Songfacts®:

• This is the proper The Eagles' version of the song; Joe Walsh already had his own version of In The City, originally done for the soundtrack to the 1979 film The Warriors. However, when he next cut an album with the Eagles in 1979 (after joining in 1976), this was included on the album as an Eagles' re-do.
• Barry De Vorzon shares song-writing credit with Joe Walsh for "In The City." De Vorzon has substantial success all his own for writing songs for film soundtracks and TV show themes. Amongst his many credits are music contributions to the TV series S.W.A.T. and Simon & Simon, and the films Private Benjamin (1980), Mr. Mom (1983), and of course our own Songfacts-reader's "favorite" film Xanadu!
• Oh, did you need some perspective for the lyrics to this song? The Warriors is a film that tells the story of nine members of a New York street gang known as the "Coney Island Warriors," who are part of a plot to unite every single street gang into an army capable of ruling New York, but who are later framed for the gang leader's murder and subsequently have to make their way across the city while being hunted by police and gangs alike. Pretty heavy material for the same guy who gave us "Life's Been Good," no?
  The film The Warriors has achieved cult classic status, even spawning a video game of the same title, released by Rockstar Games on October 17, 2005. Twenty-five years after the film!