# 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:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2014, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488/42 "2014-01-02T21:45:02Z")
> [@nd\_n8](#): > > 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. Yay for bass players! That’s my cousin, Timothy B. Schmit on bass. ---
**Author:** ![SpyOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SpyOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpyOne)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488/43 "2014-01-05T15:59:08Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > “Pink” champange is a cheap knock-off of real champange, and works well as a metaphor for the surface sophistication but essential emptyness of the “California life style.” > > Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. When, as I have mentioned elsewhere, we covered this song in English class, I described pink champagne as a low-class person’s idea of high-class, and the combination of it with mirrors on the ceiling I described as “tawdry”. And a cigar that can be more than a cigar: “They stab it with their steely knives, but they just can’t kill the beast”. I took that to be a reference to injecting drugs, but I have heard that choice of words came about because Steely Dan had made a reference to the Eagles in one of their songs, so the Eagles wanted to mention Steely Dan. ---
**Author:** ![SpyOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SpyOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpyOne)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488/44 "2014-01-05T16:07:23Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > 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. And there are several sites devoted to misheard lyrics. The one I know best is [http://www.kissthisguy.com/](http://www.kissthisguy.com/) , because apparently Dave Barry isn’t the only person who thought Jimi Hendrix said “excuse me while I kiss this guy” rather than “excuse me while I kiss the sky”. And there are several reports from people who saw Hendrix live that he did, in fact, sometimes say “kiss this guy” in performance. ---
**Author:** ![SpyOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SpyOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpyOne)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488/45 "2014-01-05T16:14:51Z")
> [@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). Amen. A lot of the greatest rock came about when somebody heard another band’s song and said, “Hey, let’s make a song like **that** one.” It isn’t that they are aping somebody else, but they were inspired by someone else’s work and created a version filtered through their own style. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488/46 "2014-01-05T17:24:06Z")
> [@SpyOne](#): > > And there are several sites devoted to misheard lyrics. The one I know best is [http://www.kissthisguy.com/](http://www.kissthisguy.com/) , because apparently Dave Barry isn’t the only person who thought Jimi Hendrix said “excuse me while I kiss this guy” rather than “excuse me while I kiss the sky”. > And there are several reports from people who saw Hendrix live that he did, in fact, sometimes say “kiss this guy” in performance. And John Fogerty will sing “There’s a bathroom on the right” when he performs Creedence’s “Bad Moon Risin’” in concert. ---
**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 25, 2022, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488/47 "2022-08-25T17:35:22Z")
Bumped. Big money at stake: > **[Welcome to the 'Hotel California' saga: Missing lyric sheets, rare book...](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2022-08-25/hotel-california-eagles-lyrics-alleged-stolen-don-henley)** > > In July, three men were indicted in an attempt to sell the manuscripts, stolen property belonging to the Eagles’ leader. But the story begins in the ’70s with a shelved biography. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyrics-of-eagles-song-hotel-california/459488.md?page=2)