HOTEL CALIFORNIA - THE EAGLES

WOW! What a song.... and what a group! You can't think of them without thinking of the whole scene back in the years when so many of us protested. Has it been worth while? Of course it has. Maybe not as much as the more idealists among us wanted, but there has certainly been progress. Today's leaders were the young ones then, and they have undoubtedly been influenced by the songs written then, whether by The Beatles, Bob Dylan or The Eagles, and by the many demonstrations in which they also participated.

This song in particular brings back an awful lot of memories, not the least of them when I heard my son sing it for the first time with his group. Tears literally flooded my eyes.

And here they are, singing it unplugged, years later (1994), older, wiser, better and obviously enjoying it and very pleased with the result, as can be deduced from the mutual congratulations at the end!

Listen to it... slowly, gently, lovingly. Savour its delicious introduction, both guitar and bongos, as the tempo gradually increases, till the applause finally bursts out and those unforgettable words come out: "On a dark desert highway..." A remarkable performance. Absolutely fantastic. Unrepeatable. Simply genius. Love it. Love the Spanish guitar flavour. . Hope you will too. Lyrics below. Video courteousy of youtube.com and marvtheeguy; thank you both.




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 face.
Plenty of room at the Hotel California,
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, that 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 face.
Living it up at the Hotel California,
What a nice surprise, bring your alibies."

Mirrors on the ceiling, 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 checkout any time you like, but you can never leave!"