Californiaddiction

An essay based on the song ‘Hotel California’ by The Eagles

By Romy Neise & Yannick Seeger

‘It is our interpretation of the high life in Los Angeles’ said The Eagles front singer Don Henley when he was asked about their song ‘Hotel California’. Due to the song’s high amount of symbolism and imagery many people have interpreted it in many different ways since it was published in 1977. In ‘Hotel California’ the state of California is used as a metaphor in order to describe a lifestyle that embraces a rollercoaster of different feelings. However, it is a kind of life difficult to escape from. Some people have said that even though California was chosen to portray this particular way of life, any other state could have been used for the song in order to realize this intention. They claimed that this way of life has been lived all over the United States at that time and that the choice of California was due it being the place where film (Hollywood) and music industry developed.

However, we are of a different opinion and think that there is a certain reason why California is the setting for such a story that is told in the song. We claim that California is the right place to depict a life which constantly shifts between good and evil. The contradictions and extreme opposites of such a life are very well represented in every single area in California.

In the following analysis we would like to show this duality with the help of lines in the song which stood out to us in particular. In every line we saw a close connection to certain themes which we have discussed so far at the seminar. In the first stanza the speaker describes that he is forced to stay the night at a place that could be ‘heaven or hell’. The words could be no more oppositional. That the place is either heaven or hell implies that there is nothing in between. The duality expressed in this line can be referred to many aspects we have already dealt with at the seminar – natural catastrophes vs. a landscape full of resources and flourishing nature, welcoming migrant workers vs. using them as scapegoats during a time of crisis. This reference might seem a little too far fetched. Nevertheless, the phrase ‘heaven or hell’ can be applied to many areas in Californian life, may it be the high life of The Eagles or the life of the nature. After the speaker recognized this duality immediately, he is being deluded into staying at the place by the mystical ‘she’. The listener can soon figure that this woman plays a significant role in the song. The question ‘who or what is ’she’?’ slowly emerges. We think that ‘she’ is the embodiment of seduction. It is striking that the speaker planned to stop at the place for only one night, however, ‘she’ represents everything to him that makes California so appealing. ‘She’ is the California promise. ‘The hotel’ becomes a metaphor for a place which constantly feels like a holiday. A hotel with ‘Plenty of room’ supports the notion of a California that welcomes everybody at any time. The speaker looses himself in this place where he lives a cheerful and reckless life. It seems as if the promise of leisure and excitement can be fulfilled – people are pretty and the summer sweat is sweet. In the end, however, the speaker becomes an inmate of the California prison on his own demand (‘We are all just prisoners here, of our own device’). He is trapped by the seduction California at first presented to him and now he is not capable of letting the place behind. The very last lines of the song ‘You can check-out any time you like, But you can never leave!’ show that he might be able to leave temporarily but there will always be something that pulls him back as if there is magic involved. Even if he would leave California physically, he would stay there mentally. Once he has lived there he has consumed California like a drug and is now addicted to it. Every drug has its downside, the detoxification. People know about it and yet they still consume them, because the good side, the trip, seems to outweigh the terrible feeling after the trip. People know that consuming drugs regularly will turn them into addicts. People still do it! This kind of mind game can be compared to life in California. People know about the earthquakes, they know about the risks of gambling and they know that racial discrimination is part of the everyday life, yet there seems to be something that keeps them there …the trip of the Californian life?