Jordi+M

__Hotel California-The Eagles __



__Introduction __ Hotel California was a song by the Eagles in 1976.  It has many interpretations to it but the most accepted one is the lyrics being an allegory to heroine. The album (Hotel Califonia) was an instant hit and sold more than 16 million copies in the US. Hotel California is said to be one of the 100 most important albums in history according to musical crtics.

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__Lyrics __ On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair

Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air

Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light

My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim

I had to stop for the night

There she stood in the doorway;

I heard the mission bell

And I was thinking to myself,

’this could be heaven or this could be hell’

Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">There were voices down the corridor,

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I thought I heard them say...

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Welcome to the hotel california

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Such a lovely place

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Such a lovely face

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Plenty of room at the hotel california

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Any time of year, you can find it here

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Her mind is tiffany-twisted, she got the mercedes bends

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Some dance to remember, some dance to forget

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So I called up the captain,

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">’please bring me my wine’

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">He said, ’we haven’t had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine’

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And still those voices are calling from far away,

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Wake you up in the middle of the night

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Just to hear them say...

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Welcome to the hotel california

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Such a lovely place

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Such a lovely face

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">They livin’ it up at the hotel california

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">What a nice surprise, bring your alibis

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Mirrors on the ceiling,

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The pink champagne on ice

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And she said ’we are all just prisoners here, of our own device’

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And in the master’s chambers,

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">They gathered for the feast

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The stab it with their steely knives,

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">But they just can’t kill the beast

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Last thing I remember, I was

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Running for the door

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I had to find the passage back

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">To the place I was before

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">’relax,’ said the night man,

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">We are to receive.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">You can checkout any time you like,

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">But you can never leave!

__<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Interpretations: __

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The controversy has been there for many years and it still exists. There is no valid interpretation to the song, some think it is about heroin but rereading the lyrics you can clearly see references to marriage and divorce. Asking the band, they said the song was about excess in general and the fall of someone from the top to the bottom which fits in <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">both theories.



__<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Lyrics related to heroine and drugs in general: __

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The lyrics start talking about a man who is lost and sees a light which belongs to a hotel. He thinks this could help him find his way back and stays in the hotel. He has fun during his stay and everything is great but when he wants to go because his “stay” has ended the captain says: “you can check out any time you want but you can never leave” in reference to the addictiveness of drugs and who once you are in it is nearly impossible getting out. Another metaphor for adictiveness is the "beast" which they cannot kill. It creates the feeling of a living monster inside which makes you feel like you need drugs making it a metaphor for the abstinence sindrome.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The voices in the Hotel represent the people which drive you inside the world of drugs making you believe everything is going to be alright but at the end it obviously isn't.