"The Last Resort" is a song written by Don Henley and Glenn Frey, which describes industry and commerce inevitably destroying beautiful places.
"[3] Henley recalled that he had been reading about "the raping and pillaging of the West by mining, timber, oil and cattle interests" at the time he wrote the song.
[4] Music critic Dave Thompson considers it an update of Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" but says that it is "even more weary and despairing.
[6] He regards the key lyric to be the line "They called it paradise; I don't know why," noting the emphasis given to it by the resignation of Henley's voice and by the falling melody.
[6] Perone does criticize the use of synthesizer on the song instead of actual string instruments, which he feels sounds artificial.
[6] To Eagles' biographer Marc Eliot, "The Last Resort" tells "the story of a nation's self-destruction and physical decay told as metaphor for personal creative burnout.
[3] Ultimate Classic Rock critic Sterling Whitaker rated it as the Eagles most underrated song, calling it "an epic track that presented the entire world as a resort being destroyed by the greedy, self-serving and short-sighted machinations of the human race" with "an alluring pop arrangement.