Some Post to Remember, Some Post to Forget

The Eagles ever-popular song, Hotel California, is a song that I found very interesting when thinking about dynamic discourse in popular music. When thinking about the question from the reading, “Who is the song persona and who is being addressed?” (pg. 2), and then comparing that to Hotel California, it is obvious that the song’s persona is the singer. However, it is more difficult to discover who is being addressed.

The song also creates a strong narrative with the persona entering this “Hotel California.” It feels as if we are in the passenger seat with this persona as he or she enters into this hotel. This is due to the first-person narration that is implied throughout the song. It also adds a strong feel of intimacy and as if I, the listener, can feel the struggle that is being told from the song.

The first-person narration at the start of the song sets the singer as the storyteller, explaining his own experience. However, throughout the story, the use of second-person pronouns during dialogue seems to assume the singer as the persona and the person being addressed. An example of this is in the final line of the song when the ‘night man’ says to the song’s persona, “You can check out any-time you like, but you can never leave!”

The song line mentioned above is also a very clear example of the double address mentioned in the readings. In this instance, the lover, which is normally apart double address, is the place that the song writer was before entering Hotel California, and the other side of the double address is actually inside of Hotel California. This example in the song is possibly what makes the song so great due to the tragically intimate ending that is left after hearing the final line. This slightly altered double address is paralleled to popular movies such as The Wizard of Oz, and Space Jam, where the main character or persona is in two separate dimensions throughout.

The classic Heaven vs. Hell debate can also be valid in Hotel California. The intimacy of the first-person persona makes this Hellish feeling a bit uneasy, especially after such a pleasant start to the song. However, this highlights one of the reading’s main points on distance to intimacy.

At the start of the song, there is only the persona. He or she is riding in his or her car and the journey to the hotel is an individual one. However, as soon as “she” entered the song in the tenth line, intimacy suddenly became present. As more characters are introduced throughout the song, a greater sense of intimacy is established. Just as the reading mentioned, the gradual addition of pronouns assisted in this more intimate side that the song grows into.

In conclusion, Hotel California is a very complex song with a point of view that is difficult to grasp. With the initial first-person narrative shifting into a vague sense of direct address, it is confusing as to who is being addressed in the song. However, with the help of the implied dynamic discourse throughout the song, we can attempt to decode the wishy-washy storyline of Hotel California.