“Hotel California” is the inverse of “American Pie.” I can explain what each verse in “American Pie” means, but have no idea what the song as a whole is about. On the other hand, I don’t know what any line or verse of “Hotel California” means, but I think I understand the whole.
Most of the songs on the “Hotel California” LP are about the lifestyles of the rich in SOuthern California (the drugs, the parties, the tawdry affairs, etc.). That lifestyle is both seductive and setructive, and it’s hard to give up, even when you KNOW it could kill you.
I’ll provide a cite of sorts for jayron’s post re: Fire and Rain. NPR had James taylor on last night (6/28) to tell the story of the song, and I listened to him explain it as jayron describes. A Snopes miss (well, the whole song isn’t just about the girl)?
Facinating. I did NOT hear that particular interview, I was basing my own version of the story from several sources (Snopes, a 1970’s BBC interview and concert, VH1 storytellers, a few others in my memory…) Nice to know that I’m not just talking out of my ass (even I can’t tell most of the time). Thanks for verifying my story, guys!
I must admit I did not read all the posts on this subject yet, but thought I would comment real quick on where the Hotel Californai is.
I actually lived on the grounds of the Camarillo State Hospital (while working for the California Conservation Corps, not as a patient). It’s a very large campus with many buildings and hidden away in the middle of nowhere in Camarillo, CA (near Ojai, Ventura, and Thousand Oaks).
Anyways the point I was going to make was that picture on the album cover is in fact a picture of the main administration building of the hospital.
