The One You Love

This classic love song is about a guy who is close friends with a girl he has feelings for, but unfortunately she still loves her ex-boyfriend. They apparently are developing a closer relationship, but the girl's ex calls and screws it all up, hence the second verse: I heard you on the phone You took his number Said you weren't alone But you'd call him soon Isn't' he the guy The guy who left you cryin'? Isn't he the one who made you blue? The point of the song comes with the chorus: Are you gonna stay with the one who loves you? Or are you going back to the one you love? Someone's gonna cry when they know they've lost you Someone's gonna thank the stars above The girl must choose.

This song is part of Glenn Frey's debut solo album No Fun Aloud. When his group the Eagles split in 1980, he signed a solo deal with Asylum Records, which released "I Found Somebody" as his first single, followed by "The One You Love." His sales were respectable, but played to an older crowd. When Asylum went through a shakeup in 1983, they dropped Frey to focus on more contemporary artists. This was a blessing for Frey, who quickly landed at MCA and marketed him as the rock star he was. His hits with that label include "The Heat Is On" and "Smuggler's Blues."

Frey wrote this song with Jack Tempchin, one of several very talented songwriters who entered the Eagles' ambit in the late '60s. Tempchin was a San Diego-based singer-songwriter when he met Frey. They became good friends, and Frey ended up recording two of Tempchin's songs with the Eagles: "Peaceful Easy Feeling" and "Already Gone." Other artists who contributed track to the group include Jackson Browne ("Take It Easy") and J.D. Souther ("New Kid In Town"). When it came time for Frey to launch is solo career, he started writing songs with Tempchin, who worked on all five of Frey's solo albums.