Line #27 Music/HotelCalifornia


1	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hotel_california.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:320:''♫ You can check out any time you like,\
3	But you can never leave! ♫'']]
4
5	''Hotel California'' is the fifth studio album by the Music/{{Eagles}}, released on December 8, 1976. The album was their first with guitarist Music/JoeWalsh, who helped write "Life in the Fast Lane" and sung lead on "Pretty Maids All in a Row". Currently the third-best-selling album of all time, it is best known for hit singles "Hotel California," "New Kid in Town," and "Life in the Fast Lane".
6	----
7	!!Tracklist:
8	[[AC: Side One]]
9	# "Hotel California" (6:30)
10	# "New Kid in Town" (5:03)
11	# "Life in the Fast Lane" (4:46)
12	# "Wasted Time" (4:56)
13	[[AC: Side Two]]
14	[numlist:5]
15	# "Wasted Time (Reprise)" (1:23)
16	# "Victim of Love" (4:09)
17	# "Pretty Maids All in a Row" (3:58)
18	# "Try and Love Again" (5:09)
19	# "The Last Resort" (7:28)
20	[/numlist]
21	----
22	!!Principal Members:
23	* Don Felder - guitars, backing vocals, pedal steel guitar on track 9
24	* Glenn Frey - guitars, backing vocals, keyboards, lead vocals on track 2
25	* Don Henley - drums, percussion, lead vocals on tracks 1, 3-4, 6, and 9, backing vocals, synthesizer on track 9
26	* Randy Meisner - bass, backing vocals, lead vocals on track 8, guitarrón on track 2
27	* Joe Walsh - guitars, keyboards, backing vocals, lead vocals on track 7
28	----
29	!!"Life in the fast lane, sure to make you lose your tropes...":
30
31	* BackAlleyDoctor: Mentioned on "Life in the Fast Lane".
32	-->Call the doctor, I think I'm gonna crash\
33	Doctor said he's coming, but you gotta pay in cash.
34	* BigRockEnding: "Hotel California" ends on an outro coda that lasts at least 2 minutes.
35	* ConceptAlbum: [[WordOfGod Said to be one according to Don Henley]], at least loosely so, as a reflection on the state of America [[UsefulNotes/TheSeventies at the time]].
36	%%* CrapsaccharineWorld
37	%%* CrapsackWorld: "Life in the Fast Lane".
38	%%* GreenAesop: "The Last Resort".
39	%%* InnOfNoReturn / HellHotel: "Hotel California".
40	%%* {{Instrumental}}: "Wasted Time (Reprise)".
41	* LongestSongGoesLast: "The Last Resort", clocking in at 7:28.
42	* MindScrew: The lyrics of "Hotel California" constantly keep you just slightly confused about what exactly is going on. Even the band isn't really sure what its about: according to Don Henley, the song is about the problems one encounters when you spend your life seeking fame and suddenly get it; Frey says its about slowly losing one's hopes and dreams as life wears you down; Walsh says its about both; and when he was asked, Schmit famously shrugged his shoulders and said, "How the [[LastSecondWordSwap fork]] should I know, man..."[[note]]This is an appropriate response; Schmit had not yet joined Eagles when the song was recorded.[[/note]]
43	** There are three main EpilepticTrees about the song. The first is that it is a deconstructed OdeToIntoxication. The second is that it is referencing a religious cult (everything from [[UsefulNotes/CharlesManson the Manson Family]] to Satanism to the Church of Scientology to the [[Webcomic/JoeVsElanSchool Elan School in Maine]] has been suggested). The third, sometimes compared to a short musical ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode, is when the lyrics are taken literally. The Hotel California is an InnBetweenTheWorlds that [[LotusEaterMachine lures in passersby and traps them in a paradise]] while it [[EmotionEater slowly makes them forget the world]]. The final two verses of the song are the protagonist realizing that ThisIsntHeaven.
44	--->''Next thing I remember, I was running for the door.\
45	[[MobileMaze I had to find the passage back to the place I was before.]]\
46	[[DissonantSerenity "Relax", said the nightman]], "we are programmed to receive.\
47	You can check out any time you like, [[TrappedInAnotherWorld but you can never leave]]!"''
48	* MinisculeRocking: "Wasted Time (Reprise)" (1:23).
49	* ShoutOut:
50	** " To Music/SteelyDan in ''Hotel California'':
51	-->"They stab it with their steely knives, but they just can't kill the beast."
52	** Music/SteelyDan themselves made a {{shout out}} to Eagles in their song "Everything You Did": "Turn up the Eagles, the neighbors are listening."
53	%%* StepUpToTheMicrophone: Joe Walsh sings "Pretty Maids All in a Row".
54	* TakeThat: "Life in the Fast Lane" is said to be one to [[Music/FleetwoodMac Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks]]' relationship.
55	* WhamLine: "Hotel California" has the famous "You can check out any time you like/But you can never leave".

Context Music / HotelCalifornia