TIL: ‘I Can’t Tell You Why’

“I Can’t Tell You Why” is my favorite Eagles song. It’s on the album The Long Run, which I own on original pressing vinyl (natch).

On the way to visit my mom for Mother’s Day, I was flipping through SiriusXM channels. I ended up on Silk (330) because I noticed the song was “I Can’t Tell You Why” by Brownstone.

I was shocked to learn that Brownstone covered the Eagles! The cover was released in 1995. Brownstone released one of my favorite 90s R&B songs with “If You Love Me,” but I never owned more than the cassette single (remember those?!) of the track, and I never heard the Eagles cover on the radio back in the day, hence my shock.

A little YouTube research and I’m watching a clip of Brownstone performing the song on Showtime at the Apollo in September of 1995.

I commented on the cover, and Eric was like, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve never heard this song —” and by the time he got the sentence out, he was like “Oh crap, that’s weird!”

It’s not weird per se - the Eagles version is just way higher! Timothy B. Schmit has one hell of a falsetto!

The video for “If You Love Me.” Why were 90s videos so weird, with completely nonsensical scenes? Like, why is the guy lifting weights on a city sidewalk? That three-part harmony at the end of the song is still fire!

An the incredible original below. The members of the Eagles are so damn young in this clip! Timmy’s smile at the end is so cute.