"Hotel California" uses symbolic techniques, which people who hold various opinions will agree. However, many people are satisfied with the fact that a few words are painted like a ghost arc, and this profound meaning is determined. When I saw Mr. Zhu Ziqing explain the symbolism in this way: "The so-called symbol here refers to the' emotional symbol', which mainly expresses emotional appeal, atmosphere and mood. Compared with the following, the first three kinds (simile, metaphor and metonymy) can all be said to be' cutting classes to refer to things'. Only symbols do not need to be' cutting classes', as long as there is a general and vague air. " Only then did I understand that many people only want a "general and vague air" for symbols and other means of expressing meaning, that is, they are blinded by their own feelings. This may be due to the different definitions of Chinese and western rhetorical devices, but since we are talking about English works, we should still analyze them in English. In fact, English symbolism means symbolization, and the so-called symbolism means to express the actual image with a series of codes. The significance of symbolism should be discussed in a special article, but in short, its most important purpose is to effectively repeat moral concepts. Don Henley is a songwriter who prefers symbolism. Desperado and The End Of The Innocence are two other classic examples. His use of symbolism is by no means "as long as there is a general and vague air".
After learning about the concept of symbol, let's look at the symbolic details of Hotel California.
first of all, what does the theme image of California Hotel symbolize? It symbolizes the materialism pursued by mainstream Americans in the 197s, that is, the pursuit of material life and the values based on the status of money. Furthermore, materialism is the source of the capitalist system in American society, which was opposed by the * * * production party and left-wing folk singers in the 193s and 4s, spurned by the "Beat Generation" in the 4s and 195s, and the root of the system rebelled by hippies in the 196s. The symbol of "California Hotel" is exactly the same thing as that of the madhouse in "Flying Over the Madhouse" in the 196s, except that the California Hotel is trapped by the generation who once violently rebelled against it. This moral doesn't need to be specified by the author or anyone else. This is the reality in the 197s, and it is the * * * sound of people who have experienced it. By the end of 196s and the beginning of 197s, baby boomers experienced physical and mental fatigue, and many returned to their broken families and their parents over 3 years old. Many people "can't be with their loved ones" and began to fall in love with those who are together, set up their own families, care for their children, get rid of "bad habits" and return to "real life". But soon many of them found that they had lost the most precious things: freedom, passion and ideals. And these lost things, they can never get back, no matter how hard they try. This is what the song "Hotel California" symbolizes.
This was not only the theme of a song at that time, but many songs expressed similar feelings. Jackson Browne sang in the song Running On Empty:
Look at the road outside the car window galloping under the wheels
The years that have passed are like a flash of summer fields
I was 17 years old in p>65, and the speed was 11
Now I don't know why I am running around, just running around
I am just running around, and I get nothing for nothing
I am just running around blindly
I am just running around. I ran to the sun
but I came last
... I was 21 years old in 1969, and I claimed to go my own way
I don't know when this road became the road I walked
... Look around at my friends who helped me out of my confusion
Tell me from their eyes that they are just running around
just running around, getting nothing for nothing
just running around. Running blindly
Paul Simon fantasized that he could "go crazy" and have sex in the song Still Crazy After All These Years in 1975, and he knew:
... I won't be blamed by my peers
This is the madness that still exists many years later
I lost the idealism of the 196s, that is, the passion of a generation to transform the world, love peace, return to nature and freedom. This sense of loss was strongly pronounced in the middle and late 197s and even in the 198s. Not only the background of the times can determine the moral of the song, but also the symbolic details of the song reasonably support this moral.
The content structure of hotels in California is divided into outside hotels and inside hotels. There are few scenes outside, only the scene at the beginning of the song: the highway in the desert, but it is very important and is actually a key reference point for interpretation. If you remember Bob Dylan's song All Along The Watch Tower, a lot of descriptions and meanings outside the city can give this song a lot of inspiration.
Many people are interested in researching the meaning of the word "colitas" which is not in the dictionary. Yes, it's what Mexicans call marijuana, but it's still literal. "The smell of marijuana" and "cool wind" here symbolize idealism in the 196s, which is the 196s of freedom and passion. Some people regard it as the beginning of the depravity in the 197s, and simply regard it as the finishing touch of the theme of drug addiction, which is completely reversed. The problem lies in that generation's attitude towards marijuana. They didn't regard it as a drug from the past to the present, which is contrary to the concept of mainstream America and its spread! Remember the buzzword "Real estate is marijuana in the 197s"? It turns out that it is almost exactly the same theme as this song.
on a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
on the dark desert highway, cool wind blows hair
warm mill of colitas, Rising up through the air
The warm smell of marijuana diffuses in the air
Knowing that the moral of the beginning of the song comes from the 196s and goes to the 197s, the darkness of the "highway" and the fatigue of the protagonist, etc., it is easy to connect people with the "going home" trend in the late 196s and early 197s-many people in that generation were tortured by drugs like fire, and they missed their mothers in the mountains of Virginia. What they didn't expect, however, was that the temporary departure from the counterculture movement allowed the temptation of materialism to take advantage of it. They originally knew the root cause of the system and eventually fell into the system and could not extricate themselves.
up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
far ahead, I saw flashing lights
my head grey heavy and my sight grey dim, I had to stop for the night
My head began to sink and my vision began to blur, so I had to stop for the night
Pay attention here, it was the flashing lights in front that made me "sink my head and blur my vision", that is to say, it was the temptation of materialism that made people numb, not the after-effect of smoking marijuana. The lack of a little in-depth understanding of psychedelic culture in the 196s will hinder the understanding of the literal and moral meaning here.
There she stood in the doorway; I heard the mission bell
She stood in the hall, and the sacred bell was faintly discernible
and I was thinking to myself,' This could be heaven or this could be hell'
I thought, "This may be heaven or hell"
It symbolizes that the protagonist of materialism is a woman, which is more likely to show temptation. She stands between a free life and a world of desire. Perhaps for many people, she is the wife who lets them "lead a normal life". Here, "hearing" uses the past tense, suggesting that before seeing "her", she has missed the call of heaven.
then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
then she lit a candle to guide me
there were voices down the corridor, I thought I heard them say...
From time to time in the corridor, I heard them say ...
Welcome to the hotel California
Welcome to such a wonderful place as the California Hotel
Such a Lovely Place, Such a Lovely Face
. Such a beautiful face
Plenty of room at the hotel California
California hotels have plenty of rooms
Any time of year, you can find it here
You can stay at any time all year round
"She" takes "I" to appreciate the attractive hall of materialism, in which people boasting about California hotels symbolize the cliché of material temptation in the past, while in the past, California,
HERMIND is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes Bends
Her thoughts are distorted by jewels, and because of the deformation of luxury cars
"She" is full of the splendor of Tiffany's jewelry store and the illusion of Mercedes Benz. Don Henley seems to be very proud here, and has explained many times that bends is in harmony with Benz in pronunciation, while it is against twist in semantics. It turns out that English also has the emphasis on pursuing confrontation! Many people have seen this kind of explanation, but unfortunately they haven't figured it out, which leads to the Chinese explanation never being clear.
she got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends
She has many handsome guys, and she all calls her friends
Male tycoons always have many beautiful women, so "she" naturally has many handsome guys, which is a status symbol of materialism.
how they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
They dance in the courtyard, and the fragrance of summer is dripping with sweat
Some dance to remember, Some dance to forget
Dancing to remember, dancing or forgetting
This is a place that allows multiple interpretations. Some people dance to remember the past, others to forget the past. Some people recall the past because they were free, others because they were richer. Some people are trying to forget the poverty of the past, while others are trying to forget the troubles of the present. This kind of dancing scene makes people involuntarily think of disco, which was popular in the United States in the middle and late 197 s, and jumped foolishly with the machine. Of course, "I" won't go dancing, so I want to drown my sorrows or entertain myself with wine.
so I called up the captain,' please bringing me my wine'
so I called the head waiter,' please give me some wine'
He said, We have' t had that spirit here since nine six nine'
He said, "We haven't had any hard liquor since 1969"
There is a pun here. Spirit has both "hard liquor" and "spirit, soul, courage and enthusiasm" which symbolize the 196s. 1969 marked the end of the 196s more than what happened in 1969. It means, how could the idealistic mood in the 196s exist in the palace of materialism in the 197s?
and still though voices are calling from far away,
or those words heard in the corridor coming from far away
wake you up in the middle of the night
to wake you up from your midnight sleep. They said,
Welcome to the Hotel California
Welcome to such a wonderful place as California Hotel
Such a Lovely Place, Such a Lovely Face
. Such a beautiful face
They're living in' it up at the hotel California
They are indulging in fun at the hotel in California
What a nice surprise, bring your alibi
What a wonderful surprise, find an excuse
I don't take part in dancing carnival, and there is no wine to relieve my worries, so "I" have to use drowsiness to escape from living in the materialistic palace. But in the middle of the night, I will still be awakened by the temptation of sound, and return to feasting all night. What is the temptation of materialism? Struggle, success, value embodiment, re-creating brilliance, continuous brilliance, enjoying life, dominating fate, and marking the times. What a familiar temptation, what a fashionable voice.
mirrors on the ceiling, the pink champagne on ice
pink champagne on the ice
and she said' We are all just prisoners here, of our own device'
She said, "We are all just prisoners in our own cages"
Since ancient times, emperors have been unscrupulous, and Jin. With the pursuit of material life as the personal and social goal, the materialistic lifestyle naturally came into being. This is the social system and way of life of people of insight in the United States who are deeply distressed and helpless, and it is also what we China people are striving for.
And in the master's chambers, they gather