Wright 1Mackenzie Wright3 November, 2014WarrenEnglish"Hotel California"There is a lot of discrepancy over the meaning of the song "Hotel California". This song is known by many of one of the greatest of all time. It comes in at least the top ten best songs ever written on numerous lists on the internet, and countdowns on television. The song was widely loved but also criticized, most likely due to its popularity when released in 1977; winning various awards such as the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1978. The six plus minute song has controversial lyrics such as "you can check out any time you'd like, but you can never leave". There are several varying opinions of what the song ...view middle of the document...
com). Another Eagles Band member, Glenn Frey also from the Midwest, grew up in Detroit, Michigan. Unlike the other band members, Frey was not immediately born into a life of music. His dad was a mechanic, and he was an athlete. Frey was very popular in school and made many friends through sports and other extracurricular activities he was involved in. After a couple piano lessons, Frey attended a Beatles concert and fell in love with music.The Eagles band was formed in the 1970's and they were number one selling artists in the world within five years of their founding. Being from theWright 3Midwest helped the artists experience a real change from the laid-back easy-going lifestyle, to the Los Angeles life. The experiences they had with this life-changing move were perfect to write this widely known and appreciated song. The cool sound and interesting lyrics are fun and easy to sing along to, which leads to another reason this song is adored by millions. "It's a song about the journey from innocence to experience" Don Henley said in the 2013 "The Eagles" documentary.According to an interview in Rolling Stone, Don Henley said "We were all middle-class kids from the Midwest; 'Hotel California' was our interpretation of the high life in Los Angeles"(Jay-Z). Like most songs, the writers are conveying a message. The song displays lyrics that explain that the idea of fame, fortune, beautiful girls, and the "California Dream" is just a mirage. Due to the fact that this song is not very specific in meaning, you have to take advantage of the lyrics that are easy to understand. As the song starts "On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair", they are having a relaxing car ride into California. He quickly becomes tired and needs to stop for the night. He meets a beautiful girl who tells him about the classy hotel. "This could be Heaven or this could be Hell," that indicate the band members had already speculated that the dream was not all it had seemed. In the height of the famous "sex, drugs, and rock n roll", the hotel is in itself California, filled with drugs, pretty ladies, perhaps prostitutes, andWright 4rock music. "Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes bends, she got a lot of pretty, pretty boys she calls friends", are lyrics that plainly describe a girl, who is interested in the finer things in life. She enjoys tiffany jewelry and n...
