Long before streaming made music licensing feel invisible, David Letterman found out the hard way exactly what it costs to play an Eagles song on network television, and the answer was enough to send the Late Show scrambling for workarounds. This classic clip from the Late Show archives features Letterman, Paul Shaffer, and the crew wrestling with the exorbitant licensing fees required to use Eagles music on air, weighing the legal risks, exploring creative alternatives, and ultimately debuting a CBS-commissioned knockoff that is exactly as absurd as it sounds. It holds up beautifully.