We are all just Prisoners of our own device

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night
There she stood in the doorway;
I heard the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself,
’this could be heaven or this could be hell’
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor,
I thought I heard them say...

Welcome to the hotel california
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the hotel california
Any time of year, you can find it here

Her mind is tiffany-twisted, she got the mercedes bends
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget

So I called up the captain,
’please bring me my wine’
He said, ’we haven’t had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine’
And still those voices are calling from far away,
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say...

Welcome to the hotel california
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
They livin’ it up at the hotel california
What a nice surprise, bring your alibis

Mirrors on the ceiling,
The pink champagne on ice
And she said ’we are all just prisoners here, of our own device’
And in the master’s chambers,
They gathered for the feast
The stab it with their steely knives,
But they just can’t kill the beast

Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
’relax,’ said the night man,
We are programmed to receive.
You can checkout any time you like,
But you can never leave!

The allegory about hedonism , self-destruction, and greed in the music industry of the late 1970s^. Don Henley called it "our interpretation of the high life in LA" 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." It doesn't seems like much has changed since the 70's, doesn't seem like much has changed for men with power, charisma, and success. It's just so sad to me, that these same men that write about the truth of this micro reality, are the same ones that have this love hate realtionship with their life. They were taught that this behavior is self destructive, that these things will ruin them and take them down to the lowest common denominator, they know it, they see it, the feel it, and yet they keep going back, indulging until something tragic happens? until they are old and can't get it up anymore?

I guess there is no way to win in a situation life this. There is no one woman that will be the end all for men like this? Or does one have to be a Sharon Ozzborne and weather the hardest storms? is there life and light and hope in a heart so fragile? can men like this see that there is that one that would be brave enough to stand by their side till death knowing fully well who they are and loving them through it all? Can they change? will they change? are these just temporary hopes of men that want to do right in their life? "You can check out any time you like but you can never leave". You can never escape the past, the scars that have been left. But yes, you can check out. I guess it's up to them when they do and if it's physically, mentally, or both

life is so short, oh time where do you go?