I Can't Tell You Why

"I Can't Tell You Why"
Single by Eagles
from the album The Long Run
B-side	"The Greeks Don't Want No Freaks"
Released	February 4th, 1980
Format	7"
Recorded	1979
Genre	Soft rock
Length	4:56 4:30 (7")
Label	Asylum
Writer(s)	Timothy B. Schmit, Glenn Frey, Don Henley
Producer	Bill Szymczyk
Eagles singles chronology
"The Long Run" (1979) "I Can't Tell You Why" (1980) "Seven Bridges Road" (1980)

"I Can't Tell You Why" is a song from the Eagles which appeared on their 1979 album The Long Run. The song was written by Timothy B. Schmit, Glenn Frey, and Don Henley, and was the first Eagles song to feature Schmit (bass guitar) on lead vocals.

In the 1980 promotional video for the song, Schmit is accompanied by Frey (piano), Henley (drums), Don Felder (electric guitar and guitar solos), and Joe Walsh (organ), along with Joe Walsh's touring sideman Joe Vitale (synthesizer). The studio version became a Top 10 hit in April 1980, reaching #8; the song also appears in live versions on Eagles Live in 1980 and Hell Freezes Over in 1994.

Cover versions

• Country musician Vince Gill covered this tune in 1993 on The Eagles tribute album Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles. His version went to number 42 on the Hot Country Songs charts.
• R&B group Brownstone covered the song on their 1995 debut album, From the Bottom Up. Their version reached number 54 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 22 on the Hot R&B chart and number 27 in the UK. It has also been covered by R&B vocalists Howard Hewett and Gerald Alston, and by Smooth Jazz musicians Kenny G and Larry Carlton. In 2009, it was given an Electronica reworking by the Canadian duo Chromeo .
• Covered by Ringo Starr, during his live album Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band Volume 2: Live from Montreux

Personnel

• Timothy B. Schmit: Lead vocals, bass guitar
• Don Henley: Drums, backing vocals
• Glenn Frey: Lead guitar, electric piano, backing vocals
• Don Felder: Electric guitar
• Joe Walsh: Organ, string synthesizer