P.S. of the background ot this song:Hotel California
在网上随便找了一下这首歌的中文翻译，发现有些理解不好或者是不对的，结果以讹传讹，或者丝毫没说，搞得玄乎乎，甚是不爽。于是，找了关于这首歌的相关背景，这样对大家欣赏这首歌就会有所帮助了，本文也没有给出歌词的中文翻译，那个就得靠大家看完本文自己理解了，理解多少算多少，没有关系的。但是，我也发现人们对歌词的误解其实是无可厚非的，老外他们自己都不怎么理解，更何况我们呢。首先，请看下面的一段对话。
In a 2009 interview, Plain Dealer music critic John Soeder asked Don Henley this about the lyrics:
On "Hotel California," you sing: "So I called up the captain / 'Please bring me my wine' / He said, 'We haven't had that spirit here since 1969.'" I realize I'm probably not the first to bring this to your attention, but wine isn't a spirit. Wine is fermented; spirits are distilled. Do you regret that lyric?
Henley responded,
"Thanks for the tutorial and, no, you're not the first to bring this to my attention—and you're not the first to completely misinterpret the lyric and miss the metaphor. Believe me, I've consumed enough alcoholic beverages in my time to know how they are made and what the proper nomenclature is. But that line in the song has little or nothing to do with alcoholic beverages. It's a sociopolitical statement. My only regret would be having to explain it in detail to you, which would defeat the purpose of using literary devices in songwriting and lower the discussion to some silly and irrelevant argument about chemical processes."[11]
大意如下：一本杂志的乐评人采访一个人，他说：“在那首歌里，你唱到‘。。。’，wine（酒） isn't a spirit（烈酒），wine是通过发酵做成的，而spirit是通过蒸馏的方法做成的，我知道我不是第一个指出歌词中这个区别的人，你有没对这种歌词的用法感到不对劲吗？”
他回复说：“谢谢你的指导，是的，你不是第一个让我看到这个区别的人，而且你也不是第一个完全错误理解这个歌词并且没有理解到歌词所要表达的隐喻（metaphor）的人。相信我，我已经喝过了足够多的酒精饮料，以至于我知道它们是怎么制作的以及它们该怎么命名。但是，这个歌词在歌曲中与酒精饮料只有那么一丁点儿关系，或者就是完全没有关系的。它是一个社会政治意义上的表达（It's a sociopolitical statement.）。我得向你详细解释这个歌词，而这样会让歌词创作中的文学表达方法起不了它原有的效果，并且让我们的这次谈话浪费在无聊的且与我们的话题本身毫无关系的关于酒的制作过程上。这是我仅有的遗憾。
其次，关于歌词中的那个“colitas”这个词，也是流言四起。请看下面这段：The term "colitas" in the first stanza of the song is a desert flower, also known as Antelope sage or Colita de Rata [9]. Both Don Henley and Don Felder have repeatedly and publicly stated that Colitas are "heady desert flowers."[citation needed] Others assert that "colitas" is a Spanish term for "little tails" or "little bottoms", and a reference to the buds of the Cannabis plant.[10]
大意如下：colitas这个词，在歌曲的第一段中出现的，是一种沙漠中的花，也被称为Antelope sage或者Colita de Rata（都是这种花的名称）。Don Henley和Don Felder多次公开的反复地申明说colitas是一种"heady desert flowers." 但是，有些人却坚持认为这个词是西班牙语的词，是指 "little tails" or "little bottoms", 引申为大麻植物的芽，意为毒品大麻。
------按照歌词作者的说法，colitas就是指一种长在沙漠中的花。把它理解的大麻的说法，显然就是无稽之谈。
再次，再看一段：The abstract nature of the lyrics has led listeners to their own interpretations over the years, including some claims, spread by word of mouth and internet, of Satanic aspects. Other rumors suggested that the "Hotel California" was referring to a hotel run by cannibals, the Camarillo State Mental Hospital, or a metaphor for cancer. These claims have been consistently refuted by the band.
大意如下：关于这首歌歌词的抽象含义被听者理解成各种不同的版本，通过嘴巴和网络传播。比如，说这个歌是和一个关于恶魔的事。其他的流言，如把"Hotel California"说成是一个食人族（cannibals，意为食人肉的人）开的旅馆，或者说成是一个精神病院，或者暗指癌症。这些说法都已经被eagles乐队反驳。
最后，还是一段英文Don Henley called it "our interpretation of the high life in Los Angeles" and later reiterated "It's basically a song about the dark underbelly of the American dream and about excess in America, which is something we knew a lot about."大意如下：Don Henley曾说它是我们在Los Angeles的生涯的诠释。后来，又反复说它是一首关于the dark underbelly of the American dream and about excess in America（这句不好翻译，也不好理解，再说，我们也不了解美国的六七十年代的历史，而背景知识没有，是不会理解的。但是，我们也不需要理解他们的事，就像老外不理解中文里的“滚滚红尘”，“武林”，“江湖”一样，不理解才是正常的。但是，我还是勉强意译几个词，帮助大家理解：uderbelly指动物的下腹部，引申为脆弱的地方，薄弱的地方 excess同extravagant，意指奢侈的，挥霍的，放从的，放肆的，越轨的。）
但是，对于这首的歌的普遍的理解是这样的。The song is generally understood to be an allegory about hedonism and self-destruction in the Southern California music industry of the late 1970s.大意如下：这首歌被普遍理解为是对70年代加州南部音乐产业中盛行的享乐主义（hedonism)及自甘没落(self-destruction )现象的一种讽喻(allegory)。
Statement：all English quotation is from wikipedia.com.
Address:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_California_(song)
In a 2009 interview, Plain Dealer music critic John Soeder asked Don Henley this about the lyrics:
On "Hotel California," you sing: "So I called up the captain / 'Please bring me my wine' / He said, 'We haven't had that spirit here since 1969.'" I realize I'm probably not the first to bring this to your attention, but wine isn't a spirit. Wine is fermented; spirits are distilled. Do you regret that lyric?
Henley responded,
"Thanks for the tutorial and, no, you're not the first to bring this to my attention—and you're not the first to completely misinterpret the lyric and miss the metaphor. Believe me, I've consumed enough alcoholic beverages in my time to know how they are made and what the proper nomenclature is. But that line in the song has little or nothing to do with alcoholic beverages. It's a sociopolitical statement. My only regret would be having to explain it in detail to you, which would defeat the purpose of using literary devices in songwriting and lower the discussion to some silly and irrelevant argument about chemical processes."[11]
大意如下：一本杂志的乐评人采访一个人，他说：“在那首歌里，你唱到‘。。。’，wine（酒） isn't a spirit（烈酒），wine是通过发酵做成的，而spirit是通过蒸馏的方法做成的，我知道我不是第一个指出歌词中这个区别的人，你有没对这种歌词的用法感到不对劲吗？”
他回复说：“谢谢你的指导，是的，你不是第一个让我看到这个区别的人，而且你也不是第一个完全错误理解这个歌词并且没有理解到歌词所要表达的隐喻（metaphor）的人。相信我，我已经喝过了足够多的酒精饮料，以至于我知道它们是怎么制作的以及它们该怎么命名。但是，这个歌词在歌曲中与酒精饮料只有那么一丁点儿关系，或者就是完全没有关系的。它是一个社会政治意义上的表达（It's a sociopolitical statement.）。我得向你详细解释这个歌词，而这样会让歌词创作中的文学表达方法起不了它原有的效果，并且让我们的这次谈话浪费在无聊的且与我们的话题本身毫无关系的关于酒的制作过程上。这是我仅有的遗憾。
其次，关于歌词中的那个“colitas”这个词，也是流言四起。请看下面这段：The term "colitas" in the first stanza of the song is a desert flower, also known as Antelope sage or Colita de Rata [9]. Both Don Henley and Don Felder have repeatedly and publicly stated that Colitas are "heady desert flowers."[citation needed] Others assert that "colitas" is a Spanish term for "little tails" or "little bottoms", and a reference to the buds of the Cannabis plant.[10]
大意如下：colitas这个词，在歌曲的第一段中出现的，是一种沙漠中的花，也被称为Antelope sage或者Colita de Rata（都是这种花的名称）。Don Henley和Don Felder多次公开的反复地申明说colitas是一种"heady desert flowers." 但是，有些人却坚持认为这个词是西班牙语的词，是指 "little tails" or "little bottoms", 引申为大麻植物的芽，意为毒品大麻。
------按照歌词作者的说法，colitas就是指一种长在沙漠中的花。把它理解的大麻的说法，显然就是无稽之谈。
再次，再看一段：The abstract nature of the lyrics has led listeners to their own interpretations over the years, including some claims, spread by word of mouth and internet, of Satanic aspects. Other rumors suggested that the "Hotel California" was referring to a hotel run by cannibals, the Camarillo State Mental Hospital, or a metaphor for cancer. These claims have been consistently refuted by the band.
大意如下：关于这首歌歌词的抽象含义被听者理解成各种不同的版本，通过嘴巴和网络传播。比如，说这个歌是和一个关于恶魔的事。其他的流言，如把"Hotel California"说成是一个食人族（cannibals，意为食人肉的人）开的旅馆，或者说成是一个精神病院，或者暗指癌症。这些说法都已经被eagles乐队反驳。
最后，还是一段英文Don Henley called it "our interpretation of the high life in Los Angeles" and later reiterated "It's basically a song about the dark underbelly of the American dream and about excess in America, which is something we knew a lot about."大意如下：Don Henley曾说它是我们在Los Angeles的生涯的诠释。后来，又反复说它是一首关于the dark underbelly of the American dream and about excess in America（这句不好翻译，也不好理解，再说，我们也不了解美国的六七十年代的历史，而背景知识没有，是不会理解的。但是，我们也不需要理解他们的事，就像老外不理解中文里的“滚滚红尘”，“武林”，“江湖”一样，不理解才是正常的。但是，我还是勉强意译几个词，帮助大家理解：uderbelly指动物的下腹部，引申为脆弱的地方，薄弱的地方 excess同extravagant，意指奢侈的，挥霍的，放从的，放肆的，越轨的。）
但是，对于这首的歌的普遍的理解是这样的。The song is generally understood to be an allegory about hedonism and self-destruction in the Southern California music industry of the late 1970s.大意如下：这首歌被普遍理解为是对70年代加州南部音乐产业中盛行的享乐主义（hedonism)及自甘没落(self-destruction )现象的一种讽喻(allegory)。
Statement：all English quotation is from wikipedia.com.
Address:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_California_(song)
