Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about music and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the movie urban legends featured so far.
MUSIC URBAN LEGEND: Don Henley wrote “The Last Worthless Evening” about Michelle Pfeiffer.
In 1989, Don Henley had himself one heck of a career boost with his third solo album, End of the Innocence, which contained three Top 40 singles.
The title track, “End of the Innocence,” plus “The Heart of the Matter” and “The Last Worthless Evening” (it also had a fourth single nearly make the top 40, “New York Minute”)…
The song is about Henley telling a woman that she should be with him and if she does, she will no longer spend any more “worthless evenings”. Here is the first verse:
I know you broke up with him
And your heart’s still on the shelf
It’s been over two years for me
And I’m still not quite myselfYou can’t be with someone new
And you can’t go back to him
You’re beginning to realize
That it’s sink or swimI see you around sometimes
And my heart just melts
You’re lookin’ like if you had your wish
You’d be somewhere elseAnd it just breaks my heart
To see you here this way
Someday I’ll get the nerve
To walk up to you and sayThis is the last worthless evening
That you’ll have to spend
Just gimme a chance
To show you how to love again
The longtime rumor is that the song is about famed movie star Michelle Pfeiffer. Is that true?
Continue reading “Was Michelle Pfeiffer Really the Inspiration for Don Henley’s “The Last Worthless Evening”?”