Free Guitar Lessons Blog

“Life in the Fast Lane” was written by Joe Walsh, Glenn Frey and Don Henley and released by the Eagles on their 1976 studio album “Hotel California”. After the album’s release, it became the third single from the album peaking at number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

The song tells of a couple that takes their excessive lifestyle to the edge.

During an interview with “In the Studio with Redbeard”, Glenn Frey revealed that the song’s title came to him one day when he was riding on the freeway with a drug dealer known as “The Count”. Frey asked The Count to slow down and the response was, “What do you mean? It’s life in the fast lane!” In that same interview, Frey indicated that the song’s central riff was played by Joe Walsh while the band was warming up in rehearsals and Walsh was told to “keep that, it’s a song”.

After watching the videos below you’ll discover that although the main riff sounds quite cool, it’s not really all that hard to play. I have included a “Life in the Fast Lane” backing track at the end of this post. Enjoy!

Life in the Fast Lane Backing Track

Related posts:

1. Eagles – Peaceful Easy Feeling – Guitar Lesson
2. Eagles – Hotel California – Guitar Lesson
3. Aerosmith – Walk This Way – Rock Guitar Lesson
4. Led Zeppelin – Stairway to Heaven – Electric Guitar Lesson
5. The Beatles – A Hard Day’s Night – Acoustic Guitar Lesson