My 100 Favorite Charted Pop Songs: The Heart of the Matter

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If you think it’s odd that North Carolina suffered worse damage than Florida with Helene, it’s not unusual: 1969’s Camille killed 253 people, 150 of which were in Virginia, some 800 miles from the storm’s landfall. That’s your weather history lesson for the day. Here’s today’s song on my rock half of the twin lists of favorite songs to make the Billboard charts. The Heart of the Matter - Don Henley John David Souther died earlier this month. I mention that because he co-wrote this song. I don’t want a bigger gut punch in music this year than that one. While you may know J.D. Souther for one hit (“You’re Only Lonely”…remember that song….), here’s a little fun fact: of the five #1 songs the Eagles had in their career, Souther co-wrote three of them (“Best of My Love,” “New Kid in Town,” and “Heartache Tonight”). Oh, and he was Linda Ronstadt’s boyfriend at one time, so he had a pretty good life for a “one-hit wonder.” Back to Heartbreaker Mike Campbell (who co-wrote the other Henley song on this list, “The Boys of Summer”). He wrote the music and gave it to Henley, who worked on the lyrics with Souther. Wow, it could’ve been Don Henley and the Heartbreakers! While this song didn’t do that well, comparatively speaking, on the charts, it’s remained one of Henley’s go-to songs. His delivery is flawless, and those pain-filled lyrics (“how can love survive in such a graceless age”) are spectacular. In fact, the worst thing about this is the video. I don’t know WHAT possessed Henley to let his hair grow long, but he needs to leave that to the southern rockers. The Heart of the Matter Written by Don Henley, J.D. Souther, and Mike Campbell Recorded by Don Henley From The End of the Innocence, 1989 Peak chart position: #21 Today’s country song: “Don’t Let Me Cross Over” There’s a yearning undefined: