The acclaimed song, "Hotel California", written and played by the American rock band, the Eagles, is both profound and allegorical. The setting and story of the song describes a lone man arriving at a ostensibly normal hotel in California. Through the interesting lyrics and catchy tune, the band vividly portrays the excessive materialism and superficiality of American society.
The song begins with the lyrics:
On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas, rising up in the air
By opening up the song with this statement, the Eagles are basically stating that initially, the protagonist of the song is free and unburdened by the trivialities of society. This feeling, however, quickly subsides when the next set of lyrics are uttered:
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew weary and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night
Literally, the figure of light is the "Hotel California" that the protagonist stays at. Figuratively, the light is the specter of materialism and superficiality that looms over American society. Also, by mentioning that the protagonist's head grows weary and his sight grows dim, the Eagles are implying that materialism intoxicates the mind's of the people. After these utterances, the song mentions that the "she" standing in the doorway, or materialism incarnate, could lead to "heaven or hell", implying that a life consumed by material possessions could be either blissful or tortuous.
The chorus, which mentions that "Hotel California" is a lovely place with plenty of space that you can find all year, proves that materialism (represented by the hotel) is found everywhere (all year, plenty of space).
The next set of lyrics describe a girl whose mind is "tiffany-twisted", an obvious nod to materialism. Also, they mention that the "she" has a mercedes benes. The lines immediately following this are also very significant:
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget
Here, the "dance" is actually the act of pursuing possessions, and people fervently pursue possessions to either remind themselves of a time where they were happier, or become lost in their obsessions with vanity and wealth in order to forget about unhappy memories.
