Hotel California Analysis

The Eagles are one of the most influential bands in the history of Rock music. In 1976 they released a song that has shredded through time. “Hotel California” is one of those songs that have stood the test of time. Its immense popularity made it one of the biggest hits of the 70s. Also there is, supposedly, a secret satanic message hidden in the song and is only decipherable when the song is played backwards. This song has been covered by many, many artists including The Killers, Rascal Flatts, Bob Marley, and the infamous William Hung from American Idol, but my personal favorite is the Spanish Version By Gipsy Kings.
Perhaps best known for their musical versatility, The Eagles have had extreme success. They continue to release albums with their most recent in 2007, “Long Road Out of Eden.” “Hotel California” has very ambiguous lyrics that tell a very strange story that few people understand the meaning of. There is a very large amount of imagery and there is a little bit of alliteration. The last two lines of the song are a paradox: “You can checkout any time you like/But you can never leave!” The music in this song is extremely interesting. Most of the song has a folk style arpeggio on the guitars with a slight reggae riff underneath it. The song has a tropical, reggae feel to it along with the Eagle’s Rock n’ Roll vibe. The song also has a 90 second solo that is one of the most well respected lyrical solos in the history of classic rock.

Not very much is known about the Gipsy Kings. They did a cover of “Hotel California” and their cover ended up in the Movie “The Big Lebowski.” In their cover they changed all of the lyrics from English to Spanish and the music became a traditional Flamenco style song. Flamenco is a musical and dance style from Spain. It is very fast and has a poppy feel to it. I like this version of this song because almost everything about the song has changed and yet it is still recognizable as “Hotel California.”