Once again, I’ve been researching music, listening to what’s out there regarding alcohol and drug use, abuse, addiction, as well as warnings and drug abuse treatment. The last part there is a bit tougher, but I think I may have found one: “Hotel California” by The Eagles. I remember this song when I was a kid. I would sing the lyrics, always wondering what the heck the words meant. I was pretty sure I was missing something or at least getting the words wrong. I wasn’t. Eventually life’s experiences helped me figure out exactly what the lyrics meant. It was until years later when I went through an alcohol and drug abuse treatment facility, experiencing some withdrawals. I was fortunate not to have anything severe. Over the years, though, I’ve seen many people suffer through withdrawals during alcohol and drug abuse treatment, so this song is a sort of tribute to them.
Addiction is a lifelong, progressive disease…you can check-out (get sober) but you can never leave.
So, do YOU think “Hotel California” is about a rehab or going through withdrawals, or both? Let us know.
(sorry about the ads in this classic video!)
Here are some of the cryptic but fantastic lyrics!
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 saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night
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…
Welcome to the hotel California
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the hotel California
Any time of year, you can find it here
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
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…
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
The stab it with their steely knives,
But they just can’t kill the beast
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!