and just what the hell is going on in "Hotel California"?

I don't mean the whole symbolic, allegorical, "death of the 60s" thing going on in the lyrics...only weiners care about that kind of thing...I just mean what is going on rhythmically in that song? what is that supposed to be? calypso? cod-samba? some coked-out Hollywood rockstar's idea of reggae? all I know is that it's nowhere near country-rock...music lovers: help me out here!

Cod-samba is a niche-genre the world needs. Now more than ever.

Like "Dreadlock Holiday", like "Haitian Divorce", and like "Tonight", it is a reggae influenced pop song.

I just thought it was classic Eagles-brand, breezy California rock.

don't know about rhythmically, but harmonically.......spanish shit, apparently: http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/VOLUME09/Locked_into_the_Hotel_California.shtml

working title: Mexican Reggae...that answers some questions...

Most of the sycopation seems to come from the bass. The drums are mostly unsyncopated, and there's a guitar doing a reggae skank pattern, but the bass plays a pattern (with variations) something like:

1   2   3   4
xxx----x--x-x---

The two main interesting things going on there are the hard avoidance of the 2, and the pickup before the 3. There's possibly some reggae influence going on there that I don't know enough to pick up upon, but it's definitely the most syncopated instrumental part.

I screwed that up. Bass goes like:

1   2   3   4
xxxx---x--x-x---

it's hard even to think about this song.

I had a weird moment the other day when I was at a public event blaring "Hotel California", and halfway through the guitar solo I was thought to myself "I think I actually like this song!"

if theres anyone in this world who still likes this song, he will too change his mind after travelling the far east.

When you think you like Hotel California, remember these wise words from The Dude:

. . . and ignore the cab driver's reaction.

if theres anyone in this world who still likes this song, he will too change his mind after travelling the far east.

I don't know, I lived in Shanghai for a while.

I realize what a serious faux pas it is to even admit not HATING Hotel California. I think the fact that I never even really heard the song until I was 19-20 made a big difference.

When I think about it, the "such a lovely place" part is so repulsive. It's nauseating. And the guitar part is cheesy as hell, sure. But at the same time, It's the kind of song where you stumble around wasted and the Eagles are playing and it's just so perfectly awful that you just have to respect it.

i did a project about The Meaning of this song in high school

and "cheeseburger in paradise"

" I lived in Shanghai for a while. "

i meant more like India/Thai

I think the fact that I never even really heard the song until I was 19-20 made a big difference.

― it's going to be very hot, it's going to be very uncomfortable (Z S), Saturday, April 4, 2009 9:39 PM Bookmark

Same here.

I've probably heard the song no more than 15-20 times total, so I have no "this is played out!" hatred.

working title: Mexican Reggae...that answers some questions...

yeah, you can definitely hear both of those. the song is a '70s-rock clusterfuck, stylistically. the reggae comes across most strongly in the bass and rhythm guitar, the latin influence in the chords. all amply displayed here:

it's cod reggae and it doesn't really swing for shit, but that was the tenor of the times. i actually think it's kind of a great song.

(i also remember one afternoon in 1986 or '87, getting a phone call from the kid who played guitar in the band i was in, saying "dude, listen to this, i worked out the 'hotel california' solo, i've been working on this all weekend!" and listening at the end of the phone line while he played a pretty passable simulation over the amp in his bedroom. after that the whole band had to learn the song, even though nobody could really sing it or remember the words. but i was happy because it gave me a chance to use my rototoms a lot.)

Wow .... creepy! Purely by coincidence, I wrote a needlessly lengthy screed about "Hotel California" just the other day .

think you dislike the eagles? imagine bein' a teenager in 1976-77 when Hotel California wallpapered the airwaves, it was grim. actually HC is better than their early stuff thanks to joe walsh but it still sucks. ten years ago I had to review an eagles "bio" and it made me absolutely loath don henley -- self-righteous coke-vacuuming seducer of young girls. the guy's an incorrigible asshole and probably is in league w/satan.

I was ten. Believe me, I remember it vividly.

I was "deprived" from seventies music (cause my dad played Northern Soul the entire decade). So as a result I really don't hate the song so much. I can even admit to liking it in some weird fucked up way.

I kind of like "Take It to the Limit" bcz my calculus prof played it out of nowhere one day...that's about it as far as me being an Eagles fan...I do like Joe Walsh, though. Enough to wish he had never joined the Eagles (the only thing that kept him out of the Oval Office, imo.)

Amusing little article excerpt from Rolling Stone about the Big Lebowski scene:

A tougher get was Townes Van Zandt's cover of the Rolling Stones' "Dead Flowers," which plays over Lebowski's closing credits. "Allen Klein owns the rights to it," Burnett says. "He wanted $150,000." Burnett begged Klein to just come down and watch an early cut of Lebowski. "It got to the part where the Dude says, 'I hate the fuckin' Eagles, man!' Klein stands up and says, 'That's it, you can have the song!' That was beautiful." For the record, Burnett agrees with the Dude ("The Eagles sort of single-handedly destroyed that whole scene that was brewing back then," he says), but the line infuriated Glenn Frey. "I ran into Frey and he gave me some shit," Jeff Bridges says. "I can't remember what he said exactly, but my anus tightened a bit."

The Eagles sort of single-handedly destroyed that whole scene that was brewing back then

I'd love to hear more about this. I hate The Eagles (except Sad Cafe, I must admit).

I admit it, I always listen for that bit that's at 6:44-6:52 in that clip up there and then turn the station.

Also have to note that had there not been a "Hotel California", there may not have been a Randy Rhoads the Guitar Player. Which means that Rhoads would still be alive today which means Don Henley has some more blood on his hands.

I remember reading something that referred to "Hotel California" as the first reggae song to ever win a Grammy and was kinda o_O at that.

HC hate is more played out than HC itself

that's pretty much true of all supersaturated classic rock staples really

i roll my eyes and change the station when it comes on, but there are like 10 other Eagles songs i'll leave on and jam to

i think I just have a soft spot "coked-out Hollywood rockstar's idea of reggae"

It sucks when your feelings are played out.

if you don't like something and someone else likes it your opinions are "zzz" to them duh - for instance fishscale

The Dan's Babylon Sisters owns this whole genre of coked out cod reggae.

Pisses on this shit from a very great height.

lol @ jeff bridges

if theres anyone in this world who still likes this song, he will too change his mind after travelling the far east.

This comment interests me. There's a definite enthusiasm for this sort of thing amongst upwardly mobile young people in India but do you think it exceeds the love for classic rock in, say, the American Midwest? Is it just that they view it without the lens of over-familiarity? The phenomenon is interesting.

I don't think it's the greatest thing ever, and would probably favour Steely Dan if I had to choose, but I like the song fine.

What blows mind about this song is that this guy orders wine and is told that they haven't served it since 1969 but then later on he's got pink champagne on ice. What kind of hotel is this.

Bahahahaha.

if you don't like something and someone else likes it your opinions are "zzz" to them duh - for instance fishscale

I'm now visualizing GhostFace joining The Eagles.

I was exposed to it a LOT as a young child and I recall it with great fondness.

I was exposed to it a LOT as a young listener to Bob Harris' Radio 210 show, and oh.... (He was the 'new' 'rock' DJ, which meant no punk ever got played again, after Mike Read moved on)..

Two thoughts:

1) What was so interesting in 1969 that the hotel had some wine for?
2) interesting that so many people eloved this album so much that they never left it... !

This song can eat my fucking ass, okay? I don't give a shit what it's about.

I'm especially disturbed to think that Britishers know us for this fucking song???
Rise up Americans and demand BETTER MUSIC. I'd rather them know us for Journey than this tripe.

Never forget what Peel said about the potential of him playing the Eagles -
"not bloody likely"

peel is dead, henley sacrifices children to satan so he can live forerver

hahahaha surely you don't mean Don Henley???! Oh my god.

The End of The Innocence.
Dirty Laundry.
Boys Of Summer.

Don't even try me, I've got all his best singles on my iPod already.

I mean...one out of three ain't bad. Look, don't force me to talk about 80's Top 40 music, okay? Especially if we mean U.S. Top 40. This could get embarassing REALLY FAST.

peel is dead, henley sacrifices children to satan so he can live forerver

― velko, Monday, 6 April 2009 09:54 (14 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I know Henley (on thames), this is true...

What do you mean, Mark G.? Please explain. We're talking about Don Henley right?

(i think)

yes.

what i wonder is like, when "Take It To The Limit" came out, were Eagles fans all like "THEY TOOK IT TO THE LIMIT, BROS - HIGH FIVES"

lol

"Well I've been running down the road tryin' to loosen my load..." was always a big hit on the playground.

"Take It To The Limit" -- just thinking about it -- never fails to make me chortle.

actually Witchy Woman is pretty great too...

Witchay Woman

it's funny - I adore Joe Walsh, but I think some of my least favorite Eagles songs were after he came on board (life in the fast lane, hotel cali, victim of love, those shoes etc.), OTOH I can get down w/ in the city, i can't tell you why, the long run, new kid in town.

yeah, i mean, critical rehab of the Eagles probably begins with their country disco shit. "One of These Ni-i-i-ights" ...

it's funny - I adore Joe Walsh, but I think some of my least favorite Eagles songs were after he came on board (life in the fast lane, hotel cali, victim of love, those shoes etc.), OTOH I can get down w/ in the city, i can't tell you why, the long run, new kid in town.

That's like the opposite of me. "Those Shoes" kicks ass, but "In the City" ruins "The Warriors" for me everytime I see that scene.

You can spend all your time making money,
You can spend all your money making time.

TS: One of these nights vs. I was Made for Loving you

that is a TOUGHIE.

what about Lionize?

Lionize

would i turn off either of them if they came up on the classic rock radio station? no. which one would my wife make me turn off faster ... probably "I was Made for Loving you" ...

best eagles song is Wasted Time just cos R. Kelly interpolates it for I Believe I Can Fly.

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGS/Shared/StaticFiles/animals/images/primary/relentless-lion-eye.jpg

"take it to the limit" was the first non-kid song i remember as being my "favorite song." I was like three riding around with my dad and being all "turn that one up, diddy!" I also remember being really concerned with what the lyrics were about - e.g. whether he was singing to a boy or a girl. "well son, some songs the singer is just ummm singing to himself"

haha

I was never really bothered about Hotel California - just a sort of background radio inevitability. The lyrics may even have intrigued me slightly. That changed when I was 17ish. The pub I used to drink in had a tape with a live version on it, with a stupendous noodling instrumental build up of about five minutes before the song actually started.

I really really learnt to hate the song after that. The barman used to play it quite regularly. I can't be sure there wasn't another long noodling bit in the middle as well. Ye gods. Used to sit hunched in the corner gripping my pint.

But the dreams I've seen lately
Keep on turning out and burning out
And turning out the same

We had a foreign exchange student from Spain at our school and she was really into the Eagles. I played her that Gipsy Kings version off the Rubiyat comp for her one night in the bowling alley parking lot, and let me tell ya, it was a big hit.

hmmm..I wonder what the universal appeal is...soft-rock is pretty big in certain parts of Europe is it not? I mean isn't balearic disco pretty much a soft-rock/techno hybrid?

Someday some wonderful person is going to recommend a proper early Jackson Browne album...

http://www.jrp-graphics.com/jb/covers/JacksonBrowne.jpg

tyler dump all the television on your blog and throw up some eagles bootlegs, c'mon

yeah i gotta put up the lost album they recorded with Eno in 1974. Very rare.

Thanking U for the Jackson Browne help. OH HAI THANK U FOR HELPING A BIMBLE, <3

But don't start talking about lost albums from 1974 with Eno, unless you are really being real and honest and can actually back it up. April Fool's is over, man.

yeah, it's called "Taking Topanga Canyon (By Henley)" ... lotsa good Freytronics.

i love the part with the steely knives stabbin at a beast

but they JUST CAN'T KILL THE BEAST (drum roll)

OK, so, my own personal judgement of this song aside, occasionally I go to a food court near my office for lunch on Fridays, and there's this dude they have in there playing guitar for the entertainment of the crowd. ("Entertainment.") It's just him, his guitar and amp, and a drum machine, and I think a looping pedal. He always finishes up with, like, a 74-fucking-minute version of this song, and he uses that shitty Fender-Strat-clean-through-a-Roland-Jazz-Chorus sound that makes you want to kill yourself, and it's awful. I'll try to record it one Friday and post it to this thread.

tylerw, i just... i just feel u, man. i feel u.

I'm ambivalent on the Eagles as a whole but find this song funny. As a kid, I asked one of my sister's friends what "colitas" were and he told me it was "stanky Mexican coockie." So the "warm smell" line always makes me giggle.

*Coochie, not coockie.

Much better song than "Sunset Grill."

Okay, I'm playing this song now, all because of you ilxors. I hope you're happy.

It's awful, but still so much better than a lot of fucking trash on American classic rock radio.

That's my verdict.

Also, lest I forget - thanks for the jackson browne recommendation! I'm gettin' on that, man, believe me. Thanks ilxor from a Bimble for that.

I'll even take the guitar solo on this vs. Glen Frey, who can go suck a duck.

The solo is maddening. That weird tango beat and that riff that just gets repeated over and over and over and over again...makes me picture old women hippie-dancing with scarves and overall bugs the living shit out of me. I can mindlessly mouth the words to the lyrics and not really pay attention, but that solo just...ugh. I hate it.

That weird tango beat and that riff that just gets repeated over and over and over and over again...makes me picture old women hippie-dancing with scarves and overall bugs the living shit out of me.

http://www.nipissingu.ca/faculty/annbg/darwin/sirens.gif

I mean, the riff has to repeat for it to work.

Ha. I dunno. I'd like to think that a sirens' song would at least be a pleasurable experience, even while one is pounding one's brain out against the rocky shore...

The chord progression is kind of a minor-key version of Pachelbel's Canon, and I think that's the reason behind it's staying power. The chromatic downward pull of it.

It's even in the same key as the Canon (D).

One thing's for sure: "Hotel California" batting lead-off makes the second track, "New Kid In Town", taste like a mouthful of soapy dish water.

In my mind that song tastes that way already...

http://www.univie.ac.at/Anglistik/easyrider/data/graphics/sky.gif

Late For The Sky is also recommended.

http://www.bettybowers.com/graphics/joycelyn.jpg

Still happy that ilxors recommended me some Jackson Browne. Doesn't mean the Eagles still don't need to be eradicated from the earth. But I've got Hotel California on my iPod, so to give it one last evalutation.