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Eagles - Hotel California - Live 1998 (All the Eagles Unite for Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction)


The Eagles—All Seven of Them—Perform “Hotel California” in 1998.



The Eagles broke their “no former members” policy for a single night when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in early 1998. For the only time in history, all seven Eagles took the stage. “We said, ‘We used to do this with four people, so surely we can do this with seven,'” says founding guitarist Bernie Leadon. “It just meant that someone was doubling someone else’s part.”


The lineup—which included the late guitarist Glenn Frey and drummer Don Henley, along with Leadon, Meisner, Felder, Walsh and Schmit—performed their first hit, “Take It Easy,” and their biggest, “Hotel California.”





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 place)

Such a lovely face

Plenty of room at the Hotel California

Any time of year (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 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


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


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


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!"

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