About The Song
“I Can’t Tell You Why” is a song by the American rock band Eagles that appeared on their 1979 album The Long Run.
It’s about a relationship on the rocks – the couple’s arguing intensifies almost to the point of them breaking up one night. The song has no real conclusion and leaves the listener with an intentional melancholy. This is because the couple in the song are neither reconciled nor torn apart. The song fades out on this point of uncertainty.
Eagles bass player Timothy B. Schmit, who replaced Randy Meisner in 1977, sang lead and was the primary songwriter on this track. When Songfacts spoke with Schmit in 2011, he explained: “It was co-written by me and Don (Henley) and Glenn (Frey). I did bring a portion of that song, unfinished, to them back then, because I was new in the band and they wanted to introduce me on a good note, no pun intended. And I had this little piece of a tune that they really liked. It was loosely based on my own experiences.”
Released as a single in February 1980, it became a Billboard top 10 hit in April, reaching number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and number three on the Adult Contemporary chart. It was the group’s last top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Odcn6qk94bs
Lyrics
Look at us baby, up all night
Tearing our love apart
Aren’t we the same two people
Who lived through years in the dark?
Every time I try to walk away
Something makes me turn around and stay
And I can’t tell you why
When we get crazy, it just ain’t right
(Try to keep your head, little girl)
Girl, I get lonely too
You don’t have to worry, just hold on tight
(Don’t get caught in your little world)
Cause I love you
Nothing’s wrong as far as I can see
We make it harder than it has to be
And I can’t tell you why
No baby, I can’t tell you why
I can’t tell you why
Every time I try to walk away
Something makes me turn around and stay
And I can’t tell you why
No, no baby, I can’t tell you why
I can’t tell you why
I can’t tell you why, no