Songfacts®:

• In this song, Don Henley takes the role of a groom with very pragmatic take on marriage. He knows it will take work, and is aware that many marriages fail. Instead of celebrating, he reflects on how he can make it work.
  
  The song was written by Larry John McNally, who also wrote "I Love To Watch a Woman Dance ", which was covered by the Eagles on their 2007 comeback album Long Road Out of Eden. In a Songfacts interview with McNally, he talked about what the song means.
  
  "Regarding the subject matter of the song, I wanted to do some real thinking about it. What does it really mean, marriage? The percentages aren't good for it lasting. I believe there are misconceptions about what you are entering into, maybe fantasies and delusions. Many of the romantic ideals from marriage come from cheap movies, cheap songs, advertisers etc. You're being sold and when the reality doesn't match up with the advertisement you are unhappy. Someone must be blamed, preferably the other and not one's self! I read somewhere recently that the De Beers diamond company out of South Africa is the one who sold us on the idea of the preciousness of diamonds (they are, in fact, not rare or precious) and created through advertising the concept that a marriage isn't real without a diamond ring and a very expensive one at that.
  
  On the west side of Los Angeles, divorce can be a very expensive proposition. It is a legally binding contract. Children's lives are destroyed, divorce attorneys become very wealthy, homes are lost. So where do our ideas on marriage come from? I researched marriage in the Bible and it is almost all negative there.
  
  Nonetheless, there is no denying that faithfulness, loyalty, the depth of human bonding and support of one another through life's trials and tribulations, these are good things. That's what I wanted to write about in this song."
• On his website, Larry John McNally gives the background to this song: "In April of 1998 I played an in-the-round show at The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville with a few songwriter friends including Jude Johnstone, an old friend from Maine. She recorded the gig and so loved this song that she passed it along to Don Henley, who at the time had recorded one of her songs. A month or so later I got a call from Don saying he would like to record it. Several years passed and it finally was released in June of 2000. He did a beautiful job - true to the sprit of the song, although I think my favorite version of him singing it is from his VH1 Storytellers performance. Beautifully emotional and unstudied. I had recorded it for my album with a small string arrangement by Larry Campbell (from Bob Dylan's band) but we left it stripped down on the final mix."