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Hotel California, The Eagles |
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#1 |
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Birkenhead, Merseyside.
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Hotel California, The Eagles
I absolutely love Hotel California by The Eagles, but I have a simple question :
What the heck is it about ?? I have heard various theories, including a haunted hotel, a prison, a hospital, a drugs rehab centre etc. So then - what is it ACTUALLY about ? Thanks
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#2 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Buckingham
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It is about the west coast lifestyle and mindset.
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#3 |
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Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Up North
Posts: 58,791
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Near death(coma)/actual death/purgatory
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#4 |
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Join Date: Dec 2012
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#5 |
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Join Date: May 2011
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My interpretation is that it's about the experiences in a mental hospital of someone suffering from psychosis. 😵
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#6 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 17,338
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It's about checking out but never leaving, obviously. Or you could ask Jethro Tull.
This is a lovely version. ![]() Hotel California |
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#7 |
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Join Date: Jul 2008
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Quote:
It's about checking out but never leaving, obviously. Or you could ask Jethro Tull.
Hotel California |
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#8 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Belfast
Posts: 7,287
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Quote:
I absolutely love Hotel California by The Eagles, but I have a simple question :
What the heck is it about ?? I have heard various theories, including a haunted hotel, a prison, a hospital, a drugs rehab centre etc. So then - what is it ACTUALLY about ? Thanks ![]() |
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#9 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: North-West England
Posts: 25,875
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Quote:
It's about checking out but never leaving, obviously. Or you could ask Jethro Tull.
This is a lovely version. ![]() Hotel California |
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#10 |
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Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 76,847
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The MonaLisa Twins have covered it........
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGi3NSrrsmI they do great covers of 60s pop records.....especially the Beatles but others as well |
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#11 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
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Quote:
Pleasant enough, but I could have done without all the "posing."
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#12 |
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Join Date: Jul 2008
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Quote:
I put it on CD alongside the Gypsy Kings version. Got my Eagles Greatest Hits in my player so the original is never far away.
Is my monitor playing up or is your smiley anaemic? ![]() |
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#13 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
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#14 |
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Join Date: Jan 2012
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The varying answers in this thread seem to suggest that no one is quite sure what the song is actually about!
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#15 |
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Belfast
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Quote:
The varying answers in this thread seem to suggest that no one is quite sure what the song is actually about!
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#16 |
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Join Date: Jul 2008
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Quote:
Cheers 😁 |
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#17 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
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Quote:
Hey...thanks for that. I'm not as well versed in the early Tull stuff so never knew about this.
Cheers 😁 ![]() Most modern pop songs are pretty much identical but some of the old cases of plagiarism are quite interesting, Led Zeppelin have form for this. Zeppelin Personally I think a good song is a good song regardless of where it came from, I guess the only person who has a right to complain is the artist that did the original, if they were not as successful they might have felt ripped off. |
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#18 |
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Join Date: Jan 2012
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Quote:
No, the answers suggest that the song is open to interpretation and means different things to different people. That's perfectly ok.
Although it sounds like the California/west coast lifestyle might be the correct answer to that question. It always makes me laugh when someone says something is "open to interpretation". What a load of pretentious rubbish. A song may be enigmatic, cryptic, obtuse, etc, but it was still ORIGINALLY inspired by something. Do you really think a songwriter sits there thinking "I know, I'll write a song that will be open to interpretation!"? |
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#19 |
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Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Up North
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Quote:
Yes, which is another way of saying that we don't know what it's ACTUALLY about, i.e what the writers of the song intended it to be about, which is what the thread starter was asking!
Although it sounds like the California/west coast lifestyle might be the correct answer to that question. It always makes me laugh when someone says something is "open to interpretation". What a load of pretentious rubbish. A song may be enigmatic, cryptic, obtuse, etc, but it was still ORIGINALLY inspired by something. Do you really think a songwriter sits there thinking "I know, I'll write a song that will be open to interpretation!"? |
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#20 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
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I'm also pretty sure some songwriters have absolutely no idea what they are writing about either through drink drugs or mental illness.
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#21 |
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Join Date: Mar 2013
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It's not about the words - for me it's about the music, particularly the sublime marriage of Walsh and Felder's guitars.
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#22 |
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Belfast
Posts: 7,287
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Quote:
Yes, which is another way of saying that we don't know what it's ACTUALLY about, i.e what the writers of the song intended it to be about, which is what the thread starter was asking!
Although it sounds like the California/west coast lifestyle might be the correct answer to that question. It always makes me laugh when someone says something is "open to interpretation". What a load of pretentious rubbish. A song may be enigmatic, cryptic, obtuse, etc, but it was still ORIGINALLY inspired by something. Do you really think a songwriter sits there thinking "I know, I'll write a song that will be open to interpretation!"? The original inspiration for a song doesn't mean it has a fixed meaning. The listener is perfectly entitled to interpret the song as they hear it. Paul Simon wrote 'Homeward Bound' at Widnes Railway Station when he was missing his girlfriend. That was the inspiration but the song serves as a touchstone for any one missing home. What is pretentious about that? The very song you mention may well be inspired by Glenn Frey's impression of west coast culture. He actually did choose to write the song as a metaphor and in interviews has suggested the song has a sociopolitical theme. Which is pretty close to saying he thought the song would be open to interpretation. Wanting to know the background to why a song was written or the original inspiration is fine but it isn't always necessary or helpful. |
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#23 |
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Join Date: Jan 2009
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It's kind of cheesy and the chorus sucks balls, but I don't mind it.
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#24 |
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 6,121
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Quote:
Yes, which is another way of saying that we don't know what it's ACTUALLY about, i.e what the writers of the song intended it to be about, which is what the thread starter was asking!
Although it sounds like the California/west coast lifestyle might be the correct answer to that question. It always makes me laugh when someone says something is "open to interpretation". What a load of pretentious rubbish. A song may be enigmatic, cryptic, obtuse, etc, but it was still ORIGINALLY inspired by something. Do you really think a songwriter sits there thinking "I know, I'll write a song that will be open to interpretation!"? |
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#25 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Ignoringtrollsville
Posts: 7,875
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Quote:
BIB Yes.
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