Been to the Hotel California Lately?

Sean likes to be sung to sleep. Maia likes it too, but she doesn't really need it-- she'll sprawl happily sleeping in the crib as soon as she's fed. But Sean needs a little extra cuddling, and a song or two. I'm not a great singer, but I can make a baby happy.

His favorite song is Hotel California. I have sung it a dozen times in the last few days. Fortunately, I like it-- it has memories for me of high school, coming home on the school bus from band events-- football games, etc-- in the middle of the night-- the band geeks we were would often start singing, and this song was one of our favorites (that and Home Sweet Home by Motley Crue? Or was it Poison? One of those hair bands from the 80s.)

I had a student in English Comp once write a literary interp of Hotel California where he argued that it was chock full o' drug references. The "Calitas" at the beginning of the song being supposedly pot, and the "steely knives stabbing" was a cocaine reference. I'm not sure. I waver between interpreting it as about drugs, and a "California lifestyle" of mythos, and about literally a scary chick who had "a lot of pretty pretty boys." I once saw a story that interpreted it as about vampires. That is probably my favorite interpretation. (See, it's an English major secret-- there are really no wrong answers, just better ones. And if you can support the claim, you can make it.) My favorite line "How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat, some dance to remember, some dance to forget." I also like "her mind is Tiffany twisted". Nice writing. Evocative.

What do you think the song means? Are there other songs like this one that you think are thinly veiled drug songs? Or just you never "got?"

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I'm hoping to write more frequently, and less about "just baby things," soon.-- with the update here at the end for those who actually want the personal details. Yesterday I spent a day actually READING A BOOK. Granted, the babies were perched on their twin boppy pillow and sleeping on me, and my tailbone eventually was killing me from sitting still for so long. They've been a teeny bit colic-y and don't like to be put down. Which I don't really mind that much, especially since they seem to settle down about midnight for their three bunches of three ho ur sleeps.

But I had time to actually do something other than nap, or feed babies, or waddle around the house looking for my Percocet (which I don't need anymore.) And for those who were paying attention, no, my nipples are no longer sore. You can't use that one and blame it on me. :) It gets much cooler, this breastfeeding thing, at about the end of week three. And I wouldn't trade it for anything. Even an un-interrupted five hour nap in a cool hammock with a frozen margarita that never melts, and is never empty. Seriously. :)