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Does anybody actually listen to "Hotel California" outside of gear demos? (answer: apparently so)

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earthtodan

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This morning the sound of "Hotel California" by The Eagles came blasting from the apartment upstairs. Somehow I had it in my head that this song exists only in the realm of mid-fi audio demos, selected by people going for a "safe," well recorded yet relentlessly upbeat jukebox track, avoiding anything with taste in order to not offend the tasteless, thus pleasing nobody. I thought that anyone with the motivation to buy a stereo and play it would have some personal music preference that does not encompass something so emphatically generic. Apparently I was wrong.

There's no point here, just venting. But if I never hear this song again, it will be too soon.
 
I have to be honest. I seldom listen to anything older than a couple years. I do I listen to that song if it happens to be on.
 
amirm said:
I listened to it when I was young and it had come out. Don't queue it up now but when it comes on radio, I listen to it.
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Huh. I guess I stand corrected.

When I go to hell, it will be sitting in a waiting room somewhere with this song playing on repeat through set of ceiling speakers, and the wait never ends.
 
Funny you mention. Just added this to the rotation. Perfect in Big Lebowski too.

 
Never used it as a demo myself, but they overplayed this thing back in the day and I just limit my exposure to it. I stayed away from Stairway to Heaven and Free Bird similarly....
 
It’s a great song for me, not even a little bit upbeat if you grok the lyrics. And, yes it is well recorded so that is an extra bonus. And there are great covers of it too. I know The Eagles aren’t everybody’s cup of tea, but I willfully crank them all the time.
 
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listened to it when I was in junior high school. But for the last few decades it has sent me to the station selection buttons in a frantic search for something that rocks.
 
earthtodan said:
When I go to hell, it will be sitting in a waiting room somewhere with this song playing on repeat through set of ceiling speakers, and the wait never ends.
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But at least when you ride the elevator up to the pearly gates, you'll get to listen to this, the girl from ipanema:

 
This tangentially reminds me of an observation an old friend once made lamenting the amount of brain space we waste knowing the lyrics of songs we don't even like. He was right!
 
GD Fan said:
This tangentially reminds me of an observation an old friend once made lamenting the amount of brain space we waste knowing the lyrics of songs we don't even like. He was right!
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And the laid down, long term memories of lyrics be find out years later were mis-heard in the first place. :facepalm:
 
Back in 1976 I went to an Eagles concert and Don Henley told the audience that they had just finished recording a new album earlier THAT DAY. They played some songs from it, which were absolutely killer. They didn't tell us what the name of the album would be but you've probably already guessed. Hearing that song takes me back to one of the most memorable evenings of high school so I'm not an impartial judge, but it hasn't gotten old for me yet.

Wouldn't mind hearing "New Kid in Town" a bit more though. I LOVE Don Henley's drumming at the end. Or "Victim of Love", with Joe Walsh on slide guitar...
 
deniall83 said:
Can't stand it.

When I worked in HiFI there were a few songs that got played to death which I can't listen to any more.

Hotel California
Get Lucky
Money for Nothing
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Kenny Loggins- Danger Zone is up there for me due to the demos of Top Gun on laserdisc back in the early 90s. And Bird On A Wire- Jennifer Warnes. I'll stab myself if I hear that again.
 
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