I think everyone has a track that follows them and strangely is played at pivotal points in their lives. For me I usually hear Hotel California when I am embarking on an event or at a stage in my life that will change my life experience forever. Here's the evidence; I first remembered hearing Hotel California in the outback of the Eastern Tip of New Zealand's North Island. I was on a Kiwi Experience tour and staying in a place that was so close to paradise. After watching the sun go down, a group of us sat on the porch of the house and listen to the owners of the B&B jam with one of their track being Hotel California. It is funny looking back at that adventure because at points in New Zealand I was on my own, away from my family and yet, I didn't feel lonely. It was one of the most enlightening period of my life. The second playing that stays in my mind is being on a pier in Cape Town, surrounded by friends, having dinner and counting down to climbing Table Mountain. I think at the moment in time I had never felt so comfortable in my own skin and if I look at photos from that night, my face beams with happiness. Again so far away from everything I knew, but I felt so comfortable in myself. The third playing was in Zermatt, on honeymoon, with my husband, I need not say more than I was very content. Three pivotal moments accompanied by The Eagles. I have heard the song more than three times but I think it is funny how it has been the same song that I remember from three really important periods in my life.
The Eagles recorded Hotel California and released it in February in 1977. The single, taken from the album of the same name, peaked at No. 8 in the UK chart and reached No. 1 in the US charts. Written by Don Felder, Don Henley and Glenn Frey, it is their biggest hit and won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year (1977). Much has been said about the meaning of the song but thinking about the context for me of the song; I very much like Henley's description of its meaning he gave in 2013 when he said that it is about "a journey from innocence to experience" as at all the main point I have talked about in my life has been milestones in my own journey. There is also a darker view of the lyrics which suggest that the song is about the dark underbelly of the American Dream.
Whatever the full meanings of the lyrics, it cannot be denied that Hotel California has one of the best guitar riffs of any song. The intro and verse's chord pattern counts eight measures, each one assigned to a single chord. Seven different chords are used in eight measures. As the song opens, it is not until the eighth measure that a chord is repeated. The song is initially in the key of B-minor.
It looks as though the hotel in heaven must be getting an extension.
Let's hear Hotel California again and see if it creates shivers up and down your spine:
Hotel California by the Eagles
Written by The Eagles
Released: February 1977
Album: Hotel California
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