Hotel California Meets The Great Gatsby: Music As A Teaching Resource For Literature

The most famous artistic product of the boozy 1920s is F

. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby, a novel about a man trying to recreate an ideal past in a drunken, materialistic present. Its one of those books just about everyone has a strong impression of whether or not theyve actually read it which makes it hard for many to approach the story with fresh eyes.

If youre a teacher looking for interesting, relevant ways to dig into The Great Gatsby, why not try something like this on for size: the 1920s were to WWI what the 1970s were to the hippy movement. The unprecedented global carnage following the so-called War to End All Wars turned disillusioned Americans inwards, setting their priorities on money, bootlegged liquor, and partying. Similarly, after the hippies failed to elevate worldwide consciousness with peace, love, and patchouli oil, 1970s America drowned its sorrows in disco, drugs, and polyester pants.

As an assignment, have your students compare The Great Gatsby to a 1970s song in this same vein. Take, for example, The Eagles Hotel California, one of the best-selling and most recognizable songs from this (or any) era of American history.

Hotel California boasts some of the most analyzed and memorized lyrics in rock and roll. If the element of mystery means a lot to you, youll probably be disappointed to hear Don Henleys two cents: It's basically a song about the dark underbelly of the American dream. Not that a bunch of rock stars would know anything about that. In other words, the symbol of Californian prosperity (back when that still existed) stands in as a microcosm of American decadence in the 1970s.

The hotel (wink, wink) California is no Motel 6. It has mirrored ceilings, courtyards, masters chambers, pink champagne, and high-falutin guests. The narrator cant help but notice the seductive woman with a Benz, a mind thats Tiffany-twisted, and a lot of hot guys following her around. He asks for wine, to which the captain famously replies, We havent had that spirit here since 1969. Since wine isnt a spirit (and were betting The Eagles have a basic understanding of liquor), were going to go ahead and assume Henley is referring to some other spirit of 69.

In a creepy turn of events, there is then a beast-killing ceremony involving steely knives, which prompts the narrator to high-tail it back to the place [he] was before. Only when its too late does he realize that he can check out but never leave. How, pray tell, can a person be checked out without going anywhere physically? Were thinking there might be some chemistry involved.

So lets review: luxury, substance abuse, a beautiful temptress, materialism, violence, living in the past, and being trapped. Remind you of anyone?

As a rule of thumb, music is one of the best teacher resources because it can be deeply personal and easily relatable at the same time. Plus, the fact that lyrics are usually highly open to interpretation means your students will be putting in a lot more work than they think.

by: Paul Thomson

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