It's a place for people who are between destinations: transients. The song title suggests a sunny, laid-back place where people drink lots of pomegranate juice and practice yoga, but it also hints that the state of California-or, more accurately, the idea of California-isn't really home to anyone. The very first few lines of the song take us to the long, straight highways of California and the American Southwest, which serves as a powerful symbol of freedom, desolation, and recklessness in songs by the Eagles. The person who watches over the hotel tells him not to worry because he won't ever be able to escape from the hotel.Īnd such is the fate of our weary traveling narrator. Naturally, this sends our speaker running for the exit, but now he can't find the exit. (We spit out our champagne: "What?") Everyone shows up for a dinner in the room of the "master," and they stab at some animal or "beast" that won't die. The speaker notices how swanky the place is, but then the woman tells him that everyone at the hotel is a prisoner of their own making. This tidbit is the first suggestion that all might not be well at our quaint hotel. This time, however, they mention something about having an alibi to prove their innocence. The speaker passes out and hears the voices again singing about the Hotel California. The speaker orders up some wine from the Wine Captain, who remarks that the speaker has brought the playful spirit of the 1960s along with him. The woman is rich and fun-loving, and her friends are beautiful. He starts to hear voices singing about how lovely and pleasant it is to stay at the hotel. All the while, the speaker isn't sure what to make of the place. This female figure plays a central role in the song, though we never learn all that much about her. You guessed it it's the Hotel California.Ī mysterious woman stands and greets him at the door like a Homeric siren, luring the weary traveler with her seductive song. Before long, he starts to feel drowsy and stops at a hotel for the night. He feels the wind in his hair and smells some desert flowers. As the story unfolds, the speaker is driving on a dark desert highway late at night. By the time they wrote "Hotel California," the Eagles had come to the conclusion that the "cutest girls in the world" also came with a lot of baggage.īut before we dive a little deeper into this song, let's go over the basic sequence of events described in this ballad. Apparently, something drastic happened to girls from the Golden State between 19. They turn the Beach Boys' plea from 1965 ("I wish they all could be California girls") on its head. Or, to be more precise, California girls. The initial success and enduring appeal of "Hotel California" illustrate exactly how it captures the imagination, especially for a song that defies commercial viability by being over 6 minutes long with a 1-minute opening, and a 2-minute, air guitar-inducing final solo.In the title track of their hit 1976 album, "Hotel California," the Eagles warn listeners of the two most dangerous things known to man: women and California.
The "full sensory experience" of song description, as Felder said, is intentional, as is the choice to have the song take place in California: a place nearly mythologized for its idyllic beauty and cabal of Hollywood celebrity.
As described in Song Facts, it was written based on a series of chord progressions that guitarist Don Felder wrote on the beach. "Hotel California" won 1977's Grammy for Record of the Year. As the song progresses, and the singer encounters stranger characters and situations, the song's sense of entrapment grows and grows. The dreamy, acoustic opening segues into a sliding, dark bass that invites the listener to dream of contrasting worlds: what is seen, and what is real. Its lyrically vivid descriptions of pink champagne, shimmering lights, dark desert highways, and voices in the night conjure images of a journey that is superficially glamorous, but hides something lurking and insidious. "Hotel California" by the Eagles has inspired more than its fair share of theories and discussion since its release in 1976. You can check out any time you like / But you can never leave