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 ...
I have to admit: I’ve never paid one bit of attention to the lyrics. Because guitar solo.
They stole the song from Jethro Tull....
We Used to Know
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAnh1waFPeY
They kicked Don Felder out of the Band because he wasn’t enthused about meeting CA Senator Alan Cranston and supporting Cranston’s Policies.
They used Politics as the final straw to get rid of Felder.
As far as “Hotel California” is concerned being hard of hearing to the point of being called deaf by some is a benefit.
I wrote my own lyrics to the song:
Welcome to the Desert of Arizona
On a dark desert highway, full moon in the sky
I was looking like the Wolf man, like that Lon Chaney guy
But my name is really Howard, H-o-w-a-r-d H-u-g-h-e-s
I was looking for a fix, maybe airplane glue
A flat truck pulled over, with seven girls inside,
Two wanted to stone me, three to give me a ride
“Relax,” said a beauty, “We aim to please
We’re headed for Winslow
A place you’ll never leave”
Welcome to Winslow, Arizona
Not a Sinatra place
With a Rat Pack face
We’re living it up in Winslow, Arizona
It’s a cartel place
With a Tex-Mex face
I’m perpetually twisted, Mercedes Benzedrine
It’s a fast German company, with pretty fast machines
But they don’t give me needles, they don’t give me Meth
They give me a Horse with no name, America’s best
We stopped in Winslow, I escaped the lass
Went to see Joe-Joe in Tucson
To buy some Californian grass
But the desert over took me, with peyote seeds
It’s there that I met Melvin, I was in terrible need
Melvin gave me a ride, playing some Eagle songs
I had a peaceful easy feeling, so I sang along
We saw a tequila sunrise, and I got the itch real bad
I’m giving Melvin my millions, maybe he can be glad
Welcome to the desert in Arizona
It’s a Castaneda place
With a Yaqui face
Living it up in the desert of Arizona
You’ll remember your name
If you don’t go insane
Great song but it always creeped me out hearing it as a kid. Like it was some satanic gathering the guest stumbled upon.
I loved Jethro Tull. And the original Genesis, particularly “Selling England by the Pound.” Also prophetic.
Don Henley’s ‘Garden of Allah” is a better representation of the decay of America.
Plus the video of the same song has a appearance of Kirk Douglas as the Devil.
It was a pretty big year for fashion
A lousy year for rock and roll
The people gave their blessing to crimes of passion
It was a dark, dark night of the collective soul
I was somewhere out on Riverside
By the El Royale Hotel
When a stranger appeared in a cloud of smoke
I thought I knew him all too well
He said, “Now that I have your attention
I got somethin` I wanna say
You may not wanna hear it
I`m gonna tell it to you anyway
You know, I`ve always liked you, boy
`Cause you were not afraid of me
But things are gonna get mighty rough
Here in Gomorrah-By-The-Sea”
He said, “It`s just like home
It`s so damned hot, I can`t stand it
My fine seersucker suit is all soakin` wet”
And the hills are burning
The wind is raging
And the clock strikes midnight
In the Garden of Allah
“Nice car.........
I love those Bavarians.....so meticulous
Y`know, I remember a time when things were a lot more fun around here
When good was good and evil was evil
Before things got so.......fuzzy
Yeah, I was once a golden boy like you
And I was summoned to the halls of power in the heavenly court
And I dined with the deities who looked upon me with favor
For my talents; my creativity
We sat beneath the palms in the warm afternoon
And drank the wine with Fitzgerald and Huxley
They pawned a biting phrase
From tongues hot with blood
And drained their pens of bitter ink
Vainly reaching for the bottle full of empty Edens
Branded specially for the ones
Who had come with great expectations
To the perfumed halls of Allah
For their time in the sun
We were stokin` the fires
And oilin` up the machinery
Until the gods found out we had ideas of our own”
And the war was coming
The earth was shaking
And there was no more room
In the Garden of Allah
“Today I made and appearance downtown
I am an expert witness, because I say I am
And I said, `Gentleman....and I use that word loosely...I will testify for you
I`m a gun for hire, I`m a saint, I`m a liar
Because there are no facts,there is no truth,just data to be manipulated
I can get you any result you like....what`s it worth to ya?
Because there is no wrong, there is no right
And I sleep very well at night
No shame, no solution
No remorse, no retribution
Just people selling t-shirts
just opportunity to participate in this pathetic little circus
And winning, winning, winning` “
It was a pretty big year for predators
The marketplace was on a roll
And the land of opportunity
Spawned a whole new breed of men without souls
This year, notoriety got all confused with fame
And the devil is downhearted
Because there`s nothing left for him to claim
He said, “It`s just like home
It`s so low-down, I can`t stand it
I guess my work around here has all been done
And the fruit is rotten
The serpent`s eyes shine
As he wraps around the vine
In the Garden of Allah
in the Garden of Allah
in the Garden of Allah
I never heard of any of them as junkies
Cocaine booze and quaaludes
And girls....often barely legal groupies at parties in the Hills
The usual late 70s fare
These were Texan and Midwestern boys caught up in the hedonism of LA and music machine of Irving Azoff
That’s what the song is about
Henley also wrote about the death of summer of love idealism like deadhead sticker on a Cadillac
Certain kind of fool is my favorite eagles song and one last note
No Jackson Browne
No Eagles
Joe Walsh equals good guy who the girls loved for that....but he was wild
Fielder and Leadon were the early country southern soul of the band
Then Frey and Henley wanted more rock
Frey hater Felder over Felders equal ego and Felder was apolitical
Gator country produced a lot of 70s talent
I like Walsh and I like Henley lyrics and I oddly enoug prefer Frey vocals for eagles songs
Henley did great solo
Take it easy....summer of eighth grade.....monumental
First major country rock hit since Buffalo Springfield and CSN
Back in FLA, Felder taught music/playing guitar.
One of his students was a kid named Tom Petty.
IMO Phil Collins takes the cake. The lyrics to every one of his "hits" is a random grabbag of expressions--mostly Americanisms--strung together in a way that proves he doesn't understand what they mean.
Bring Your Alibis: Revealing the Hotel California
JB Maddawg Oct. 31, 2012
Henley was stoned/bored in a hotel room somewhere in middle America while on tour ... late night TV was on ... and he decided to write a song that reminded him of Twilight Zone ,,, or at least that’s what he now gives as the genesis of the song in radio interviews.
A Jackson Browne composition, local kid from the suburbs of North OC. Eighth grade...making me feel old at 21.
The Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers were into country rock as well. I don't remember if any of those tunes had become hits.
Exactly.
I always thought it was about that old episode of "The Outer Limits," "The Guests." They also could have left at any time but chose not to (plus there was a Beast upstairs!)
Of course that "former Illuminist" whose name I forget and who claimed that the master of every recording was prayed over in a Satanic temple to fill it with demons claimed it was about something called "the night winds." I have no idea what that is.
In my experience, any song that references California will increase its appeal compared to the same song that does not reference California.
People not from California have a fantasy about California. Most of them are 16.
An example would be every 4th song from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Simply throwing in a line about California is a fundamental part of their schtick.
Band on the Run: Wings and Eagles, yes?
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