Hotel california meaning of song
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Read more: Watch the most incredible vocal harmonies by The Eagles Henley wrote most of the lyrics based on Frey's ideas, and also looked for inspiration by driving out into the desert, as well as from films and theatre. a picture of a guy on the highway, a picture of the hotel, the guy walks in, the door opens, strange people." We wanted to write a song just like it was a movie."įrey described the song as a cinematic montage, "just one shot to the next. Speaking to Cameron Crowe, Frey said he and Henley wanted the song "to open like an episode of the Twilight Zone", saying: "We take this guy and make him like a character in The Magus, where every time he walks through a door there’s a new version of reality. However, he entered "a weird world peopled by freaky characters", and became "quickly spooked by the claustrophobic feeling of being caught in a disturbing web from which he may never escape." In a sentence, I'd sum it up as the end of the innocence, round one."įrey also came up with a story of a person who, fed up of driving a long distance in a desert, saw a place to rest and pulled in for the night. In that sense it became something of a symbol, and the 'Hotel' the locus of all that LA had come to mean for us. Beverly Hills was still a mythical place to us.
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He said of their personal and professional experience in LA: "We were getting an extensive education, in life, in love, in business. Henley chose the theme of the song, pointing out how The Beverly Hills Hotel had become a literal and symbolic focus of their lives at the time. In 2013, he added: "It's a song about a journey from innocence to experience."ĭon Henley and Glenn Frey wrote the lyrics. It's a song about the dark underbelly of the American Dream, and about excess in America which was something we knew about." In 2007, Don Henley said: "I know, it's so boring. California is used as the song's setting, but it could relate to anywhere in America and beyond. In general, the song is about materialism and excess. The song was written for the band's 1976 album of the same name. Writing credits for the song are shared by Don Felder (music), Don Henley, and Glenn Frey (lyrics). Don Felder came up with the instrumental demo.