A Good Day In Hell - The Official ILM Track-By-Track EAGLES Listening Thread

a preview of today's extended metaphor:

Q: You sing: "So I called up the captain / 'Please bring me my wine' / He said, 'We haven't had that spirit here since 1969.'" I realize I'm probably not the first to bring this to your attention, but wine isn't a spirit. Wine is fermented; spirits are distilled. Do you regret that lyric?”

Henley: Thanks for the tutorial and, no, you're not the first to bring this to my attention-—and you're not the first to completely misinterpret the lyric and miss the metaphor. Believe me, I've consumed enough alcoholic beverages in my time to know how they are made and what the proper nomenclature is. But that line in the song has little or nothing to do with alcoholic beverages. It's a sociopolitical statement."

That is simply beautiful.

You can tell he's angry because he said "nomenclature."

"Hotel California"

http://www.eaglesonlinecentral.com/images/hcinsert3big.jpg

http://youtu.be/KaQHsWFSiao

more exegesis from Henley:

This is a concept album, there’s no way to hide it, but it’s not set in the old West, the cowboy thing, you know,” Henley told the Dutch magazine ZigZag. “It’s more urban this time... It’s our bicentennial year, you know, the country is 200 years old, so we figured since we are the Eagles and the eagle is our national symbol, that we were obliged to make some kind of a little bicentennial statement using California as a microcosm of the whole United States, or the whole world, if you will, and to try to wake people up and say ‘We’ve been OK so far, for 200 years, but we’re gonna have to change if we’re gonna continue to be around.”

so, some random thoughts on a song i've probably heard 4,000 times in my life

* Henley's finest, or at least most memorable, hour as a drummer? e.g. the fill after "can't kill the beast" where he seems to spin over to timbales.

* one influence, i'm pretty sure, on Felder at least was Bowie's "Moonage Daydream." The guitar solos have some Ronson in them; the bassline is pretty similar in places

* Felder wrote it in E minor, and they recorded the instrumental tracks in that key. But when Henley went to sing it, it was too high: Felder said he sounded like Barry Gibb. Eventually they had to downshift to B minor and re-record the whole track.

* realized i can hum, pretty much note for note, the entire Felder/Walsh guitar solo--it's like the damn thing is encoded into my DNA.

This totally slays, I can't and won't front.

Obviously the guitars sound fantastic, right from the start. I love how the licks in the choruses get progressively more manic - is this what Walsh brings? There's been nothing so unhinged hitherto as the lick at 3:07. The bass is terrific too; as well the cod-reggae lines Randy lays down a pretty melody in the intro, and wisely resists the temptation to show off when the dual guitars chime in.

Two things. Is this generally reckoned a Stairway rip-off? Because it clearly is, but I've never actually seen it said as such. And when Henley's voice fades out at 3:28 it's alarmingly abrupt. Is that normal, or something to do with me listening on spotify? It sounds almost like he's gated, which there's no reason for at all.

LOL at the Eagles trying to wake anybody up

It sounds almost like he's gated, which there's no reason for at all.

I noticed it on the YouTube clip too. Don probably exhaled weird or something, necessitating a cut-off. His vocal doesn't sound gated anywhere else on the track.

It's kind of amazing how the harmonizing guitar figures during the verses never bump into or crowd the vocal, or predictably "answer" it. And I like how the guitars start to sound like a synth towards the end of the solos.

A Good Day in Hell

http://blackjacketsymphony.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/ht-1.jpg

• would love to hear E minor version. Also, there's a full 7-minute version released in Japan that doesn't fade out. Been scouring the web looking for that one.

• Give 'em credit for a lot of things with this song. Off the bat, Frey or whoever arranged this should get an attaboy for starting the lyrics right after the boom/boom that ends the intro. Any jam band - or metal band even - would've got milked the first few bars of that verse section too.

• I'm on record all over the place for digging that part of the solo where the two guitars lock into each other at around 5:20. Lot of professional restraint, as Tarfumes mentions, on not going crazy with the fills and responses. Same goes for Randy who goes as far as possible with the rhythm of this song without going overboard. In other words, he takes it to the limit.

Don Felder teaches you how to play Hotel California. Namechecks Barry Gibb again.

you can stab them with your steely knives
but you can never leave

Posted this on the other Eagles thread, but I think it bears repeating.

In the 80s, Joe Walsh was a frequent guest on a Chicago radio show. The hosts were always trying to get him to dish Eagles dirt, so Walsh talked about Henley and the "Hotel California" solos.

Walsh and Felder were in the control room listening to the playback of the solos when Henley walks in and says, "What the hell is this shit? Do those solos over!" and storms out. Walsh and Felder smirk at each other. An hour later, Henley comes back, high as a kite, and demands to hear the new solos. Walsh and Felder play the tape and Henley says, "See, that's MUCH better. Thanks for doing those again!"

They hadn't re-recorded a note. Henley was hearing the exact same solos he'd heard earlier.

Same goes for Randy who goes as far as possible with the rhythm of this song without going overboard. In other words, he takes it to the limit.

― pplains, Monday, September 30, 2013 9:59 AM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Meisner kills it on this song. It's the first time I really admired (much less noticed) an Eagles bassline.

i never thought anything would be able to make me see this song in a newfound light, but listening to the rest of the eagles' oeuvre turned out to be the thing that could

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1053/in-the-song-hotel-california-what-does-colitas-mean

good info!

i never thought anything would be able to make me see this song in a newfound light, but listening to the rest of the eagles' oeuvre turned out to be the thing that could

― call all destroyer, Monday, September 30, 2013 2:32 PM (28 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This thread and the previous posts on the song have definitely made me listen to the song differently, mostly because all of your astute observations have given me new things to listen to and a new appreciation for why those things are good. So thanks, smart people!!!

in re: the Steely Dan connection (which Frey and Henley have gone on about over the past 3 decades). The "hotel calif" lyric is Henley and Frey trying to write a Dan lyric, so we get lots of obscure references, & words that most people mishear or think are made up (e.g. "colitas"). Yet it's not obscure enough, in a way: the lyric's a pretty straightforward narrative; the wordplay is pretty weak and forced at times, and worse of all, they still want it to *mean something,* man: hence Henley from day one is talking about how "HC" is supposed to be about America and California and "yeah, I saw Polanski's Chinatown man, it's heavy stuff"

whereas the Dan is obscurity for its own pleasures. if it's a reference in a song it's so private, confined to Fagen and Becker, that it might as well not even exist. So "Chain Lightning" is about a Nazi rally, or seeing an Elvis concert, or whatever. "Kid Charlemagne" is about Owsley Stanley, or a blaxsploitation movie Fagen saw, or a guy he knew at Bard, but the song is its own thing.

"They're livin' it up at the Hotel California..." sounds like something my grandmother would've derisively said about some event she didn't care for. "Oh, those Alabama fans must have been livin' it up after that call for Tennessee was called back," etc."

so weird that i am always ready to here this on the radio. which is the only place i hear it pretty much. i wonder how many times i've heard it over the years. a thousand times? okay maybe not that many times. feels like it though. and yet there i am singing along every time. never gets old.

I don't think I've ever heard this song in its entirety. It's such a part of the landscape that I catch it in the beginning, middle, or end, and have never played it of my own volition.

I remember learning to play this song out of a copy of GUITAR FOR THE PRACTICING MUSICIAN, which is now GUITAR ONE or some such thing. Anyway, they always labeled the guitars throughout the arrangement, so the main rhythm guitar was always Gtr I, the main lead or secondary rhythm was Gtr II, etc.; then they'd label them with increasingly high numbers as more guitars came into the arrangement, even for a bar or two. I think they got up to at least Gtr IX in that arrangement.

Henley: Thanks for the tutorial and, no, you're not the first to bring this to my attention-—and you're not the first to completely misinterpret the lyric and miss the metaphor. Believe me, I've consumed enough alcoholic beverages in my time to know how they are made and what the proper nomenclature is. But that line in the song has little or nothing to do with alcoholic beverages. It's a sociopolitical statement."

This is even funnier if you read it in William Shatner's voice.

It's a sociopolitical statement.

Meaning what?

One thing I always hated about this and some of their other songs was that they all shared this DEEP MEANING. They all are METAPHORS. And they love to keep bringing this up. The only meaning I've gotten from this stuff is "These songwriters are deep, man".

I'm on record all over the place for digging that part of the solo where the two guitars lock into each other at around 5:20

that moment never fails to deliver a lift. kind of reminds me of when marquee moon arrives at the unison section.

also, in gtr solo #2, there are some v nice little upward whisks at the ends of phrases which make me think of someone flicking outward with a knife.

Was this the closet they got to being the Doors? Sonic wallpaper yet again, but on closer listening, a magnificent construction: the playing is fantastic, the coda isn't gratuitous or perfunctory. The lyrics are...over-examined, but among other things fit into a tradition of classic road/driving songs while adding a distinctively late '70s aura as only the Eagles could. It's also kind of the mellow "Freebird".

Frey's on Fire here:

HOTEL CALIFORNIA
GLENN: The song began as a demo tape, an instrumental by Don Felder. He’d been submitting tapes and song ideas to us since he’d joined the band, always instrumentals, since he didn’t sing. But this particular demo, unlike many of the others, had room for singing. It immediately got our attention. The first working title, the name we gave it, was “Mexican Reggae.”

For us, “Hotel California” was definitely thinking and writing outside the box. We had never written any song like it before. Similar to “Desperado,” we did not start out to make any sort of concept or theme album. But when we wrote “Life In The Fast Lane” and started working on “Hotel California” and “New Kid In Town” with J.D., we knew we were heading down a long and twisted corridor and just stayed with it. Songs from the dark side — the Eagles take a look at the seamy underbelly of L.A. — the flip side of fame and failure, love and money.

“They stab it with their steely knives, but they just can’t kill the beast” was a little Post-It back to Steely Dan. Apparently, Walter Becker’s girlfriend loved the Eagles, and she played them all the time. I think it drove him nuts. So, the story goes that they were having a fight one day, and that was the genesis of the line, “turn up the Eagles, the neighbors are listening” in “Everything You Did,” from Steely Dan’sThe Royal Scam album. During the writing of “Hotel California,” we decided to volley. We just wanted to allude to Steely Dan rather than mentioning them outright, so “Dan” got changed to “knives,” which is still, you know, a penile metaphor. Stabbing, thrusting, etc.

Almost everybody in my business can write music, play guitar, play piano, create chord progressions, etc., but it’s only when you add lyrics and melody and voices to these things that they take on an identity and become something beyond that sum of the individual parts. I remember that Henley and I were listening to the “Hotel California” demo tape together on an airplane, and we were talking about what we would write and how we wanted to be more cinematic. We wanted this song to open like an episode of The Twilight Zone — just one shot after another.

I remember De Niro in The Last Tycoon. He’s got this scene, and he’s talking to some other people in his office. He speaks to them: “The door opens…the camera is on a person’s feet…he walks across the room…we pan up to the table… he picks up a pack of matches that says ‘The Such-And-Such Club’ on it… strikes a match and lights a cigarette…puts it out… goes over to the window… opens the shade… looks out… the moon is there… what does it mean? Nothing. It’s just the movies.” “Hotel California” is like that. We take this guy and make him like a character in The Magus, where every time he walks through a door there’s a new version of reality. We wanted to write a song just like it was a movie. This guy is driving across the desert. He’s tired. He’s smokin’. Comes up over a hill, sees some lights, pulls in. First thing he sees is a really strange guy at the front door, welcoming him: “Come on in.” Walks in, and then it becomes Fellini-esque — strange women, effeminate men, shadowy corridors, disembodied voices, debauchery, illusion… Weirdness. So we thought, “Let’s really take some chances. Let’s try to write in a way that we’ve never written before.” Steely Dan inspired us because of their lyrical bravery and willingness to go “out there.” So, for us, “Hotel California” was about thinking and writing outside the box.

DON: We were enamored with hotels. Hotels were a big part of our lives. The Beverly Hills Hotel had become something of a focal point — literally and symbolically. I’ve always been interested in architecture and the language of architecture, and, at that time, I was particularly keen on the mission style of early California. I thought there was a certain mystery and romance about it. Then, there are all the great movies and plays in which hotels figure prominently, not only as a structure, but as a dramatic device. Films such as Grand Hotel, The Night Porter, and even Psycho — motels count too. There are plays like Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite and California Suite, which Glenn and I went to see while writing the song. We saw it as homework or research. We were looking for things that would stimulate us and give us ideas. Sometimes it was just driving around. We would still take trips out to the desert. At one point, Glenn and I rented a little red house up in Idlewild — way up in the San Bernadino Mountains. We’d drive out there sometimes just to clear our heads, sleep on the floor in sleeping bags. We didn’t have any furniture. We were just on the quest.

"Sorry, me and Glenn can't make the coke orgy at Crosby's. We've got tickets for "Plaza Suite" and reservations at Dan Tanna's."

Missing from Don's spiel is the Ron Burgundy-ish anecdote that he purposely wore a bathrobe while recording this song to enhance the relaxed feel he felt was necessary to play it. He also neglects to mention that beneath his preferred subtext, this song (and others he wrote for the album) is about his ex-girlfriend who left him for that other celebrated wordsmith, Bernie Taupin.

you're not the first to completely misinterpret the lyric and miss the metaphor. Believe me, I've consumed enough alcoholic beverages in my time to know how they are made and what the proper nomenclature is. But that line in the song has little or nothing to do with alcoholic beverages. It's a sociopolitical statement.

so basically henley knows what colitas are, and he knows how various beverages are made, but he is unaware of the concept of the double entendre?

"Sometimes a steely knife is just a steely knife, not a reference to a better band."

what he should have said, in response to the original question, was that he, don henley, knows the difference between distilled and fermented drinks, but the character of the "captain" in the song does not, and that was the sociopolitical point he was trying to make. so, really, a triple entendre.

look at Frey dropping cinematic references.

Henley's right, though: I love hotels too.

Joe Walsh: "I love hotels too!" <fires up chainsaw>

"he, don henley, knows the difference between distilled and fermented drinks, but the character of the "captain" in the song does not, and that was the sociopolitical point he was trying to make"

the song is secretly about the notable decline in the caliber of bar staff at the Beverly Hills Hotel in '76. "Glenn, can you believe that guy called the magnum I ordered a 'spirit'?"

strange women, effeminate men

kinda think this is an offhand remark that nails Frey's world view.

“Let’s really take some chances. Let’s try to write in a way that we’ve never written before. Let's see if we can come up with a way to rhyme 'bell' with 'hell'."

DON: We were enamored with hotels. Hotels were a big part of our lives. The Beverly Hills Hotel had become something of a focal point — literally and symbolically. I’ve always been interested in architecture and the language of architecture, and, at that time, I was particularly keen on the mission style of early California. I thought there was a certain mystery and romance about it.

FREY: Those chicks from the valley we had that night? Lots of romance and mystery there.

DON: Well, yeah.

Frey must've got so darn excited when Eyes Wide Shut was released.

Ah yes, symbolism. The language or architecture. The metaphors of the lost 60s.

The Eagles just seem like some dudes that have taken so many drugs they are convinced that every thought they have is a brilliant insight, and won't shut up about it.

This is the first time in my life i actually made an effort to hear "Hotel California".... my random thoughts

- Always thought the 3:28 fadeout/gap was a edit, punch-in, or tape splice

- Felder didn't seem to mind Henley singing like Barry Gibb on "One Of These Nights"

- As much as i don't like the Eagles and am sick of hearing this song for the 529th time, the guitar solos are unquestionably all-time

- Hotel California is by far the best-selling non-comp Eagles album, partly no doubt in part because the title track is their signature song, but I wonder if it wouldn't have sold nearly as well had the greatest hits album been issued after this album instead of before. Many of those gazillions who bought Greatest Hits also wanted this album if only for "HC" and the other singles

- Lolling at the credit roll at the end of the fan-made video: "The intent of these videos is to bring new fans to older and often obscure album tracks...."

I always mostly-hated this song. It was an automatic NOPE if it came on the radio. except that if I did end up getting stuck listening to it I always found myself getting into the drums part.

within the past 3 months or so I've completely turned a corner on HC and now the solos and that melody Felder & Walsh play together on the outro, I can't get enough of it.

overall, A+

there's a line (I can't remember which one off the top of my head) where Henley does an audible 'UNGHHH' at the end and it kinda grosses me out

it was those chicks in the valley. Lots of romance and atmosphere.

Don:We found an orgone accumulator in a dusty corner of the studio, and discovered it made a great vocal booth in addition to what it offered in our other areas of research.

Frey: We were interested in vaginal research in those days.

Don: Well, yeah.

Almost everybody in my business can write music, play guitar, play piano, create chord progressions, etc., but it’s only when you add lyrics and melody and voices to these things that they take on an identity and become something beyond that sum of the individual parts.

Felder basically wrote the song, and this is a pretty shitty way for Frey/Henley to take credit for it.

there's a line (I can't remember which one off the top of my head) where Henley does an audible 'UNGHHH' at the end and it kinda grosses me out

Henley was looking at this Facebook page when he sang that: https://www.facebook.com/benz.girls

i'm in the minority of kinda loving "i wish you peace"...sail on bernie

i've done my share of Eagles frontin' in this thread but I'm not gonna front on Hotel California. great song, goofy "deep" lyrics and all

i love the really simple single note harmony guitar held notes during the verses, a really simple and elegant little touch

I only want to remark on what a piece of shit Henley is. Check out his expanded comments:

Thanks for the tutorial and, no, you're not the first to bring this to my attention—and you're not the first to completely misinterpret the lyric and miss the metaphor. Believe me, I've consumed enough alcoholic beverages in my time to know how they are made and what the proper nomenclature is. But that line in the song has little or nothing to do with alcoholic beverages. It's a sociopolitical statement. My only regret would be having to explain it in detail to you, which would defeat the purpose of using literary devices in songwriting and lower the discussion to some silly and irrelevant argument about chemical processes.[