My Peaceful Easy Feeling

I played in a cover band in the 70s and 80s and had to play the song every night at least once. Sometimes I hate to admit it, but I never really got sick of it! -Mike P.

I am 62 so I have been listening to the Eagles version for many years.  I realized this when I heard you Jack: the attraction and many year sustainability could be because when a man sings it every woman that likes it feels it is being sung directly to her.  It says what most women want to hear.  It is sweet, honest yet reeks of manhood and romance and a true love song. I had a cowboy friend that used to drink a little and then sing it with a band at parties… The women love him. -Cathy R.

Way back when I was still a virgin boy, my friends and I were hanging out on the second floor… me with my new girlfriend and future mother of my twin daughters. I found it very convenient at this home, as my friends parents were both blind. So……. they never came upstairs. Yes, we took advantage of that, and during a lightly stoned evening I found myself feeling something like love towards Mary.

And the part about, “I want to sleep with you in the desert with a billion stars around…” appealed to my imagination of what love should be like; and I do mean how true love has some mystical connection with nature and the universe; I love the imagery. Keep the hits comin’ old boy. -Anon

It’s been a year…

Cathy you left us but we still see you. Mrs. Caron will always be there.   The lives you touched and the hearts you made friends with will never be replaced.  Jim made a few changes since your passing. Jim retired.  After 38 years, Mr. Caron said it’s time. Cathy and Jim have an extensive collection of bears. Mrs. Caron was quite adept at getting those bears out of those machines for a buck.  It is interesting in that this memorandum was written during multiple plays of The Eagles ‘Peaceful Easy Feeling’ on youtube. Jim always did like to play songs over and over again. I could write more, but it becomes time to go. I will see you again.

Love always,

Jim C.

Peaceful Easy Feeling… Or always look at the bright side of life, right? <grin>  It is an honor to write to you, Mr. Tempchin! I enjoy your Facebook posts and music and I so appreciate those.  Thank you for the music and for sharing your talents and gifts all of these years. 

I’m Teri B…  I’m neurologically impaired but I prefer to think of myself as “gifted” or actually “blessed” like you. <smile>  And it’s taken me a very long time to learn, that since my small stroke over 2 years ago now that if I maintain a “peaceful easy feeling”, I can keep myself out of pain because anything less than a peaceful easy feeling brings pain into my body and mind (specifically the left hand side of my brain) and spirit.  Music calms me… your music, music from and by the Eagles, Jackson Browne, Glen Frey, Don Henley, Alan Jackson, Carley Simon, Dire Straits, Elvis Costello, James Taylor… are you sensing the theme here?  <grin>  And if I don’t find the song or the words I need, I write them myself.  I think we need to bring the 70’s back, Mr. Tempchin.

“SLOW DANCING”  Isn’t that a song every woman wants a man to give to her?  ::sigh::  How many people know you wrote that?  Maybe someday some day you’ll see my lyrics or hear one of my songs; we write similarly, but I still have so much to learn and I need to be patient but at least… it’s a Peaceful Easy Feeling.  And I thank you for that.   You are blessed. <smile> -Teri B.

At the Ace drive-in movie, with the radio on and Peaceful Easy Feeling playing on KPRI - the guy I was dating remarked he wasn’t a big Eagles’ fan. So I remarked “Anyone who doesn’t love this song and the Eagles probably isn’t worth my time.” I was a very pretty girl so I’m sure every time he hears that song on the radio he remembers me and my Peaceful, Easy Feeling! -Kathy K.

It was a wonderful trip.  Late summer that year, 1972.  My world at that time was limited to the places where I lived, and the very few places I had been in my life.  But it was my summer, the summer of my first big trip.  The summer of my whitewater adventure down the Colorado River with a couple of my pals.  It was also the year that the Eagles came out with one of many of their great hits, “Peaceful Easy Feeling”, a song on an 8 track we played all the way from Ohio to Paige, Arizona; over & over again.  The world I new were the bright lights, of the big city, and the quite of a small town.  But that was about to change.  The drive all the way there, was as important as the excitement of the raging Colorado River.  Good friends at an age, where we still have whole world ahead of us. The anticipation & excitement built as we arrived to our destination.  We could hardly wait for the morning to arrive so we could be down the river on our 180 mile trek through the Grand Canyon.  The night before was drinking beer, playing pool, talking to the locals, and looking at the girls we were to shy to meet.  We were up at the break of dawn, and despite only a couple hours sleep, were wide awake in anticipation and full of energy.  It was a wonderful adventure that exceeded our expectations.  The rapids were thrilling, the view was picturesque, and the adventure was incredible.  I recall one night of our 7 day adventure just laying back and looking at the sky.  We were far from any artificial lights, and the sky was so bright with the moon & stars you felt you could reach out and touch them.  I recall sitting with my back to a rock, my eyes reaching to the sky, and singing, “I’ve got a Peaceful, Easy, Feeling”……    To this day, it is absolutely the most incredible song I’ve ever heard.  The most fun song to  play on my guitar, and a great song to sing.  It puts my heart at ease, and just makes me feel good……..indeed, that “Peaceful, Easy Feeling”, is still with me today, and as important to my life as the friends I was with that incredible summer.  Thank you, Jack Tempchin.  Thank you, Eagles. -‘Giddyup’ Dave B.

I consider this to be the quintessential song of the 1970s.  ”California Dreamin’” for the ’60s.  Maybe “Over the Rainbow,” ’30s; “Ghost Riders,” ’40s.  ‘Nuff said.  Probably sez more about me than about the culture or the art…  I just consider it to have been a special pleasure and privilege to have heard it around a campfire a year or two before it was a hit. -Dennis D. 

I don’t know if my “Peaceful Easy Feeling” is worth telling. I first heard it after my first wife bought the album in ‘72. Bless her, the one thing she gave me was an eclectic love of music. There was a new album every day at our $103/month flat. We easily spent more on records than all other things combined!

Anyway, I took to the album, and especially the song, right away, even to the point of secretly singing it in private. After my marriage failed (surprise!), I would sing it to any girl who would listen. I knew it by heart, not just the words, but the subtleties and context of the melody. I actually sang it pretty good.

Fast forward to the 21st Century. As an empty nested 50 something, I discovered a new fad called karaoke. At first, I started singing Gary Allan songs, but as time went by, I reached into my past and started singing the pop from the 60’s and 70’s. I tried to recreate the feel (within myself) I had experienced while sitting around with my first wife in our shabby apartment. 

Not being much of a Believer, it has become the closest thing to a religious experience I have ever known. It’s hard to describe, but I feel so uplifted when doing this, and  I become overwhelmed with the need to bring the audience in to share it with me. I think it’s this sense of urgency that has connected me more with audiences than your usual karaoke singer.

Anyway, “Peaceful Easy Feeling” is easily my most favorite song. I also do “Swaying To the Music”, another song by Jack, but “Peaceful” holds a special place. It has become the anthem of my desire to recapture my lost youth, and a personal attempt to put lust and unstated love on equal terms.

In short, “Peaceful Easy Feeling” has emerged into a life philosophy for me. It says with pure poetry that the commonality of my life with that of all others is a desire to be touched, and that the most wonderful discoveries can be found in the deserts of your life.  For that I thank you Jack. -Bruce R.

This reminds me of some of the most romantic times in my life and they will forever live within my heart! It gives you hope that one day you will share love with the one who lives within your heart! I never get tired of listening to this song that always touches the heart and brings back so many memories! -Vicki T.

Peaceful Easy Feeling 35 Plus Years Strong: When I was attending Indiana State University from 1972 to 1976, my friends and I couldn’t get enough of the Eagles music.  I played acoustic guitar and every weekend we would have parties and jam sessions and I was always trying to learn new songs.  I learned to play and sing Peaceful Easy Feeling back then along with several other Eagles songs.  Those weekend parties and jam sessions were some of the most fun times I’ve had in my life.

Shortly after graduation one of my best friends, Mollie, told me she was getting married to Don, the guy she had dated all our senior year.  They were having a somewhat non-traditional wedding and they asked me if I would play their favorite song, Peaceful Easy Feeling, as part of the ceremony.  I told them I would be honored, so I got busy practicing because I certainly wasn’t used to playing in front of an audience and I didn’t want anything to go wrong.  I remember saying to Mollie, are you sure you want that line about “this voice keeps whisperin’ in my other ear, tells me I may never see you again” because to me, that didn’t sound like a good line for a wedding song.  She said no, not to change it, because to them, that line meant that you never know when you might lose someone, so make the most out of the time you have together.  Well, I played the song at their wedding and they absolutely loved it!

We stayed in touch and I went to visit them a couple of times after they married, but we kept moving further away from each other and our lives went in different directions.  I ended up joining the Navy and made it a career.  Mollie and Don moved out west and had 3 kids and I moved to the east and the south.  We lost touch with each other over the years.

Now zoom in to the present…  Thanks to Facebook, Mollie and I reconnected and I found that she and Don had a great marriage, but in April 2010 he died suddenly.  When I heard that news, it reminded me of the line in the song about “I may never see you again” and what she had said to me about its meaning to them.  They did indeed cherish the time they had together and now she has her 3 kids plus grandchildren as a reminder of their love.

I continued playing my guitar as a hobby throughout my 20 years in the Navy.  It traveled with me where ever I went, not so I could entertain others, but just so I could sit in my own room and play, sing, and write songs with it.  After I retired I moved to southwest Florida and discovered a lot of guys out playing and singing in bars and I thought, well I can do that, and I can do it better!  So I bought a PA system and went out to get gigs as a solo artist, and that first year I played over 100 shows.  A couple of years ago I hooked up with another singer/guitarist and now we play out as a duo.  Then we decided to form a band and it’s a great band, Cindy & the Sun Dogs. 

We play some original music but mostly cover songs, everything from the Beatles and Crosby Stills & Nash, up through the Zac Brown Band and Little Big Town.  Our most requested songs however, are the Eagles songs we do: Seven Bridges Road, Already Gone, and Peaceful Easy Feeling.  Just two days ago (9/9/12) we performed outside on a stage by the tiki hut and the water and we probably had at least 150 people there, many of them bikers. I swear, everybody in that place was rockin’ and singing along to every single word of Peaceful Easy Feeling!  Pretty cool to have learned a song back in the early 70’s and now be out playing it on stage with a band.  Just goes to show that a great song is timeless and stays a great song forever. - Cindy W.

I posted the Eagles on my Facebook page singing “Peaceful Easy Feeling” in a recent concert in Australia and wow, they sound better than ever.  

When I hear this song, I think of my ex-wife Sue who I met in 1973, who I loved with all my heart, and we both loved listening to the Eagles. I blew our relationship with alcohol and substance abuse. Now I have been clean for 20+ years, and when I hear this song I think of her and cry sometimes because this was my favorite song back then.  I didn’t fully understand the song until years later when I became “grounded”, meaning, I can never be hurt that bad again by any woman.  ”I get this feeling I may know you, as a lover and a friend”, meaning, I may have a new relationship with woman and it may be nirvana or I may never see her again and it’s OK: I’ve been there ( “I have a peaceful easy feeling”).

I miss Sue very much and I can listen to this song while I’m driving alone on a hot summer night and not cry, most of the time. I really enjoyed the story Al posted that this song brought his former wife and him together again after many years apart—nothing like that ever happens to me, but you never know in this life. “I’m already standing on the ground”… meaning, if I never see her again I can handle it, but I would be the happiest man in the world if it did happen… Thank you for writing this beautiful song Jack. - Jerry Mac