Writing earlier about deleting Facebook accounts, I used a line from the the Eagles song, Hotel California, as the title.

As I researched the song and listened to it a few times, I became fascinated by the words, and what the writers were getting at.

Many argue that the song is satanic, and that it has to do with the satanic church in California.

I remember hearing that years ago, and when it is explained with that angle, the words can be made to sound like that.

Then again, you could make any message from the words if you really tried hard enough.

Co writer of the song, Don Henley said in 1995 that the song was about the times in which it was written, and the music culture of the West Coast.

More about the song’s origins from Wikipediea and Snopes!

I have included the lyrics of the song below, along with a video clip of the band playing Hotel California.

Please note that the video won’t appear in Blog Friends and other RSS feeds.

‘We are all just prisoners here, of our own device’ is a great line, and speaks volumes about the predicaments that we humans can place ourselves in from time to time.

Being a survivor of the seventies, I can identify with it.

I haven’t found it anywhere else as yet, but would love to know if it was a quote from somewhere else before the writers of the song got hold of it.

The 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
I was thinking to myself,
‘This could be Heaven or this could be Hell’
Then she lit up a candle and she show 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’
‘There’s 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’s 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 1969′
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 living 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 programed to receive’
‘You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave’

Posts that may interest you:

You Can Check Out Any Time, But You Can Never Leave

Catch Up With Allan (Ozegold) On Plurk!

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