Hotel California
Eagles is a veteran rock band in the United States. Their songs rarely use the piano, and they match Don Henly's full-textured voice. Their success lies in the good combination of rock, pop and country music, meeting all levels of appreciators, and becoming a veritable "popular idol".
Their signature song "Hotel California" is a golden song full of weird and moving melody. Just looking at the lyrics and just a few strokes, it has almost taken all the sadness and confusion of the 1970s.
The hippies yearning for a free-spirited life drove on the highway in the desert. They suddenly smelled the smell of marijuana floating not far away. They felt dizzy and blurred, and they decided to stop for the night.
This paragraph is a metaphor for the United States in the 1960s. Idealism was the theme of society at that time. People were full of passion to change the world. Pursuing benevolence, opposing violence and advocating equality was the mainstream of early hippies. During the transition to the 1970s, the United States experienced economic collapse and reorganization. Many people lost their faith and life goals. For a time, hedonism became the mainstream of social thought. Hippies have also gradually lost their way in the life of gold fans, gradually turning from true idealists to pure hedonists pursuing fun and freedom. They use marijuana to seek spiritual relief, and are groggy all day long.
The hippie looked around at the California Hotel and saw that the woman leading him was completely indulged in this drunken world, wandering among the beautiful men, expensive cars and luxury goods occupied all her mind. This paragraph actually describes the life of the upper class at the time. People with reputation, money, and appearance never lack material comfort, so they indulge themselves. They danced wildly in the garden, some of them wanted to constantly recall the self who had ideals and pursuits before the collapse of the society, while others wanted to forget the troubles they faced and how to start again in the reconstructed society.
The hippie finally realized that the place he was in was simply a "cannibal hotel", so he wanted to escape and return to the place where he came from. This was the mentality that many people wanted to break away from the status quo in the 1970s and return to the 1960s, but turning back in time is not easy and there is no way to go back. The night watchman's words are even more straightforward. In the current social system, people can't escape at all. My understanding of this song may not be comprehensive enough. The European and American pop music scenes in the 1970s and 1980s had many works that reflected society. Perhaps The Eagles also wanted to use this approach to awaken people in the chaotic society at that time.
Eagles是美國老牌的搖滾樂隊. 他們的歌很少用鋼琴，正好配得上Don Henly質感十足的聲音。他們的成功之處是在於把搖滾、流行和鄉村音樂很好地結合在一起，符合各個層次的欣賞者，成了名副其實的“大眾偶像”。
這招牌曲“Hotel California”是充滿詭異、動人旋律的鑽石級金曲，單看歌詞，寥寥數筆，便幾乎把上世紀70年代所有的憂傷與迷惘卷攜殆盡。
嚮往自由奔放生活的嬉皮士在荒漠中的公路上駕車奔馳，他們突然嗅到了不遠處飄來的大麻味道，頓覺頭腦昏沉視線模糊，不能再繼續旅程，決定停下來過夜。
這一段隱喻的是六十年代的美國，理想主義是當時社會的主題，人們心中充滿了改變世界的激情，追求仁愛反對暴力提倡平等是早期嬉皮士的主流。而過渡到七十年代時，美國經歷了經濟崩潰和重組，許多人失去信仰，失去生活目標，一時間享樂主義變為社會思潮的主流。嬉皮士們也在紙醉金迷的生活中漸漸迷失了方向，漸漸從真正的理想主義者淪為純粹追求玩樂和自由的享樂主義者。他們用大麻尋求精神解脫，終日昏昏沉沉。
嬉皮士環顧一下加州旅館，看到引領他的女子完全沉溺在這紙醉金迷的世界裡，流連於眾美男間，豪車及奢侈品佔據了她所有的心思。這段其實描述的是當時上流社會的生活，擁有名譽、金錢、外表的人，從來不缺乏物質享受，於是盡情放縱自己。他們在庭園裡狂舞，有的是為了不斷回想社會崩盤前那個有理想有追求的自己，有的則是想忘卻眼前所面對的，如何在重建的社會中再起步的煩惱。
嬉皮士最後醒覺自己身處之地簡直是“吃人旅館”，於是想抽身逃離，原路返回來時的地點。這是當時許多人想掙脫七十年代的現狀重回六十年代的心理，但時光倒流談何容易，根本沒有回去的路。守夜人的話更是一語道破，身處於當下的社會體制，人們根本逃無可逃。我對這首歌的理解也許還不夠全面，七八十年代的歐美流行樂壇湧現了許多反應社會的作品，也許 Eagles也是想通過這樣的做法來喚醒當時身處混沌社會中的人們。
作者：加瓦工 来源：知乎 著作权归作者所有。
https://www.zhihu.com/question/22351120/answer/344383997
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!