Glenn Frey was a founding member of rock band the Eagles. During the 1970s, Frey played guitar with the band, as well as piano and keyboards. Alongside Don Henely, Frey was one of the primary singers of the Eagles. He sang lead vocals on songs such as “Take it Easy”, “Peaceful Easy” Feeling”, “Tequila Sunrise”, “Already Gone”, “Lyin’ Eyes”, “New Kid In Town” and “Heartache Tonight”. Consolidating his solo recordings and those with the Eagles, Frey released 24 Top 40 singles on the Billboard Hot 100.
“Hotel California”
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 hereHer 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 forgetSo 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 alibisMirrors 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 beastLast 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! “
I chose this song for a few reasons. One, because I recognized it and another because it’s one of my best friends favorite songs (a song that I never really took the time to listen to). I didn’t know the name of the band, but I do know how popular that song still is now and how many people still listen to it regularly, so I figured why not use it for my blog post. I must admit, it is the voice of the lead singer that drew me in. The song had a great edge to it that made it so unique and made it very understandable to me why people liked it so much. Learning about this man’s career both during and after the formation of this band, shows me how very successful and popular he was. Frey was a talented musician as well as a talented singer. Just by hearing the title, I honestly had no clue what the song would be about.
Wikipedia, though, explained the meaning behind the song better than I can:
Don Henley has given a number of explanations about the song, ranging from “a journey from innocence to experience”[7] to “a sociopolitical statement”.[28] In an interview with Rolling Stone, Henley said that the song was meant to be “more of a symbolic piece about America in general”, and added: “Lyrically, the song deals with traditional or classical themes of conflict: darkness and light, good and evil, youth and age, the spiritual versus the secular. I guess you could say it’s a song about loss of innocence.”[8]
The song has been described as being “all about American decadence and burnout, too much money, corruption, drugs and arrogance; too little humility and heart.”[8] It has also been interpreted an allegory about hedonism, self-destruction, and greed in the music industry of the late 1970s.[29] Don Henley called it “our interpretation of the high life in Los Angeles“[30] and later reiterated: “It’s basically a song about the dark underbelly of the American dream and about excess in America, which is something we knew a lot about.”[31]
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_California
I love that this song contains such deep meaning other than the things that you mainly listen to today. The songs nowadays are mostly about love, or lost love. While this includes a woman, it is not the same old love song. The meaning of the song is deeper and more complex than one simple girl.
I don’t think that any other song I have ever heard sounds quite like this one. It is so unique, which is also why it was so popular. You cannot compete with or duplicate the brilliance of this song from the instruments, the beat, the singers, the musicians, even the octave (im pretty sure that’s the right word here) that the song was in.
taylornoelle28 