Not too serious. Most references can be found from Wikipedia\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOn a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A reference to Pre-Socratic philosopher Anaximenes of Miletus (c.\u2009586 \u2013 c.\u2009526 BC) who said \u201cJust as our soul… being air holds us together, so pneuma<\/em> and air encompass the whole world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a reference to Heraclitus (c.\u2009535\u00a0\u2013 c.\u2009475\u00a0BC) who thought that fire is the fundamental element. Heraclitus also thought everything is always in constant flux. In the song, the person thinks they are stopping but as we will see, everything still changes for them with no return to the old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a reference to Plato\u2019s Cave where people only see shadows of the real world. Socrates and Plato \u201clit up the candle\u201d by creating systematic metaphysical inquiry that goes beyond the observable world. The Heaven vs. Hell is a reference to the ambivalence about the possibility and utility of metaphysics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Welcome to the Hotel California This a reference to Aristotle. \u201cSuch a lovely place\u201d refers to his optimism about metaphysics as the First Philosophy. \u201cPlenty of room\u201d part is a reference to the fact that there are many different positions one can take in metaphysics, as illustrated by the opposition between Plato and Aristotle. \u201cYou can find it here\u201d refers to Ancient philosophy as a source of all major debates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHer mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes bends This materialism is a reference to more practically oriented Romans and especially to Epicureanism with its emphasis on pleasure as a chief good in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a reference to the Middle Age. \u201cCourtyard\u201d is a reference to monasteries. \u201cRemember or forget\u201d refers to the ambivalence that was produced by the contingencies of access to ancient texts in the western world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Strangely, the song does not address the long early modern period. It goes straight to Idealism:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo I called up the Captain,
\u201cUp 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\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere she stood in the doorway;
I heard the mission bell\u201d
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\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“There were voices down the corridor,
I thought I heard them say…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year (Any time of year)
You can find it here”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys she calls friends\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Please bring me my wine”
He said, “We haven’t had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine”\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n