Hotel California - Eagles (1977) 8/24/22

For nearly three years, I've avoided highlighting today's "Great Song of the '70s." Why? Because, there is SO MUCH information to cover, I felt it would be like writing college term paper!

But today, I'm diving in with both feet and an editing pencil (so to speak).

First, let me tell you what "Hotel California" by the Eagles is NOT about: 1: An old church taken over by devil worshippers. 2: A psychiatric hospital. 3:An inn run by cannibals. 4:Aleister Crowley's mansion in Scotland. 5: The Playboy Mansion. 6: Hell.

What the song "MIGHT" be about: Marriage and Divorce.

Don Felder, Glenn Frey and Don Henley co-wrote the song, so what did THEY say "Hotel California" is about?

Felder: If you drive into L.A. at night, you can just see this glow on the horizon of lights, and the images that start running through your head of Hollywood and all the dreams that you have, and so it was kind of about that."

Frey: "It explores the underbelly of success, the darker side of Paradise."

Henley: "It was really about the excesses of American culture and certain girls we knew. But it was also about the uneasy balance between art and commerce."

Not exactly the same interpretation between the three, but one thing they all agreed on was this: the whole song is a metaphor.

And that brings us to some misinterpreted lyrics.

1: "The warm smell of colitas..." Some thought this was some sort of sexual slang, or another name for marijuana, but colitas are actually desert plants that bloom at night and have a strong pungent odor.

2: "They stab it with their steely knives but they just can't kill the beast." It's a reference

to Steely Dan, with whom the Eagles had a friendly rivalry.

Okay...enough! Let's move on to just how successful "Hotel California" turned out to be...

On the charts: A Top 10 hit in 9 countries, including #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 and Canada's Top 40, as well as #2 on Canada's Adult Contemporary Chart and #10 on Billboard's matching chart. It also reached #2 in France and Switzerland!

It sold millions of copies worldwide, and won the 1978 Grammy Award for "Record of the Year!"

And the accolades kept on coming.

1: At last count, the song has been covered by nearly 170 artists and used in dozens of films, TV shows and video games.

2: Rolling Stone Magazine has it ranked #311 on their list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

3: It's been added to The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of the "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll."

4: in 1998, The song's guitar solo was voted the best solo of all time by readers of Guitarist Magazine.

5: American Songwriter Magazine named it one of the "7 Best Songs of the '70s."

"Hotel California" by the Eagles is hands down one of the GREATEST "Great Songs of the '70s." And I only mentioned SOME of the reasons why. For a far deeper look into the song, I suggest clicking here: https://www.songfacts.com/facts/eagles/hotel-california

And then listen by clicking here: