Loved Bruce's piano. So distinctive. A sad day yet again for America Tim Roxborogh says: July , Thanks so much for writing. This really is one of my all-time favorite songs

Loved Bruce's piano. So distinctive. A sad day yet again for America Tim Roxborogh says: July , Thanks so much for writing. This really is one of my all-time favorite songs, even if it is a piece of music I find genuinely sad. All the best. Bobby DiCapua says: April , Way too political here- you ruined an excellent essay about a song that many folks love and identify with by assailing one president and lauding another. Music should be immune to this type of partisan discourse . timroxborogh says: April , Why should music be immune to partisan discourse? If the song wasn’t political then sure, but The End Of The Innocence references Reagan in that line, “this tired old man we elected king”. If the song is political, then the discourse can be political too. All the best. Mark Spencer says: August , The song “End of Innocence '' is a reflection of our times. The historical (and political) references in the song punctuate the scenes illustrated by the players of the time. Are we trapped by the “tired old kings?” And, we wonder why or maybe how they get “elected.” The cycles of the song are endless and the cycles of war and killing our so-called kings perpetuate. Iran-Contra follows Watergate and is followed by January th and the “big lie.” I like the essay. The song echoes. Then we have Sandy Hook and the recent mass killings in Buffalo and Texas. We all end innocence when we fail to recognize the evil among us. And, we continue to elect to perpetuate the cycle. The song echoes. It begs the question, “were we ever truly innocent.” Ed says: August , In  I take it as meaning the start of the internet and social media – the ruination of the innocence of the young – society will never recover from this error. Dude McCool says: September , I wonder if old fossils like Don Henley ever look back at the Reagan years and think “Shit I was totally wrong, that dude won the Cold War and freed millions of people from the scourge of Communism!” I wonder….