The third No. 1 hit for the Eagles was written by Frey, Henley and Souther and was about their “replacements.” Disco and punk were burgeoning genres with new artists, and bands like the Eagles were beginning to feel old hat.
According to Souther, “‘New Kid’ emerged from our whole fascination with gunfire as an analogy. The point was at some point some kid would come riding into town that was much faster than you, and he’d say so, and then he’d prove it.
“That’s the story of life. That’s the story of aging, especially coming out of your teenage and young man years, and as you approach 30, you begin to see that things don’t stay the same forever. And that there are a lot of other guys like you and gals like you that want the same thing that are coming up, and they want their moment, too, and they’re going to get it. And it’s fine. It’s as it should be.”
