5 Things You May Not Know About The Eagles’ Smash Hit “Hotel California”—The Daily Earworm

The Eagles’ 1976 studio album Hotel California is one of the best-selling albums of all-time. It sold more than 32 million copies worldwide, and produced three hit singles, the biggest of which was the title track.

“Hotel California” has been one of the Eagles’ signature hits, if not the signature hit, for almost five decades. It sold over three million copies and topped the charts in the United States and Canada. The single took home the Grammy for Record of the Year in 1977. Almost 50 years later, the song is still massively popular. Despite most music fans’ familiarity with the song, though, there may be details about the song that many fans are unaware of. So, here are five things that you may not know about the song.

1) “Hotel California”: The Social Commentary

While the song sounds like an episode of “The Twilight Zone,” it is meant to be more of a social commentary on the state of America at the time than it was science fiction or horror. Singer/drummer Don Henley has said numerous times that the band wanted the song to sound like an episode of the show, but at the same time, it was a statement on the American Dream and the excess and end of innocence that it can lead to. The Hotel California symbolized the Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows, which had become both a literal and symbolic focal point of the band members’ hedonistic lives at the time.

2) Their Steely Knives

Feeding “The Twilight Zone” vibe in “Hotel California” were the lines “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.” While that may sound like something out of science fiction or the supernatural, it was actually just a shout-out to another band. After Steely Dan had embedded the line “Turn up the Eagles/the neighbors are listening” in their song “Everything You Did,” singer/guitarist Glenn Frey, who had helped pen the lyrics, had decided to return the favor with a playful little nod of his own.

3) A Jab at an Ex

Another lyric that stands out in “Hotel California” is “Her mind is Tiffany-twisted/She got the Mercedes Benz/She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys/That she calls friends.” That line was also a shout-out of sorts, though not necessarily a friendly one. Henley attributed that lyric to his recent ex-girlfriend at the time, well-known jewelry designer Loree Rodkin.

4) The Long Run

If you have sung karaoke behind someone doing “Hotel California,” you are painfully aware that it is a long song. While its length varies depending on the version, the song is well over six minutes long. The band’s label at the time, Asylum Records, wanted the band to record a shorter version to make the song more radio-friendly. While Asylum was hesitant to release it as a single at that length, the band, led by Henley, held firm and eventually got their way in the end.

5) Hotel California: The Movie

The huge popularity of “Hotel California,” combined with its eerie thematic elements, made the song an intriguing target for adaptation into a movie. Acclaimed film producer Julia Phillips thought so, anyway. Phillips was the first female producer to win an Academy Award, and had co-produced (with her husband, Michael Phillips) blockbusters like “The Sting,” Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Taxi Driver.” She pitched the idea to the Eagles, but they never showed any interest in making it happen.

Five Decades Later

As the Eagles prepare to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of their Hotel California album, the record’s title track is still one of the main attractions at the band’s shows, especially during their current residency at The Sphere in Las Vegas. The single has remained just as eerie, enthralling, and relevant as it was five decades ago, and it is destined to remain that way for the long run.

The Daily Earworm is a daily column that tells the stories, from the historic to the lesser-known, of some of the music industry’s greatest songs, albums, and artists. Here are some other music tales that you may find interesting:

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