Tonight’s song is a ghost story, or something like one. A tired traveller is driving through the desert at night. He sees a light, and he stops at a hotel.
Learn from Songs · Unit 2: Past time · B1–B2
Hotel California
The Eagles’ famous mystery story: the past continuous to set a scene (I was driving, it was getting dark), the past simple for events, had to and couldn’t, and hotel phrasal verbs (check in, check out), with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
SOPHIA
DEMETRIA
What kind of hotel?
SOPHIA
A beautiful one. Everyone is friendly. But when he tries to leave, he discovers that nobody ever leaves.
MARCOS
I’m not staying there.
Before you listen: the song
Los Angeles, 1976
The Eagles were a Los Angeles rock band, and in the 1970s they were one of the most successful bands in the world. The guitarist Don Felder wrote the music, and the drummer Don Henley and the guitarist Glenn Frey wrote the words.
“Hotel California” was the title song of their 1976 album and went to number one in America in 1977. It won the Grammy for Record of the Year. The song ends with a long guitar duet by Don Felder and Joe Walsh, one of the most famous in rock music. Don Henley has said the hotel is a picture of the excess of the American dream and of the music business in Los Angeles.
In the song, the traveller was driving through the desert and was getting tired. He saw a light, stopped, and a woman showed him in. Strange things were happening all around him. In the end, he tried to leave, but the night man told him that he could check out, but he couldn’t leave.
Some places are easy to enter and hard to leave.
Listen: the scene and the story
PHILO
Listen once. Where was he driving? What did he see? What happened when he tried to leave?
SOPHIA
Listen to the guitars at the end too. Then answer Section A.
🏨 Listen to the song: “Hotel California” (Don Felder, Don Henley and Glenn Frey, 1976), by the Eagles.Find the recording →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “Hotel California”, the Eagles.Read the lyrics →
Past continuous: setting the scene
MARCOS
He was driving through the desert. It was getting dark. The wind was blowing.
SOPHIA
was / were + -ing paints the background, like the scenery on a stage. Then the past simple brings the action: …and then he saw a light.
Past simple: the events
DEMETRIA
He saw a light. He stopped. She lit a candle and showed him the way.
SOPHIA
A chain of past simple verbs = events in order. While + past continuous, past simple: While he was walking down the corridor, he heard voices.
Had to, couldn’t, was able to
PHILO
He had to stop for the night. He couldn’t find the door. He wasn’t able to leave.
SOPHIA
The past of must is had to; the past of can is could / couldn’t. For one specific success, use was able to or managed to: In the end he managed to escape.
Hotel phrasal verbs
MARCOS
You check in when you arrive and check out when you leave. You settle in. You end up staying for ever.
SOPHIA
check in / check out, settle in, end up + -ing (= finally, without planning). In the song, checking out and leaving are not the same thing. That is the mystery.
Sophia’s comparison: the Lotus-eaters
SOPHIA
On the way home from Troy, Odysseus’s men landed on the island of the Lotus-eaters. Whoever tasted the sweet lotus forgot his home and wanted to stay for ever. Odysseus had to drag them back to the ships, crying.
PHILO
And Proverbs describes Folly’s house: she calls from her door to people passing by, “Come in! Stolen water is sweet!” But her guests do not know who is already in there.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| was / were + -ing | the scene | He was driving. It was getting dark. |
| past simple | the events | He saw a light and stopped. |
| while + past continuous | long action, interrupted | While he was walking, he heard voices. |
| had to / couldn’t | past of must / can | He couldn’t leave. |
| check in / check out / end up | hotel phrasal verbs | He ended up staying. |
Practice
Listen to the song for Section A, then do the rest. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Listen: the song
Listen to the song and choose the best answer.
1. Where was the traveller driving?
2. Why did he stop?
3. What was strange about the hotel?
4. Who wrote the music?
5. What is famous about the end of the song?
6. What did Don Henley say the hotel represents?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. He was through the desert. (drive)
8. It was getting dark when he a light. (see)
9. he was walking down the corridor, he heard voices.
10. He was tired, so he to stop. (must)
11. He tried, but he find the door. (can’t)
12. We arrived at six and checked .
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “While he drove, he was seeing a light.”
14. “He had to stop for the night.”
15. “He musted leave.”
16. “We ended up staying a week.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Finish the story. In pairs, write a new ending: the traveller escapes. How? Use was / were + -ing, while, managed to.
Discuss. 1. What do you think the hotel really is? 2. Are there “Hotel Californias” in real life (habits, jobs, places)? 3. Why are mystery stories so popular?
Write (120–150 words). A strange night. Begin: I was travelling home late one night when… Set the scene with the past continuous, then tell the events in the past simple.
Now play the gamebook: the Inn of the Lotus, on the desert road.Play the gamebook →