Hotel California
説明も不要ですがイーグルスのホテル・カリフォルニアという名曲があります。あれはたんにカリフォルニア最高だぜいえーという曲だと思っており、バーでかかっては夜もヒッパレ（死語）的に歌っておりましたが、どうやら歌詞には色々な解釈があるようで。昨晩St.ArcherでAbwizのToshiさんから教えてもらいました。
あのホテル・カリフォルニアは人間が持つ負の感情のメタファーで、誰もがそこで夜を過ごすが決して抜け出ることができない迷宮である(You can check out anytime but you can never leave)、というような悲しみを歌ったという説から、ホテル・カリフォルニア自体がLAミュージックシーンの象徴で、商業的成功に過度に傾倒して業界に魂を売ってしまったミュージシャンを嘆いた曲だ、という説まで。これは大変面白いトピックなのでアメリカで会う人に色々問いかけてみよう。
“Hotel California”
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 place)
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year (Any time of year)
You can find it hereHer mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes bends
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
Some dance to remember, some dance to forgetSo 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…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 alibisMirrors 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 beastLast 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! “