Songfacts®:

• Former Scandal lead singer Patty Smyth wrote this song with Glen Burtnik, who at the time was a member of Styx. They were writing another song together on Glen's birthday when someone came in with a birthday cake. In our interview with Glen Burtnik, he told us what happened next: "I picked up the guitar and started making something up, playing kind of absent-mindedly in between forkfulls as we spoke. Patty asked what it was and said she liked it. This was the impetus for the start of the song. We began batting around melodic and lyrical ideas. When we got to a certain point, I put down the guitar and went over to the piano (as I usually do when I feel like I need more musical choices). I came up with a second section, which led to me stealing a melody from a song I had written as a teenager and tried combining that with the scratch verse ideas we had been tossing around. Patty took the music home on a cassette tape (remember those? Unlike DAT tapes, they STILL work!). To be honest, I have to give credit to Patty, who did the lion's share of the lyrics. She bounced ideas off me, I contributed a little, but she wrote the story. For me, the inspiration is either a melody or a title. In this case the title came later, and I wasn't sure a negative idea like 'love ain't enough' was a good idea for a single. Goes to show what I know..."
• Many songs are about love, but this one takes a melancholy look at what happens when love isn't enough to keep a couple together. Recorded as a duet, we get both sides of the story, as Henley and Smyth sing about how the best thing for their relationship is for it to end.
• How did Don Henley end up singing on this? She had worked with him on his albums Building The Perfect Beast and The End of the Innocence - her singing is most obvious in the song "Sunset Grill." She played him a demo version of the song that she recorded with Burtnik, and Henley loved it. Glen explained: "There was the harmony part I was singing with Patty which he learned and sang beautifully when he agreed to appear on her record. I feel forever indebted to Don Henley for his appearing on her recording. He was at the peak of his solo years and I believe it drew attention to the song which might not have happened otherwise."
• Smyth's group Scandal was signed to Columbia Records, and she recorded the first version of the song for Columbia with Henley singing his part and her friend Eddie Van Halen on guitar. Columbia didn't like the song and didn't release it, so Patty took it to MCA records, where it became a hit in Van Halenless form.