There are plenty of songs that tell a story or conceal significant ideas. Very often the most intriguing lyrics are the ones that contain the most powerful meanings and while combined with great music that reassembles the meaning of the song it makes the song a masterpiece. A perfect example of this is “Hotel California” by the Eagles. This song shows all the qualities of an excellent song with its dual meanings, metaphors and excellent musical elements that make “Hotel California” the great song it is. Apart from the great story telling about their past and its hidden messages “Hotel California” is also well known for its ear pleasing music, as well as its complexity on the guitar and its music arrangements. “Hotel California” is composed …show more content…
The beginning of the song does not have any percussion or lyrical accompaniment, instead there are only two acoustic guitars playing that set up the mood and the tone for the song. “Hotel California” has a very mellow tone throughout the song that represents the hidden message behind the song; the song is believed to resemble the bands trip to California and their stay at the hotel California. The acoustic introduction lasts for almost a minute until two loud drum thuds introduce vocals, electric guitar, and the bass. As the song plays we start hearing some random guitar solos that could portray something special happening throughout the trip in the hotel. A couple of minutes before the song ends the magnificent and popular guitar solo is performed to finalize …show more content…
The story is much more darker than what it sounds like, filled with obsession and drugs the vocals play an important role in the song that it may not be too obvious for someone just listening to the music. If we look back at rock bands of the time they all reveal many metaphors that relate to the use and consumption of drugs. When the lyrics say that “they stab it with their steely knives, but they just can’t kill the beast” it may be a metaphor for their use of heroin in which the “knives” are the syringes and the “beast” is the addiction. In addition, when analyzing the chorus which represents the most important part of the vocals we find that when they say “welcome to the hotel California, such a lovely place” they may be referring to this place as their drug trip within their minds as it is “such a lovely place” and there is “plenty of room at the Hotel California”. The hotel is the prison that the Eagles have created from their “own device” and as we approach the second chorus we can see how the last two verses change into “what a nice surprise, bring your alibis”, also the vocal sings the last word with a disgusted tone that contradicts with their