The song New Kid in Town was written by Glenn Frey, Don Henley and J.D. Souther for the Eagles’ 1976 album Hotel California.

The lyrics are a thoughtful and clever satire on fame, which is a subject the Eagles were quite familiar with. As the band matured, they realized that success in the rock industry was not a guaranteed thing.

They also learned that there was a lot of competition for their attention, and sooner or later someone would come along who could challenge them. The Eagles understood that a single hit was not enough to keep them from falling behind.

They wanted to write a song that would address this fact and show that it was okay for the world to move on to something new, so they turned to songwriter J.D. Souther, who would later co-write the Eagles’ 1977 smash "You're Only Lonely".