On ‘Everything You did’, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen wrote, “turn up the Eagles, the neighbors are listening”. The line “they stab it with their steely knives, but they just can’t kill the beast,” is a playful jab to at Steely Dan. The definite misspelling (Mercedes Bends) could also reference ‘the bends’ that a diver would experience if they came up too quickly.Īlong the way, the songwriters Don Felder, Don Henley & Glenn Frey add in some jibes at other bands. Considering the album was about the dark side of success you can see how the valuations were in material things – jewellery from Tiffany’s, a Mercedes-Benz. ‘Her mind is tiffany twisted’ seems to be a reference to a divorce settlement. Only one band member was from California, the rest were all ‘outsiders’ that individually found their way to the land of dreams.Īs the title track song progresses we learn about the excess or success of the record industry and the power of music. There is no one dark desert highway, but a reference to the ‘path’ to Los Angeles and fame. Coming in on the dark desert highway full of excitement and expectation and leaving, broken and burnt out sailing off to lahaina. The album takes the listener on a journey. Like the welcome to a hotel that promises much, “Welcome to Hotel California” could be “Welcome to the Music Industry.” The band, mostly California outsiders arrived in Los Angeles, along a dark desert highway to be welcomed into the music industry. The meaning of Hotel California can be assumed as the record industry.

Don Henley (long before he wrote songs about New York) came up with the concept and title into which the other band members added songs. Between their arrival on the scene, and the writing of Hotel California – the band wrote, released and toured four major albums and delivered a Greatest Hits album that remains one of the all time best sellers.īetween 1971 and conceiving the album in February 1977 the band wrote, recorded, toured and partied relentlessly! Money, parties, and drugs all took their toll. The album can be seen as a metaphor for their lives in the 1970s. The story behind Hotel California is the band’s rapid rise to fame. Every interpretation will be subjective, not definitive. There will also be a difference between what it means to me, the listener and what the writers want you to think they are singing about. The great thing about any music is that every listener will take something different from it. I have spent many hours listening to the album and plenty trying to decode the themes and truly understand the meaning of Hotel California. My annual top ten of most played songs includes as least 5 of the 9 album tracks. For the past 5 years it has been my most played album on Spotify.

Released in 1976, Hotel California rapidly became one of the world’s best selling albums.

Who sang hotel california