Before listening

I. Discuss with your partner.

1. Have you ever heard this song?

2. Do you know who sings it?
3. What do you know about this band?
4. Does the Hotel described in the song really exist?

II. From the words in bold in the lyrics, find the proper one that matches the following definitions.

1. Room ________________ 7. An illness ________________

2. Church ________________ 8. Not straight ________________
3. To pay the bill when you leave a hotel ________________ 9. Not clear ________________
4. A desert flower ________________ 10. Hall ________________
5. A very big meal ________________
6. Can be an alcoholic drink or a ghost ________________

While listening

III. Listen and fill in the blanks with the verbs in the box. You have to change them into the past form. Some of
them are used twice or more.

are call can gather grow have hear

is light say
think
On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I ___________ a shimmering light.
My head ___________ heavy and my sight ___________ dim.
I ___________to stop for the night.
see show stand
Welcome to the Hotel California
such a lovely place (x2), such a lovely face.
They livin' it up at the Hotel California.
What a nice surprise, bring your alibis.

There she ___________ in the doorway; Mirrors on the ceiling

I ___________ the mission bell. The pink champagne on ice.
I ___________ thinking to myself: And she___________: "We are all just
"This ___________ be Heaven or this ___________ be Hell" prisoners here of our own device.”
Then she ___________ up a candle,
and she ____________ me the way. And in the master's chambers
There ___________ voices down the corridor They __________ for the feast.
I ___________ I ___________ them say: They stab it with their steely knives,
But they can’t just kill the beast.
Welcome to the Hotel California.
Such a lovely place (x2), such a lovely face. Last thing I remember, I ___________
Plenty of room at the Hotel California. Running for the door.
Any time of year, you can find it here. I ___________ to find the passage back
To the place I ___________ before.
Her mind is Tiffany-twisted; she's got the Mercedes bends. “Relax,” said the night man
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys that she calls friends. “We are programmed to receive
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat, You can check out any time you like,
But you can never leave.”
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget.
So I ___________up the Captain:
"Please bring me my wine."
He___________, "We haven't had that spirit
Here since nineteen sixty nine."
And still those voices are calling from far away;
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say…
After listening

IV. Read this paragraph and then choose the best answers.

This is a song from the late 1970’s by The Eagles. It is very hard to explain. The lyrics
describe the title establishment as a luxury resort where "you can check out anytime you
like, but you can never leave."
On the surface, the song tells the story of a weary traveler who becomes trapped in a
nightmarish hotel that at first appeared inviting and tempting. It is kind of like a scene from
a strange dream. The man is walking down a dark desert highway. The wind is blowing around
him. The warm smell of a flower, colitas, is in the air. Up ahead he sees a hotel. He starts to
feel tired. A beautiful woman is standing in a doorway of the hotel. He enters, and then gets
trapped inside. People are dancing in the courtyard. Everyone seems happy, but he can't
escape. Is this heaven or hell, he wonders?
The song is generally understood to be an allegory about self-destruction in the Southern
California music industry of the late 1970s. Rock stars have a lot of money, and can buy
anything they want. But money does not buy happiness, and a life of only "pleasure" can feel
like a prison or trap.
The term "colitas" in the first stanza of the song is a Spanish term for "little tails." This is a
reference to the Cannabis plant which is also known as marijuana.
According to Glenn Frey, one of the member of The Eagles, the use of the word "steely" in
the lyric is a reference to Steely Dan, a different band, who had included the lyric "Turn up
the Eagles, the neighbors are listening" in their song Everything You Did.
The abstract and metaphoric nature of the song has led listeners to their own
interpretations over the years, including some claims, spread by word of mouth and e-mail, of
satanic aspects. Some believe the song was written about a real inn that had the same name
of the song. Though there is a Hotel California in Todos Santos, Baja California, its relation
to the song begins and ends with the coincidence of a shared name. None of the Eagles
stayed there, let alone wrote music there. Nor did they have this building in mind when they
created the lyrics of this popular song.
Other rumors suggested that the "Hotel California" was a mental hospital, or a metaphor for
cancer. These claims have been consistently refuted by the band. Don Henley, one of the
writers of the song, said “This song is our interpretation of the high life in Los Angeles".
Whatever its real meaning is; this song is really popular all over the world. People sing it in
karaoke bars, from Thailand to London, Brazil and Iraq.

1. This song was released in…

a) 1970 b) 1975 c) 1977

2. It…
a) is very easy to explain b) isn’t easy to explain c) isn’t difficult to explain

3. “Weary” means…
a) Trapped b) tired c) tempting

4. In the lyrics, colitas is...

a) Marijuana b) ”little tails” c) a Spanish term
 5. “Steely” is a reference to
a) the song “Everything you did” b) another band c) The Eagles

6. In the paragraph the word “inn” means…

a) Todos Santos b) Baja california c) Hotel California

7. According to the paragraph the most accepted interpretation of the song is …

a) Satanic aspects.
b) A metaphor of cancer.
c) Materialism and the lives of famous people
d) The story of a mental hospital
e) The story about a real Hotel where the members of the band stayed in.

V. Write a paragraph about what the song means to you. Use true facts like the ones in the box
below.

Released: February 22nd, 1977

Genre: Rock
Writers: Don Henley, Don Felder, Glenn Frey
Producer: Bill Szymczyk
Awards: Record of the year in 1978

“Hotel California was released on…

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Answer key.

I. Discuss with your partner.

Answers may vary.

II. Find the proper word for each definition in the lyrics.

1. Chamber
2. Mission
3. Check out
4. Colitas
5. Feast
6. Spirit
7. Bends
8. Twisted
9. Dim
10. Corridor

III. Listen and fill in the blanks with the verbs in the box.

Saw
Grew, grew
Had
Stood
Heard
Was
Could, could
Lit, showed
Were
Thought, heard
Called
Said
Said
Gathered
Was
Had
Was

IV. Read the paragraph and choose the best answer.

1. C)
2. B)
3. B)
4. A)
5. B)
6. C)
7. C)