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PLEASE NOTE: This file is the authors' own work and represents their
interpretation of the song. You may only use this file for private study,
scholarship, or research.
Song: Hotel California
Written by: Don Felder, Don Henley and Glenn Frey
Band: The Eagles
Album: Hotel California (1976)
Key: Bm [first (12-string) guitar plays Em with capo on the 7th fret]
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--2x-- ------------ 2x ------------
Form: Intro | Verse A | Verse B | Chorus |
| Verse A | Verse B | Guitar solo | Coda (repeat and fade)
[Intro; repeat twice]
| Bm | F# |
| A | E |
| G | D |
| Em | F# |
[Verse 1A]
| Bm | F# |
On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair,
| A | E |
Warm smell of co-litas, rising up through the air.
| G | D |
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light,
| Em | F# |
My head grew heavy and I had to stop for the night.
my sight grew dim,
[Verse 1B]
There she stood in the doorway, I heard the mission bell,
And I was thinking to myself: this could be heaven or this could be hell.
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way,
There were voices down the corridor; I thought I heard them say:
[Chorus]
| G | D |
"Welcome to the Hotel Cali- fornia. Such a
| F# | Bm |
lovely place, such a lovely face.
| G | D |
Plenty of room at the Hotel Cali- fornia. Any
| Em | F# |
time of year, you can find it here."
[Verse 2A]
Her mind is Tiffany twisted, she got the Mercedes bends,
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends.
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat,
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget.
[Verse 2B]
So I called up the captain, "Please bring me my wine." He said:
"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:
[Chorus]
"Welcome to the Hotel California,
Such a lovely place (such a lovely place), such a lovely face.
They livin' it up at the Hotel California.
What a nice surprise (what a nice surprise), bring your alibis."
[Verse 3A]
Mirrors on the ceiling, the pink champagne on ice, and she said:
"We are all just prisoners here, of our own device."
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.
[Verse 3B]
Last thing I remember, I was running for the door,
I had to find the passage back to the place I was before.
"Relax," said the night man, "We are programmed to receive:
You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave."
[Guitar solo: 3 times over verse scheme]
[Outro: guitar solo over verse scheme; repeat and fade]
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