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 havent 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...
Welcome to the hotel california Such a lovely place Such a lovely face They livin it up at the hotel california What a nice surprise, bring your alibis
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 masters chambers, They gathered for the feast The stab it with their steely knives, But they just cant 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 checkout any time you like, But you can never leave!
出名的东西，总是有很多解释，甚至很多谣传。
Eagles乐队的著名歌曲Hotel California，
其实既不是指一家旅馆, 也不是一首爱情歌曲。当年的Eagles们，正当风华正茂，名闻遐迩，唱片供不应求，演唱会络绎不绝。
他们总是马不停蹄地飞来飞去，下午去赶演唱会，半夜还要回到回录音棚……财源滚滚，美女如云，花天酒地，如日中天，然而，他们却突然
感到了失落，金钱、地位、名声、女人……之后的精神失落：他们希望能超脱自己，唱出自己独特的风格，而不是一味的追随别人，
重复自己，熬烂在那种country, folk, R&B, rock and pop 等等的大杂烩中。
“退役”的大门旁边，是一个接待室。我从那里径直走过去，随后听见一个女人的声音喊："Sir， sir，sir." 我退回去，那个年轻漂亮的
女接待员笑着对我说："You can't go through that door. It's locked and you need a special badge to come back." 不知道为什么，我突然
就感觉大白天闹鬼，好像是歌曲里那个“stood in the doorway”
的女人在对我说话……
上面通过门洞可以看到的courtyard四合院，在整个校园里到处都是。我不知道歌曲中唱到的跳舞是真正出现在某一个四合院里，还是
只是作者的一种幻想， 但那句歌词：Some dance to remember, some dance to forget，却是颠扑不破的经典。
下面是一个四合院的入口。
入口左手边的小门。歌曲中的 night man 会不会就曾守候在这里？
入口左手边的门窗。说是窗，其实是几个小洞孔。这样的洞孔，在这个校园的建筑里比比皆是。
四合院内的左手边。
四合院内的前面。
四合院内的右手边。
四合院内左手边没有对外出口的楼梯。
某年某月的某一天，一个陌生人提着相机走进这个校园。他想感受一下 Don Henley 当年
被迫生活过的地方。
Don Henley 公开承认“there was a brief period of time where I tried to put some kind of creative stock into
drugs, ”“We did a lot of work on drugs in the Eagles.”
人，到了一定成就，必定有一种莫名奇妙的失落，而排除这种失落的方式之一，
就是靠某种方式逃避，逃避到自己的delusion里去。这首歌里的warm smell of colitas，the voices down the corridor, the dance in the courtyard,
mirrors on the ceiling, the pink champagne on ice, the feast in the masters chambers等等，也许都只是Don Henley吸*毒或毒*瘾发作时
的一种幻觉。撇开别的一切不说，他能够把自我幻觉(delusion)通过歌曲的形式，升华成一种别人可以想见的梦幻(illusion)，这就是艺术，他也
必定跟随这个艺术精品而不朽。在残酷的现实面前，天才通过自己的幻觉创造艺术，大众则通过这种梦幻来欣赏艺术。承认与否，很多时候，人们
对艺术的欣赏和投入，是对现实的一种逃避。然而，梦幻总是虚空的，只有现实才是铁面无私的残酷存在。如何面对现实，就是你如何生活。
不懂得这一点，你就不可能明白什么叫we are all just prisoners of our own device， 什么叫You can checkout any time you like,
But you can never leave! 这首歌的价值就在于，它集中诠释了人类的生活和命运。歌舞升平，灯红酒绿等等，只不过是一种被囚禁时寻欢作乐的幻觉。
而人类最大的牢笼，是命运。命运面前，你可以随时挣扎，但你永远逃脱不了。很多人在这里选择了自杀，他们以为死是一种终极解脱，然而，
新的传说是，那里夜深人静的时候，人们能听见鬼的哀号……
