How ‘Psycho’ Inspired The Eagles’ ‘Hotel California’
Classic cinema and classic rock interplayed more than one might expect. For example, The Eagles’ “Hotel California” was inspired by several movies, one of them being Alfred Hitchcock’s seminal horror film Psycho. Both “Hotel California” and Psycho are part of an odd cultural fixation on hotels and motels.
How real life and ‘Psycho’ inspired The Eagles’ ‘Hotel California’
During a 2003 interview with The Uncool, The Eagles’ Don Henley discussed the background of “Hotel California.” “We were enamored with hotels,” the “Boys of Summer” singer recalled. “Hotels were a big part of our lives. The Beverly Hills Hotel had become something of a focal point — literally and symbolically. I’ve always been interested in architecture and the language of architecture, and, at that time, I was particularly keen on the mission style of early California. I thought there was a certain mystery and romance about it.” For context, a hazy image of The Beverly Hills Hotel appears on the cover of the album Hotel California.
Fiction also influenced The Eagles’ magnum opus. “Then, there are all the great movies and plays in which hotels figure prominently, not only as a structure, but as a dramatic device,” he added. “Films such as Grand Hotel, The Night Porter, and even Psycho — motels count too.”
Henley and Glenn Frey also drew inspiration from some plays about hotels for “Hotel California.” “There are plays like Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite and California Suite, which Glenn and I went to see while writing the song,” he remembered. “We saw it as homework or research. We were looking for things that would stimulate us and give us ideas.”
The Eagles helped prop up a major horror trope
“Hotel California” was not the beginning or the end of hotels being a popular setting for horror fiction. In 1977, the year after The Eagles released “Hotel California,” Stephen King released his novel The Shining, which Stanley Kubrick loosely adapted into a film in 1980. King would return to the theme of a haunted hotel in his short story “1408,” which was also the basis for a movie. American Horror Story: Hotel also built on this trope, even using “Hotel California” in an episode.
So why do we find hotels and motels so spooky? First of all, most people end up staying in hotels they’ve never been to before, and this unfamiliarity can breed discomfort. Furthermore, we have no way of knowing what unspeakable things might have happened in a hotel room before we’ve been there. Because hotels are somewhat cut off from the rest of the world, time feels like it works differently at hotels. All of these things make hotels perfect for horror/surrealist content.
‘Hotel California’ was huge
“Hotel California” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for a single week. It lasted on the chart for 19 weeks. The tune appeared on the album Hotel California. That record was No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for eight weeks, staying on the chart for 158 weeks in total. It remains the band’s most popular studio album in the United States.
“Hotel California” is a great song — and it’s one of many reasons why pop culture keeps treating hotels like they’re creepy.
