Hotel California chords
by The EaglesKey: Bm – Relative Minor of D Major
Key Signature: 2 sharps (F#, C#)
Time Signature: 4/4 (♩)
Tempo: 74 bpm (Adagio)
Vocal Range: E4 - A5
Guitar Tuning: E A D G B e
Skill Level: Intermediate
Chords: Bm, F#, F#7, A, Asus2, E, E9, G, D, Em
Play-Along Video & Chord Charts
Hotel California
The Relative Major Key of Bm is highlighted - Transpose to any other key.
Bm F#7 A E G D Em F#7
Intro: 4/4 ‖: | | | | | | | :‖
Bm F#7
1. On a dark de-sert high-way Cool wind in my hair
A E
Warm smell of col-i-tas Ris-ing up through the air
G D
Up a-head in the dis-tance I saw a shim-mer-ing light
Em F#7
My head grew hea-vy and my sight grew dim I had to stop for the night
Bm F#7
2. There she stood in the door-way I heard the mis-sion bell
A E
And I was thin-king to my-self This could be Hea-ven or this could be Hell
G D
Then she lit up a can-dle And she showed me the way
Em F#7
There were voi-ces down the cor-ri-dor I thought I heard them say
G D
Chorus: Welcome to the Ho-tel Cal-i-for-nia
F#7 Bm
Such a love-ly place (Such a love-ly place) Such a love-ly face
G D
Plen-ty of room at the Ho-tel Cal-i-for-nia
Em F#7
Any time of year (Any time of year) You can find it here
Bm F#7
3. Her mind is ‘Tif-fa-ny twist-ed’ She got the Mer-ce-des bends (ooh)
A E
She got a lot of pret-ty pret-ty boys She calls friends
G D
How they dance in the court-yard Sweet sum-mer sweat
Em F#7
Some dance to re-mem-ber Some dance to for-get
Bm F#7
4. So I called up the Cap-tain “Please bring me my wine"
A E
He said, "We have-n't had that spi-rit here Since nine-teen six-ty nine"
G D
And still those voi-ces are cal-ling from far a-way
Em F#7
Wake you up in the mid-dle of the night Just to hear them say-ay
G D
Chorus: Welcome to the Ho-tel Cal-i-for-nia
F#7 Bm
Such a love-ly place (Such a love-ly place) Such a love-ly face
G D
They’re liv-in' it up at the Ho-tel Cal-i-for-nia
Em F#7
What a nice sur-prise (what a nice sur-prise) Bring your al-i-bis
Bm F#7
5. Mir-rors on the ceil-ing The pink cham-pagne on ice
A E
And she said "We are all just pris-on-ers here Of our own device"
G D
And in the mas-ter's cham-bers They ga-thered for their feast
Em F#7
They stab it with their steel-y knives But they just can't kill the beast
Bm F#7
6. Last thing I re-mem-ber I was run-ning for the door
A E
I had to find the pas-sage back To the place I was be-fore
G D
"Relax" said the night man "We are pro-grammed to re-ceive
Em F#7
You can check-out a-ny time you like But you can ne-ver leave!"
Bm F#7 A E G D Em F#7
Outro: ‖: | | | | | | | :‖ x4
...repeat to fade or end on Bm
Notes:
- Level Of Ease: If you just want to strum along, the song is very easy to play.
- Song Key: Bm minor (2 sharps - F#, C#) - relative minor of D major (share the same notes and the same key signature)
- The Intro to this song is probably one of the most famous of all time. It has a very distinct sound, and if you play it on a 12 string guitar and use the same picking style, it sounds amazing. The guitar TAB for the first 8 bars looks like this... notice the
slight chord alterations to suit the picking notes, F#7, Asus2 and E9.
- If there are 2 of you playing, one guitarist can play the normal chords in Bm while the other guitarist plays in Em with the capo on the 7th fret... sounds great.
- You can replace F#, E and Em with F#7, E7 and Em7 respectively.
- This is a great song to have in your repertoire. It is The Eagles' signature song, and with good reason.
