Soundtracks For Summer: Hotel California

Part 7 in my "Soundtracks For Summer" Series.

Today, Lucky Entry # 7 will be focusing on this Eagles Classic:



Not a week goes by where I don't listen to this song. Not that this is by choice. For my fellow Long Island readers, I'm a listener of WBAB. For those of you who don't live near me, WBAB happens to be Long Island's obligatory "50 Minutes of Classic Rock" station that only has 35 songs in its entire roster.

I'm may be exaggerating. It's probably closer to 30. And which song gets the most play? Why, the 1976 Eagles hit "Hotel California!" I've since theorized why they play it so much: First, well, it's a good song. Another possibility is because it's a 6 minute song, they play it whenever the resident DJ needs to do some "Spring Cleaning" if you know what I mean. Come to think of it, the song usually appears in a marathon with "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Paradise By The Dashboard Light," and/or "Stairway To Heaven." A third theory is the aforementioned 35-or-so song rotation. They have to break up the monotony somehow, we can't listen to Crazy Fucking Freddy for the 10 minutes of ads that they always seem to play whenever I turn to the station.

Due to the fact that the only time I listen to the station is when I'm driving, I've associated "Hotel California" with travelling. The song usually plays during whenever I'm driving home from a buddy's house or some party, and I just want to relax while driving but without getting into an accident. This song usually does the trick.

To fit this all in with the Summer theme, I've had some good memories with this song. I'm reminded of all of those wasted vacation days that I spent lounging around my hotel room. But usually they're worth it, since it usually rains on these sort of days. Most of all, I'm reminded of my trip to Busch Gardens in Virginia back in August of 2004. I was staying in the Days Inn at Williamsburg, when during the first full day of my stay Tropical Storm Gaston decided to pay a visit. My dad and I were lounging on the chairs on the porch of the hotel, watching the rain tremble down and the wind swaying all of the trees. All of the branches and junk were falling off the trees and landing in the nearby pool that was previously inhabited by some crazed tourists who had decided to take a dip during a Tropical Storm attack. My dad and I managed to stay perfectly dry the entire time.

I don't remember if the Days Inn had speakers on the outside porch, but during that whole afternoon, I could only think of "Hotel California." It's a perfect serene song for a vacation. Laying on a rocking chair, watching a rainstorm from your porch while slowly kicking back a drink. In my case, it was probably a nice, cold Pepsi.

No Summertime memory would be complete without my admission of making out to this song. Oh yes. Sigh...Good times. "Such a lovely place, such a lovely face."

I should seriously stop sighing in my posts. I'm starting to act like Dennis.

This following message goes out to any readers from WBAB who somehow stumble upon this entry: Would it kill you people to play "Tom Sawyer" more than once a fucking month?!




I am also taking reader submissions for future "Soundtracks For Summer" entries. If you've got an idea, pop me an email at beamingforbunnies@gmail.com with the name of the song, and a reason or two why it defines "Summer" for you. You'll be glad you did.