A Hotel California "cover"

[chaim]

Just having a bit of fun here...

Once, while I was walking around the city, another kind of melody to the Hotel California lyric started playing in my head. A joke version - a really lame major key melody. Today I "demoed" it. Just strumming an acoustic and singing. Recording with my laptop's microphone, so there's plenty of hiss. I added some other stuff, but not much. This is just a musical note for me - and I may or may not record it properly at some point. Or if someone else would like to, feel free!:hilarious:

This is basically to demonstrate how important the music is for a lyric and vice versa. I'm thinking of doing the opposite at some point - taking the HC chord progression and adding a different melody and a really lame lyric on top. Here's the hissing demo:

** <link deleted per poster's request>

If someone's not on Dropbox and you'd like to hear it, PM your e-mail address, and I'll send you an mp3.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

I'd like to hear it Toni, but when I click on the link, I get a message that says "The file you’re looking for has been moved or deleted." You can post the mp3 here if you want by clicking on the "Music" icon on the right side of the menu bar.

[chaim]

I removed the file (and tried to delete this thread), because I felt that I don't really want to have this recording where anyone who sees this forum can get it, and it seemed like no one's even too interested in hearing it. 86 people have seen this thread so far, and it looks like only one has been interested. So I don't feel like it's worth it to have a joke thing like this "out there" for too long.

If it's possible, I'd rather e-mail it to those who'd like to hear it. I can try and post the mp3 here at some point, if you feel that people PM:ing their e-mail addresses to me is a bad thing. Or perhaps I'll upload it on Dropbox again PM the address to those who are interested.

[LuvTim]

I've gone there and gotten the same message.

I'd like to see it if possible.

[AlreadyGone95]

I get the same thing. I'd like to hear it as well :).

[chaim]

I tried to upload it as an mp3 here by clicking the "music" icon. I didn't know what to do with it, so I uploaded the wav file on Dropbox again. Maybe I'll keep it there for a week or so, and then this thread could be deleted. I don't want to have the recording "out there" forever, but people who (at least partly) share my sense of humor might enjoy it.

So here: **<link deleted per poster's request>

Oh, and I pronounce English like a Finn, I know!

[AlreadyGone95]

Not bad Chaim. I enjoyed it, although your pronunciations took a bit of getting used to :hilarious:. (Sorry, I don't mean anything by that. We all have some kind of accent :) )

HC with different lyrics? Hmm, sounds interesting!

[LuvTim]

Thanks for loading that and sharing, C. Very interesting and different.I'll bet that was a lot of fun to do.:rockguitar:

[Funk 50]

HC with different lyrics? Hmm, sounds interesting!

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?search_query=American+Wedding+cover

[chaim]

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.

[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. :shrug: 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.:hilarious: 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?search_query=American+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.:hilarious:

[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. :thumbsup:

[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. :thumbsup:

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