Hotel California Eagles Song Meaning
They turn the beach boys plea from 1965 i wish they all could be california girls on its head.
Hotel california eagles song meaning. Songs from the dark side the eagles take a look at the seamy underbelly of l a the flip side of fame and failure love and money. 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. The california referred to on this track is both the famous west coast state specifically los angeles and a symbolism of american materialism. They were really hot when my husband and i were in jr.
My second favorite is take it easy because it mentions winslow az i m from tucson. Hotel california is arguably the eagles most iconic song. The eagles original recording of the song features henley singing the lead vocals and concludes with an extended section of electric guitar interplay between felder and. I clicked on the hotel california link in today s top 10 just to see what it said because hotel california is my favorite song by the eagles.
Hotel california is the title track from the eagles album of the same name and was released as a single in february 1977. It sold over 16 million copies in the u s. The hit song is actually an examination of the pitfalls of living within southern california in the tumultuous 1970s. Writing credits for the song are shared by don felder music don henley and glenn frey lyrics.
The eagles grew up in los angeles at a time of great cultural change well documented in the bbc s hotel california la from the byrds to the eagles which is available on the internet archive this album and these stories were the influence for me to take a small pilgrimage of sorts to los angeles and. The hit tune was a billboard chart topper. According to the eagles this iconic song of theirs has various interpretations. Despite popular belief the eagles have confirmed that hotel california actually has nothing to do with satanism psychiatric hospitals or cocaine addictions.
Or to be more precise california girls. Meaning walk it through. High and high school back in the early 70 s. But when we wrote life in the fast lane and started working on hotel california and new kid in town with j d we knew we were heading down a long and twisted corridor and just stayed with it.
Barney s excellent book offers more of the context for la and hotel california. In the title track of their hit 1976 album hotel california the eagles warn listeners of the two most dangerous things known to man.