A Hotel California "cover"

[Funk 50]

Maybe it's better to delete this post before I get any trouble from the Eagles camp. Although I believe I have different reasons for doing what I did than this other guy. I recorded that for my own amusement in less than 30 minutes, and I didn't intend to let anybody else hear it. There's nothing amazing about it. I was just proving to myself how important music and lyrics are to each other and having a laugh at the same time with this idiotic melody.

Frank Ocean got fame and notoriety out of stirring the Eagles into action. i'd congratulate you, chaim if you achieved that too.
I'm downloading your "idiotic melody", 50 odd megabytes, couldn't you make it an mp3...

[chaim]

I wasn't exactly placing myself on the same level as this other guy. I'm a nobody, and I will always be. But this is an Eagles forum, and some people close to the band may follow what happens here occasionally, and that's how they might learn about my "grand achievement" at some point. Here's the mp3: **<link deleted per poster's request>

[UndertheWire]

Thanks Toni. Although I liked your melody to begin with, by the end of all those verses, it got a bit boring. The underlying music (in the original) adds drama to the song.

I'd be interested to hear your attempts with different lyrics and melody on top of the original music.

[chaim]

Thanks Toni. Although I liked your melody to begin with, by the end of all those verses, it got a bit boring. The underlying music (in the original) adds drama to the song.

I'd be interested to hear your attempts with different lyrics and melody on top of the original music.

Oh, it gets boring alright. And the original music indeed adds drama. The whole idea here was to take a great lyric and ruin it with dumb music.

Perhaps I wasn't clear enough about this earlier...This song (my version) totally sucks, although the lyric is great. Sometimes people say that the story and the lyric makes HC (or some other classic) the great song it is. My aim was to demonstrate (only for myself) that a lousy tune can make a great lyric seem bad. My experiment was obviously a success. To me my version sounds like a second-rate trucking song - a trucker stopping for the night to have a little rest.

And although for HC the chord progressions came first, often the lyricist writes the lyric first and then somebody else writes the music. It can't be easy to write music that works for the lyricist, and this monstrosity makes me respect this talent even more.

[UndertheWire]

I understood what you were trying to do and you succeeded.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Toni - I actually enjoyed your experiment a lot and totally get what you were trying to do. I think it is an interesting topic and would love for you to try the reverse of putting different lyrics to the original music. I have always maintained that this is such a great song because of the combination of great music and great lyrics. Your fun little experiment has proved at least half of my point. Having said that, your version puts a very creative slant to the song, so while it may not have the greatness of the original nor is it horrible, IMHO.

Anyway, since I think this is a really interesting discussion, I just deleted your mp3 links and left the thread. However, if you would prefer, I'll go ahead and delete the entire thread. It's totally your choice.

[AlreadyGone95]

Haven't you heard American Wedding?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y9hU2yfvE0

Frank Ocean's original version had the actual Hotel California track, minus the vocals, as his backing track. I believe the Eagles have told him not to perform it any more but the Genie is kinda already out of the bottle.

https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...+Wedding+cover

No, actually I've never of this song before.

[chaim]

Thanks for deleting the links. It's ok to let the thread remain as it is, although I'm not sure how the discussion can continue without a link to the song. I'm just too private as a person to let this kind of stuff be out there forever. If it was a song of my own - and something I'm actually proud of - it would be a different matter.

However, in the future, if someone wants to hear my HC "cover", I'll be happy to send it via PM - if it's possible to add attachments in private messages.

PS. It seems that it's harder to make the song suck when you're doing the opposite - taking the chord progression and writing a different melody + lyrics.

[Funk 50]

I listened to your version of Hotel California yesterday, Chaim, strangely enough as I was reading an article which had Henley pontificating about intellectual property. I really enjoyed it. It was nice to hear those lyrics delivered in such an unpretentious manner. I dug the guitar solo too. I was disappointed when it faded out.

Back through the centuries, lyrics and melodies have been separated and remarried, infinitum. I'm sure Don has sung many such songs himself.

Thanks for sharing it, Chaim, I'm mighty impressed.

[chaim]

I listened to your version of Hotel California yesterday, Chaim, strangely enough as I was reading an article which had Henley pontificating about intellectual property. I really enjoyed it. It was nice to hear those lyrics delivered in such an unpretentious manner. I dug the guitar solo too. I was disappointed when it faded out.

Back through the centuries, lyrics and melodies have been separated and remarried, infinitum. I'm sure Don has sung many such songs himself.

Thanks for sharing it, Chaim, I'm mighty impressed.

That's very true. And a great thing to point out.