Talk:Hotel California
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[edit] Lead Vocals?
Who does the Lead vocals? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.84.138.101 (talk) 18:16, 4 May 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Best Pop Artist???
Does anyone know who awarded the "Best Pop Artist" award? DCEdwards1966 03:17, Oct 12, 2004 (UTC)
[edit] Interpretation of lyrics
I never read as much nonsense as when I read Wiki goings-on about music lyrics. Here's another good example. JD Souther had a friend who got roped in by the Children of God cult in California. There are lots of cults like this and it's exactly as it says in the lyrics: you can check in any time but you can never leave. I have seen places like this - they lock the gates and don't let anyone loose. Civil slavery. To put it mildly. Souther didn't write the lyrics to this one but Felder, Frey and Henley who did wrote it for what Souther told them - and one has to agree: it was a good reaction. Being a friend of a friend of Joe Walsh and hearing the story personally - and the lyrics are not that hard to understand - not unless you want to misunderstand them. And/or are 'American'. So enough of this nonsense. It's a good song against cults and parts of Americana and always has been and always will be. Blech.
I don't see how "New Kid in Town" is about innocence, or "Life in the Fast Lane" about temptations. If you see Hotel California as a metaphor for the US, then it's a quite critical album.
The "Hotel California" that could be Heaven or Hell, where it is one big party, everybody welcomes you, but you only call people friends. And if you want to get out, you can't.
The "New Kid in Town" that is very popular, "till somebody new comes along".
"Life in the Fast Lane" which is about a perfect couple just enjoying there success a bit too much, and going under.
And "The Last Resort", describing the American Dream: "They call it paradise, I don't know why". How the white man brings christianity: "They even brought a neon sign that said 'Jesus is coming'", prefers to forget what he did to the original inhabitants of the continent: "We satisfy our endless needs / And justify our bloody deeds / In the name of destiny / And the name of God".
This is probably not the only way to look at the album. But I don't think that "innocence" and "temptations" are the best fitting words to describe the songs.
Taka 21:30, 17 Mar 2005 (UTC)
Agreed. To me, the album itself is a critical commentary of the "American Dream", California, show business in general, shallow relationships, marriages destroyed by fame, etc. As soon as I have a little more time, I'll probably attempt an edit.
JubalHarshaw 18:53, 20 May 2005 (UTC)
"The most important obviously was the referral to Seward's Folly in the song Hotel California."
- Maybe this is obvious to somebody, but it isn't to me, and a search didn't find anybody else drawing this parallel either. What referral? Taken out of the article until explanation given. Wasted Time R 19:49, 21 July 2005 (UTC)
Compare the 1969 Jethro Tull song "We used to know" to the 1976 Hotel California.
Almost identical chord progression, very similar metre, very similar melody.
My mom looked up the interpretation for this song once and it said that the song was talking about how people get stuck in the entertainment business, like with agents and stuff. Or something like that. Really, I think that everyone has a different interpretation. Just throwing that one out there! -Taliesin2 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Taliesin2 (talk • contribs) 01:56, 18 September 2007 (UTC)
[edit] The inspirational hotel
[1] Is there any reference to any hotel claiming to be THE Hotel California of the song? (rather than the hotel in the picture, which is well known) SchmuckyTheCat 18:40, 22 December 2005 (UTC)
- I've been to the one in Todo Santos ... It's about an hours drive north of Los Cabos. However it turns out its claim has been refuted. -- ProveIt (talk) 17:31, 10 February 2006 (UTC)
[edit] My Take on the meaning of this song
To me it is clear that this song is about a rehab clinic. "And in the master's chambers they gather for the feast (group therapy session). They stab it with their steely knives ((blaming others for their addictions) but they just can't kill the beast (the beast which is their addiction persists)"
"I called to the porter, please bring me my wine. He said 'we haven't had that spirit here since 1969',". This is a reference to a person who was there in '69 I would guess.
"You can check out anytime you like but you can never leave" - you can leave the rehab centre but the addiction disease will never leave you.
The song 29 Palms by Robert Plant was a reference to this same rehab clinic where he met Alannah Myles of whom this song 29 Palms is about. So, Hotel California isn't about Satan, its about a guy going to rehab. The actual hotel may be Camarillo Psychiatric hospital in LA, where musicians spent time rehabbing and electroshocking. Chris66 9:31, 4 Aug 2006
[edit] link added
I included a link that was indicated as being needed in the "Album Cover" section where the allegation of the song having satanic lyrics is located. If the link is an appropriate source, can someone with more knowledge than me about editing Wikipedia articles make it more presentable in the article? Thanks!Jlujan69 01:52, 10 August 2006 (UTC)
- The research in the Snopes article doesn't really give much information on the album cover except to say that the person hired for the shoot was a woman, and even that isn't sourced. The quality of Snopes factfinding varies widely and doesn't always support their conclusions which are almost always dogmatic. It also has little to do with the actual controversy that occurred as the emails circulating around are over 20 years after the album was released and the original premise of the snopes article meandered into areas that had little to do with the album cover. 66.75.8.138 21:11, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
This is my interpretation of the lyrics:
On a dark desert highway, (Highway to Las Vegas)cool wind in my hair Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air (He is going there specifically to engage a prostitute, colitis referring to her genitalia). Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light (Vegas) My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim (Not tired, but the male response to sexual expectation) I had to stop for the night There she stood in the doorway (The prostitute) I heard the mission bell (His mission on this journey was to get sex) And I was thinking to myself, ’this could be heaven or this could be hell’ (He is conflicted in this “Mission”) Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way There were voices down the corridor, I thought I heard them say...
Welcome to the hotel California (A metaphor for Nevada Cathouses, because this is where Californians go for legal prostitution) Such a lovely place (Cathouse in Vegas Area) Such a lovely face (The prostitute) Plenty of room at the hotel California (Johns are not turned away) Any time of year, you can find it here (Find sex here anytime of year)
Her mind is tiffany-twisted, (She is focused more on the money, then on him. Tiffany meaning fine jewelry). She got the mercedes bends (A well paid prostitutes can buy a Mercedes Benz) She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends (All of her Johns) How they dance (have sex) in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat. Some dance (have sex) to remember (To remember the good times of sexual encounters), some dance (have sex) to forget (To forget a poor marriage, or provincial life)
So I called up the captain, (The lead madam) ’please bring me my wine’ He said, ’we haven’t had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine’ (The year a law was legislated to prevent the serving of alcohol at Nevada Cathouses). And still those voices are calling from far away, Wake you up in the middle of the night Just to hear them say...
Welcome to the hotel california Such a lovely place Such a lovely face They livin’ it up at the hotel california What a nice surprise, bring your alibis (Obviously for your wife back in California)
Mirrors on the ceiling, (Cathouse décor) The pink champagne on ice (Legendary favorite for prostitutes) And she said ’we are all just prisoners here, of our own device’ (They stay for the money, but not enjoyment.) And in the master’s chambers, They gathered for the feast (The feast is a metaphor for sex) The stab it with their steely knives, (Sexual Penetration) But they just can’t kill the beast (The beast is a metaphor for male passion, a beast that can truly never be killed)
Last thing I remember, I was Running for the door I had to find the passage back (This is not a passage back out of the cathouse, but a passage back to his own innocence…Remember, he is conflicted) To the place I was before (innocence, fidelity) ’relax,’ said the night man, We are programmed to receive. You can checkout any time you like, But you can never leave! (He will never overcome this act of infidelity, even when driving back to his home and life in California, a part of him, his innocence, will never leave that Cathouse).
Interpreted by Fred Young
[edit] Alternative Interpretations
Can someone back up the currently shown "Alternative Interpretation" on the album title song Hotel_California_(song) page which involves Alien Abduction??!? I've never heard this theory before, cannot find references, and seems to be just as valid as my "joke" theory that I came up with ten years ago (see Cecil Adams "Straight Dope" article) involving a fireworks factory blowing up! (and at least my joke theory has web references and is in print (Cecil Adams' "Triumph of the Straight Dope" ISBN 0-345-42008-X) Dzubint 15:47, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
- See Talk:Hotel California (song) ... I took care of it. JubalHarshaw 00:37, 5 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Track Listing
Excuse me If I'm being stupid but shouldn't this article have a track listing?--158.143.151.123 19:26, 22 June 2007 (UTC)
[edit] mystery figure
Does anyone know any truth to the rumor of there being a figure of someone on the cover that the photographer says wasn't there when he took the photo?----69.229.5.163 (talk) 09:08, 31 March 2008 (UTC)
- Search for "Hotel California" at Snopes.com . - Jgm (talk) 12:37, 31 March 2008 (UTC)
