Lyrical Analysis: Hotel California



Lyrical Analysis: Hotel CaliforniaWritten by Don Felder, Glenn Frey, and Don Henley, the Eagles’ classic “Hotel California” is considered one of the greatest songs of all times. The surreal and sophisticated lyrics have inspired various creative interpretations and peculiar theories; many suggest and relate “Hotel California” to satanism, hedonism, urban legends, and drug addiction. However, Don Henley personally confirmed that the theme of the song is about “the dark underbelly of the American dream and about excess in America.” (In the TV show “60 Minutes”, November 25, 2007).The title “Hotel California” itself is a metaphor and symbol for what the Eagles viewed as the “high life in Los Angeles.” (In Don Henley’s interview with ). As Midwest kids, they associated “California” with the entertainment industry and luxurious life style of the wealthy. All the literary devices used in the lyrics tactfully construct the entire setting of the song and subtly guide the audience into the backstage of the ‘70’s music industry through the backdoor; after, the audience will naturally come to the realization that “Hotel California” is an excellent allegory about greed, struggle, hedonism, and the distorted American dream.From the perspective of a weary traveler, “Hotel California” leads us to a lone journey at night. The first line “On the dark desert high way” directly explains the setting with an alliteration. The rest of the verse continues to describe the set-up with visual (“I saw the shimmering light”), organic (“My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim”), and olfactory (“Warm smell of colitas”) imagery, giving the audience a thorough mental picture of the typical L.A. landscape. It’s worth noting that the term “colitas” is sometimes interpreted as a reference to marijuana, thus implies the lyrics’ theme of drug addiction; ironically, the Eagles simply sought a full sensory experience and clarified the fact that “colitas” is merely a smelly desert plant. (From Don Henley’s interview with ). “I had to stop for the night” ends late night driving and smoothly introduces the encounter with the clandestine Hotel California.Following up the disorientated traveler’s need to “stop,” the lyrics proceed to depict the obscure process of how a mysterious woman guides the protagonist into the mystical Hotel California. Again, the mention of “mission bell” and “candle” here can be deciphered as religious symbols. Meanwhile, the somewhat religious line “And I was thinking to myself/This could be heaven or this could be hell” forms a brief but powerful antithesis to emphasize the ambivalence and confusion when entering an industry full of temptations. Furthermore, the last line of the first verse, “There were voices down the corridor/I thought I hear them say,” intensifies the already bizarre atmosphere and adds one more thrilling hue to the mystery of Hotel California.The end of the first verse ushers in a hook. “Welcome to the Hotel California” and “Plenty of rooms at the Hotel California” demonstrate a conduplicatio—a repetition of key words (“Hotel California”)—while “Such a lovely place/Such a lovely face” utilizes the literary device anaphora, to enhance the focus on the consistency of the expressions and dictions. Nevertheless, both hooks in this song are written with the ABBACC rhyme scheme in order to build up the pleasant harmony of syllables.After the joyful hook, the Eagles reveal the kaleidoscope of the debauchery and prosperity of Hollywood and the film industry: “Her mind is tiffany-twisted” is a cleverly designed allusion and metaphor which exposes the fragility and intricacy behind the celebrities’ beauty; “She got the Mercedes bends” is a mischievous play on words which perfectly echoes back and links with the previous line to reach a structural parallelism. “She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she called friends” suggests a hint of playful sarcasm. “How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat” uses alliterations to emphasize the degeneration and decay of the sweet American dream under the California sunlight. “Some dance to remember, some dance to forget” is yet another antithesis which points out the absurdity and unseen sorrows behind the shining chandelier. The second verse makes an interesting observation when the lyrics say: “So I called up the Captain/Please bring me my wine/He said, we haven’t had that spirit here since 1969.” No doubt the diction “spirit” is an intended pun carrying a double meaning—or in Don Henley’s own words, it’s a “sociopolitical statement).” (In his reply to rock writer John Soeder’s criticism). How do we interpret the lines? There are some historical facts (searched from Wikipedia) that help us understand the background better: the 1960’s is the time period when the hippie movement and its ideals of love and peace started to thrive; when 1970’s came, as the idealism and ardor gradually gave way to the materialism and cynicism, the ‘60’s spirits faded. Also, in 1969, the Woodstock Festival—one of the biggest rock festivals of all time—was held for the first time and it’s not incorrect to say that this event signifies the peak of the ‘60’s spirit. The ending of the second verse “And still the voices are calling from far away/Wake you up in the middle of the night/Just to hear them say” conveys a feeling of slight nostalgia for the forgotten ‘60’s spirit and welcomes the following hook.The second hook is mostly a repetition of the first one. As the key term, the metaphorical diction “Hotel California” keeps coming back to remind the audience of the tone and mood of the song. The diction “welcome,” “lovely,” and “nice surprise” build up a tranquil and peaceful atmosphere and foreshadow the upcoming ending. The second hook also serves as a smooth transition to the third verse, which is also the last verse of “Hotel California.”“Mirrors on the ceiling/The pink champagne on ice” provides a vivid visual imagery of the typical Hollywood scene that we often see in movies. So far, in the three verses, the stage has changed three times: first from the highway to Hotel California, then from corridor to the courtyard, last from the courtyard outside to the rooms inside. The metaphor in “And she said we are all just prisoners here, of our own device” reveals the weakness of human minds against the temptations of fame and wealth; it can also easily be interpreted as drug addictions. Similarly, the line “They stab it with the steely knives/But they just can’s kill the beast” is commonly interpreted as a reference to drug addiction; however, the truth is, it’s merely an allusion to Steely Dan—with whom the Eagles had a friendly rivalry. (From and Wikipedia).In the end, the narrator suddenly wakes up from the luxurious and twisted American dream to search for his escape: “Last thing I remember, I was/Running for the door/I had to find the passage back/To the place I was before;” To his surprise, he is already too deep in the black hole of delusion to crawl back when a seemingly friendly night man appears: “‘Relax’ said the night man/‘We are programmed to receive.” The syntax “programmed to receive” exactly describes the nature of California where people from all parts of the world pursue wealth and their California dream. The end of the song ruthlessly grips the audience’s hearts with its icy fingers as the night man finishes his words and turns a desert oasis into a endless nightmare: “You can check-out any time you like/But you can never leave!’” With this statement, the Eagles unfold the true and horrible face of the music industry and the corrupted society infatuated with the concept of the American dream. In the lyrics of “Hotel California,” the elusive American dream, when perverted by negative qualities such as drugs and greed, really becomes the American nightmare, and that is what the Eagles presents in this song. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download