# Lyrics of Eagle's song Hotel California **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [August 10, 2008, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488 "2008-08-10T10:56:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2008, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488/21 "2008-08-11T18:17:26Z")
[QUOTE=Scumpup] [depict](http://www.netsozluk.net/index.php?InParent=hotel%20california) [depict](http://www.canim.net/sarki/-136212-hotel-california.html) [depict](http://www.eileen.at/liederliste/print/hotelp.htm) [/QUOTE] So? [pink champagne on ice](http://www.lyrics007.com/Eagles%20Lyrics/Hotel%20California%20Lyrics.html) [pink champagne on ice](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/e/eagles/hotel+california_20044469.html) [pink champagne on ice](http://edit.mp3lyrics.org/e/eagles/hotel-california/) [pink champagne on ice](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/eagles/hotelcalifornia.html) [pink champagne on ice](http://www.lyricsdownload.com/eagles-hotel-california-lyrics.html) [pink champagne on ice](http://www.lyricsondemand.com/e/eagleslyrics/hotelcalifornialyrics.html) RR ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2008, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488/22 "2008-08-11T18:18:52Z")
[QUOTE=CannyDan] … …mirrors on the ceiling, pink champagne on ice… I do not hear any “there” or “there’s” before “pink”. Same for “depict”. In a couple of the versions I hear what might be a sound, but might not. [/QUOTE] Likewise. ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2008, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488/23 "2008-08-11T18:37:18Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] It makes you forget about the warm smell of colitis. [/QUOTE] I have a friend who for years thought that it was ‘colitis’ and not ‘colitas.’ When he finally got it explained, the :smack: moment was priceless. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488/24 "2008-08-11T20:09:04Z")
For those quoting multiple sites with identical lyrics on both sides of the issue, just remember that very, very, very few sites actually sit down and write out the lyrics themselves. They borrow extensively from other sites. So errors get repeated ad-nauseum and the number of sites that match hardly indicates accuracy, just piracy. > [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > And your aging, stuffed, filled-to-capacity brain cannot remember what the lyrics were??? :eek: 😃 Hard to believe, ain’t it? But it was just another day’s work and another band at the time. Considering several album’s worth of music passed over my desk each week, it was hard to pick out the winners from the chaff. Ah, hindsight! ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2008, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488/25 "2008-08-11T20:29:51Z")
[QUOTE=Musicat] I just wanted to step in and say I was hired (on a rush basis, no less) to do the lead sheets for the entire original Hotel California album for copyright purposes. Unfortunately, I did not keep a copy of the music I wrote. Too bad, because the lyrics I used for lead sheets were typically supplied by the writer(s) – I encouraged this practice because many lyrics were too hard to understand and my guesses wouldn’t contribute to the accuracy. I even charged more if the lyrics were not supplied to me (on paper) when I got the recordings. [/QUOTE] I’m sure that must be fascinating, but I have no idea what any of it means. [QUOTE=BaneSidhe] I have a friend who for years thought that it was ‘colitis’ and not ‘colitas.’ When he finally got it explained, the :smack: moment was priceless. [/QUOTE] The earlier “colitis” reference was about another song: “the girl with colitis goes by.” I don’t see how anyone could mis-hear “colitas” as “colitis” because they’re pronounced so differently. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2008, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488/26 "2008-08-11T21:09:22Z")
[QUOTE=CurtC] I’m sure that must be fascinating, but I have no idea what any of it means. [/quote] Lead Sheet: A form of musical shorthand encompassing the three basic elements of most songs: melody, harmony, and lyrics. A lead sheet may be used to help musicians learn a song and can be used for copyright purposes, especially pre-1976 US copyright submissions when sheet music was the _only_ way to copyright a song. Publishing houses typically handle the copyrighting of songs they publish, but sometimes they forgot to get lead sheets done until the record was about to be released. “Oh, shit!” is the common reaction, and it caused calls to people like me to handle the entire album overnight, cost no object. I was glad to triple my price and stay up all night. When writing a lead sheet, I listen to the melody and try to write it in standard western music notation. I try to write the harmony with standard chord symbols, and I either write the lyrics as I hear them or transfer them from a printed lyric (text) sheet. For much music, if the songwriter writes the lyrics down for me, it’s better than my trying to guess what he said, so I encouraged writers to do that. So if I had saved a copy of my lead sheets for _Hotel California,_ it might have ended the debate about the lyrics. I’m sure it’s in the publisher’s file drawers somewhere, and filed in the US Copyright Office. Does that explain it? ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2008, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488/27 "2008-08-11T21:15:15Z")
All those lead sheets: aren’t you suffering from lead poisoning by now?? 😃 Mebbe that’s where the memory loss comes from … ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488/28 "2008-08-12T02:22:37Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] Mebbe that’s where the memory loss comes from … [/QUOTE] What memory loss? What are we talking about? Where am I? Psst…it’s pronounced “leed” sheet, not “led” sheet. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2008, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488/29 "2008-08-12T02:38:55Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] All those lead sheets: aren’t you suffering from lead poisoning by now?? 😃 Mebbe that’s where the memory loss comes from … [/QUOTE] maybe, but Kryptonite doesn’t faze him. ---
**Author:** ![nd\_n8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@nd\_n8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nd_n8)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2008, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488/30 "2008-08-12T16:45:22Z")
IME a lot of Karaoke lyrics differ from the original, a fair amount of the rest of the arrangement does as well. I don’t know if it is for copyright purposes or sloppy copying (or sloppy pirating, Yarr) but I would be hard pressed to view Karaoke lyrics as reliable. Back in the '80s (capitalized of course) the cover band I was in used to sing it as “Pink champange on ice” and thought it was cheap California hooch, perhaps some cold duck or something. We always knew that colitas was a euphamism for bud though, no doubts about that. I agree that the guitar solo is one of the most melodic and beautiful works in rock, especially of that period. But, as a bass player, may I recommend the bass line? A nice staccato 1-5-8 theme that follows the chord changes but otherwise forms a distinct submelody and rhythm. C# 1-1-5-8 5-8-5-1 Ab 1-1-5-8 5-8-5-5 At least that’s how I remember it. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2008, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488/31 "2008-08-12T21:16:49Z")
[QUOTE=x-ray vision] Check out [the inspiration](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgO7MamJnqM). [/QUOTE] Thanks so much for that. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2008, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488/32 "2008-08-12T23:47:38Z")
I doubt that anyone here is trying to take anything away from Jethro Tull, another great band. A lot of great things happened with rock during that era, and a lot of bands made a lot of great music. The Eagles are (is) one of those, and Hotel California is one of my favorite tunes, and the guitar work in that solo is, for me, without equal. The word “pure” comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/59ef9b/32.png) [@Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_fight_the_hypothetical)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488/33 "2008-08-14T22:19:59Z")
[QUOTE=mangeorge] The word “pure” comes to mind. [/QUOTE] Not given the Tull link, imo. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488/34 "2008-08-14T23:28:57Z")
[QUOTE=mangeorge] I doubt that anyone here is trying to take anything away from Jethro Tull, another great band. [/quote] Of course not. [QUOTE=mangeorge] The Eagles are (is) one of those, and Hotel California is one of my favorite tunes, and the guitar work in that solo is, for me, without equal. The word “pure” comes to mind. [/QUOTE] No need to be defensive. 🙂 No one was trying to take anything away from The Eagles either. Plenty of classic songs took inspiration from earlier songs. I just enjoy sharing the Tull video with those who weren’t aware of the inspiration for Hotel California. I bet even most Zep fans didn’t know about [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogTFdlbup24). ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488/35 "2008-08-14T23:37:23Z")
[QUOTE=x-ray vision] Of course not. No need to be defensive. 🙂 No one was trying to take anything away from The Eagles either. Plenty of classic songs took inspiration from earlier songs. I just enjoy sharing the Tull video with those who weren’t aware of the inspiration for Hotel California. I bet even most Zep fans didn’t know about [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogTFdlbup24). [/QUOTE] Actually, I was being conversational. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2008, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488/36 "2008-08-28T01:50:17Z")
Ok, I hope this won’t constitute too much a a copyright issue, taken from my 2003 _Eagles, the very best of_ compilation CD liner notes. **Conversations with Don Henly and Glenn Frey. By Cameron Crowe, August 2003** Glenn: I remember De Niro in _the last tycoon_, 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 Magnus_, 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…’’ \*Bolding mine, so he doesn’t reference colitas or marijuana, then again… ---
**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2008, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488/37 "2008-08-28T14:23:50Z")
Thank you for that, **outlierrn**. And I’m glad you didn’t post it on “amnesia weekend.” RR ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488/38 "2014-01-02T18:54:10Z")
> [@SeanArenas](#): > > Actually, according to one of the articles I referenced above, pink champagne is considered a luxury item. Aw, you can spoil the rich folks’ fun but injecting a drop of Schillings’ red food dye into a bottle of _plain_ champagne. Instant pink champagne costing not a red cent more! ;)😃 ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488/40 "2014-01-02T20:12:40Z")
Spam reported ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488/41 "2014-01-02T20:18:06Z")
[hijack] Your name put me in mind of a cargo ship that used to dock in Baltimore Harbor. Its name was _Bjørnstjerne Bjørnsen_ (a Norwegian poet). Flustered Longshoremen called it the “Be-jesus Be-Johnson.” 😃 [/hijack] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488.md?page=3)