

In 1975, we're led to believe, Sam Malone was still pitching for the Sox, so she's not going to Cheers to get it poured for her. Maybe the Eliot Lounge, or maybe The Fours.

And stares out at the stars up in the sky.
Another night, it's gonna be a long one.
She draws the shade and hangs her head to cry.

More like it's gonna be a long off-season. Isn't it always?

She wonders how it ever got this crazy.

It got this crazy because some boy you liked said, "I like the Red Sox, how about you?" and you said, "Sure!" and none of your girlfriends said, "Wait a minute."

She thinks about a boy she knew in school.

Now, this could be Tony C, or Yaz, or Agganis.

Did she get tired or did she just get lazy?

We’re talking about the Red Sox, so this could go either way.

She's so far gone, she feels just like a fool.

No explanation necessary.

My, oh my, you sure know how to arrange things.
You set it up so well, so carefully.

She figures out how to drive to Fenway, where to park, how to get her tickets, when to get up and leave for… I don’t know, does Fenway even have women's restrooms?

Ain't it funny how your new life didn't change things.

Foreshadowing of finding out that what happened in 2004 and 2007 was fake? That they still haven't, really, won the World Series since 1918?

You're still the same old girl you used to be.

And you can't hide your lyin' eyes.
And your smile is a thin disguise.
I thought by now you'd realize
there ain't no way to hide your lyin' eyes.
There ain't no way to hide your lyin' eyes.
Honey, you can't hide your lyin' eyes.

So, what do you think? Is this song about the Red Sox?

Okay, Glenn Frey's from Michigan and a Detroit Tigers fan. But the words do seem to fit, don't they?

Maybe someday, I’ll tell you how "Stairway to Heaven" is about the 1969 Mets.

Maybe not.

*

UPDATE: On October 3, 2014, with the New England Patriots struggling and Tom Brady not getting the job done early in the season, the author of the blog Obnoxious Boston Fan suggested that David Bowie's 1st hit, "Space Oddity," is about the 2014 Pats. He makes an interesting case, although it's a lot funnier if you're not from New England.

Glenn Frey was the 1st member of The Eagles to die, on January 18, 2016. He was 67, had been suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, and the (legal prescription) drugs he had to take for it gave him colitis and bouts of pneumonia.

He died at Columbia University Medical Center -- the hospital built on the site of Hilltop Park, the 1st home of the Yankees. In 1904, that park's most famous game was played, as the Yankees (then known as the New York Highlanders) needed to sweep a doubleheader from the Red Sox (then known as the Boston Americans) to win the Pennant, but a Jack Chesbro wild pitch in the 9th inning gave Boston the game and the Pennant.

Granted, this was before the real Yankees-Red Sox rivalry began, and long before Frey, let alone rock and roll, was born. Still, it's one heck of a turn of events.