Hotel California by Eagles. Every beginner guitar player wants to play this song, and if you’re a guitar player, people are going to request you to play this song by the Eagles band (this is one of the band’s best-known songs).
Even if you’re not a guitar player and play some other music instrument, you can enjoy listening to this rock classic, and you’ll appreciate why every guitar player wants to play this song (there’s so much good guitar played in the song and the song actually concludes with an extended electric guitar interplay between the band members).
What is the Hotel California Song About?
The Hotel California by Eagles song has been given several interpretations by fans and critics alike, but the Eagles have described it as their “interpretation of the high life in Los Angeles”.
California is seen from the perspective of an outsider here. Don Henley said: “We were all middle-class kids from the Midwest. Hotel California was our interpretation of the high life in Los Angeles.”
Don Henley in the London Daily Mail November 9, 2007 said: “Some of the wilder interpretations of that song have been amazing. It was really about the excesses of American culture and certain girls we knew. But it was also about the uneasy balance between art and commerce.”
Don Henley on the TV news show 60 Minutes (on November 25, 2007) had said, “everyone wants to know what this song means.” Henley replied: “I know, it’s so boring. It’s a song about the dark underbelly of the American Dream, and about excess in America which was something we knew about.”
In the 2013 documentary History of the Eagles, Henley said that the song was about “a journey from innocence to experience…that’s all”.
More About the Eagles Band
Here’s some more about the popular band:
- The Eagles is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1971 by Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner.
- With five number one singles and six number one albums, the Eagles were one of the most successful recording artists of the 1970s.
- At the end of the 20th century, two of their albums, Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) and Hotel California, ranked among the 20 best-selling albums in the U.S. according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
- Hotel California is ranked 37th in Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
- The Eagles broke up in July 1980, but reunited in 1994 for Hell Freezes Over, a mix of live and new studio tracks.
Useful Resources
- The Eagles Hotel California + Poster UK vinyl LP – If you’re an Eagles fan or an avid vinyl collector, this is a must for your list.
- Eagles Band Posters
- Authentic hotel California Keychain
Hotel California Song Lyrics
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 place)
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year (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 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 place)
Such a lovely face
They livin’ it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise (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
They 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 check-out any time you like,
But you can never leave! ”
KeytarHQ editorial team includes musicians who write and review products for pianists, keyboardists, guitarists & other musicians. KeytarHQ is the best online resource for information on keyboards, pianos, synths, keytars, guitars and music gear for musicians of all abilities, ages and interests.
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