Hotel California Lyrics by the Eagles and The Story Behind the Iconic Song

Liputan6.com, Jakarta The 70s were the golden time for rock and roll. There are so many iconic rock songs released during this decade, like Stairway to Heaven, Free Bird, Bohemian Rhapsody, Smoke on the Water, and Sultans of Swing. Among those many iconic rock songs, Hotel California by Eagles is one of the greatest.

Released on February 22, 1977, Hotel California was the second single of the Eagles' fifth studio album of the same name. According to the American Songwriter website, the Hotel California lyrics and song were written by Glenn Frey and his bandmates, Felder and Don Henley.

Catchy lyrics, beautiful guitar solo, Hotel California has everything it needs to be one of the most iconic songs of all time. Its reggae-ish grooves will make you want to move your body and dance to the song. The song is so good that Rolling Stone has put it in 311th place on their "500 Greatest Songs of All Time."

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Hotel California Lyrics

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair

Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air

Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light

My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim

I had to stop for the night

There she stood in the doorway

I heard the mission bell

And I was thinking to myself

"This could be Heaven or this could be Hell"

Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way

There were voices down the corridor

I thought I heard them say

Welcome to the Hotel California

Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)

Such a lovely face

Plenty of room at the Hotel California

Any time of year (Any time of year)

You can find it here

Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes bends

She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys she calls friends

How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat

Some dance to remember, some dance to forget

So I called up the Captain

"Please bring me my wine."

He said, "We haven't had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine."

And still those voices are calling from far away

Wake you up in the middle of the night

Just to hear them say

Welcome to the Hotel California

Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)

Such a lovely face

They livin' it up at the Hotel California

What a nice surprise (what a nice surprise)

Bring your alibis

Mirrors on the ceiling

The pink champagne on ice

And she said "We are all just prisoners here, of our own device"

And in the master's chambers

They gathered for the feast

They stab it with their steely knives

But they just can't kill the beast

Last thing I remember

I was running for the door

I had to find the passage back to the place I was before

"Relax," said the night man

"We are programmed to receive

You can check-out any time you like

But you can never leave!"

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The Story Behind Hotel California

One of the charms of this song is its lyrics. The Hotel California lyrics seem simple at first, yet, it carry deep meanings. The metaphorical lyrics can be interpreted in many ways, making fans debate what this song is about. Some say it's about drug addiction and rehabilitation, while others argue it's about satanism.

However, it seems these analysis are far from the true meaning. In an interview in Howard Stern Show in 2008, Don Felder told the story of how he wrote the song. He said that he wrote the guitar intro when he played an acoustic guitar while sitting on a couch in a rental house in Malibu, California.

According to him, the Hotel California lyrics is their take about the high-life in Los Angeles, California. "All of us kind of drove into L.A. at night. Nobody was from California, and 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," said Felder in the 2008 interview.