Posted on 06/28/2018 9:12:55 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
"Hotel California," the signature song by the Eagles and probably their most popular, is a stinging critique and indictment of the American dream and the dominant consumer culture. There's a certain irony in that, since the band hit super-stardom early in their career in the seventies and quickly succeeded in reaching the ultimate American dream of becoming rich and famous.
Like most rock bands, they emerged out of the sixties rebelling against the blandness and conformity of previous generations, but whether the band realized it or not, Hotel California is really a conservative song. It paints a picture of a society run amok with hyper-individualism and selfishness that is the end result of a secular (i.e., godless) consumer culture that's rejected the spiritual and conservative values of restraint, tradition, and obligation.
Not only is there a correlation between secular humanism and materialism, but there is also a correlation between a society that values entertainment and pleasure and the dark side it engenders, as portrayed in "Hotel California" – a metaphor for a country that has descended into decadence and despair. There are two trends that bear this out.
First, there is the decadence as portrayed in present-day San Francisco. Recently SFGate.com posted a story on how bad downtown San Francisco has gotten: junkies, the homeless and petty criminals "smashing and grabbing" possessions out of parked cars (which made me think of "Hotel California"). This is the flip-side of the coin of a society pursuing fun and good times, just in more socially acceptable ways. It is the end result of and logical conclusion to a philosophy of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" that has been distorted beyond recognition, where happiness has become identified with "it's party time," rooted in materialism
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Anyone believing The Eagles’ music represents anything Conservative is delusional. Glenn Frey and Don Henley are both Alan Cranston supporting left wing radicals.
Looking back on the song, my take was that California was very alluring/appealing.
Boy has that changed.
(they lyrics are clever...the guitar work mesmerizing)
Eagles have seen better days.
Joe Walsh is just an ordinary average guy. An analog man.
Weird that the song is by mostly left wingers. Writing on the wall? What writing? They can never leave. We call it velvet handcuffs.
After One of These Nights, I was hoping for more similar hits. To say I was disappointed with Hotel California would be an understatement... It was almost as devastating as hearing Leon Russell had changed over to Country & Western Music, which I got over eventually.
Although Henley said the song had no meaning, I would think that it is reflective of their own lifestyles after getting caught up in the fame and fortune of their own making. Nothing more or less..
Hotel California
Eagles
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
There were voices down the corridor,
I thought I heard them say...
Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year, you can find it here
Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes bends
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget
So I called up the Captain,
‘Please bring me my wine’
He said, ‘We haven’t had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine’
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
Mirrors on the ceiling,
The pink champagne on ice
And she said ‘We are all just prisoners here, of our own device’
And in the master’s chambers,
They gathered for the feast
The stab it with their steely knives,
But they just can’t kill the beast
Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
‘Relax,’ said the night man,
We are programmed to receive.
You can checkout any time you like,
But you can never leave!
Songwriters: DON FELDER,DON HENLEY,GLENN FREY
© Universal Music Publishing Group
For non-commercial use only.
I never understood Hotel California when I was a kid. Pretty sure I still don’t, but I loved The Eagles.
I always thought the song was about heroin addiction. You can check out anytime you like but you can’t ever leave. Lit a candle and showed me the way. Steely knives being needles.
I remember a church youth seminar about the dangers of rock n roll. The Eagles were brought out as Satanic because of the album cover (devil in the window apparently). I didn’t hear all of the seminar due to stepping out for a smoke......
The Eagles. lefties but great music.
If you use Netflix, check out the 3 hour Rockumentary on them from the beginning to the Hell Freezes over Tour. Lots of great insights and they get into all of the in-fighting. Frey hated Feldon, why they fired Randy Misner, etc...
The cult of scientology.
It has references to hell and the devil.
On a related note, a Priest recently observed of rock lyrics:
“Stairway to Heaven and Highway to Hell are reflective of the traffic patterns in each direction.”
I thought it was just a cobbled together collection of random scrawls from a couple of guys who were high. Kinda like most of Elton John's stuff. Let me check again. Yep, still leaning "random scrawls".
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