The Eagles are among the few bands in history to have reached such heights. Two of their albums are actually among the best-selling albums ever. Despite the fact that their success isn’t a direct result of their quality or worth, you can’t deny that, despite what many column inches may say, fans of the laid-back American rock band simply adore them, and this phenomenon is observed all over the world.
This phenomenon is also observed globally. Traveling through Asia for any length of time will quickly lead you to believe that “Hotel California” may be one of the most effective engines of American cultural hegemony in history. This is the musical equivalent of McDonald’s convincing the socialist-leaning area that, if capitalism is producing such wonderful rock ‘n’ roll, it can’t be all that horrible.
That point contains a deep irony. In actuality, the song presents the opposite viewpoint, describing how greed caused the American dream to crumble. The further irony is that, in spite of what “Hotel California” obfuscates, many people from the 1960s believed that the Eagles were primarily responsible for the counterculture revolution’s initial demise. Among these was the renowned T-Bone Burnett.
The Coen brothers asked the musical genius, who has collaborated with artists such as Willie Dixon, Roy Orbison, and Bob Dylan, to help them choose appropriate music for The Dude while they were filming The Big Lebowski. Burnett was the one who suggested he despise The Eagles. Not at all? Burnett f–King detested them as well, dude. “[The Eagles] sort of single-handedly destroyed that whole scene that was brewing back then,” he told Rolling Stone. He even went as far as to say that they were part of what killed the counterculture movement.
How, then, did they kill the scene, and how did that even make sense in a movie that takes place in the nineties? The Eagles made headlines for charging over $100 for tickets a few years before the movie’s release. The Dude came from a place of hippie idealism. It was a terrible contradiction for a band to balance between simple, peaceful love and a lofty price.
It was almost inevitable that the irony of a song like “Peaceful Easy Feeling” would irritate him. The song diluted the counterculture’s intent, portraying it as a mellow, incense-loving experience rather than a pointed movement. Burnett believed that this was reducing the era to its most commercial components and presenting it for financial gain.
Eventually, he even used his hatred for the band to influence song rights negotiations for the Coen brothers movie. He intended to end the film with Townes Van Zandt’s rendition of The Rolling Stones’ “Dead Flowers.” However, he ran into legal problems when Allen Klein, their manager, demanded an outrageous $150,000. He was persuaded by Burnett to view the film’s initial cut. He remembers, “It got to the part where the Dude says, ‘I hate the fuckin’ Eagles, man!’ You can have the song now.” That’s it, Klein says as he gets to his feet. That was really lovely.
Burnett saw the inflated price for their biggest hit as evidence of their capitalist leanings. The band disagreed, citing the song’s message.
