Hotel Isolation

Travel back with me, to the summer of '76. The Eagles are playing on the radio.

Remember the haunting melody of this timeless epic...


On a dark desert highway
Cool wind in my hair
Warm flush in my cheeks was
Rising up through my fear
Up ahead in the distance
I saw a shimmering light
It was the neon of the hospital
I had to check in tonight

Then I stood in the doorway
I heard the nurses' bell
And I was thinking to myself,
"This isn't Heaven, it's HypoGlowtel."
I swallowed radiation
And I glowed kinda grey
There were voices down the corridor
I thought I heard them say,

"Welcome to the Hotel I-so-la-tion.
Such a lonely place (such a lonely place)
For a hypo case.
We're wrappin' a room at the Hotel I-so-la-tion,
Any time of year you can glow right here."

Saliva glands are wasted
I have constipated bends
I've got a lot of books to read
But I call friends
The plates pile and the food smells
Sweet, sour spit
Drink water, remember
Another flush, don't forget

So I called to the nurses,
"Please don't make me whine."
They said, "You haven't had your nausea meds
since seven thirty nine."
And still those voices are calling from far away
Wake me up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say,

"Welcome to the Hotel I-so-la-tion.
Let's light this place (let's light this place)
So we can see your face."
I'm nukin' it up at the Hotel I-so-la-tion
What a rude surprise
When your tastebuds fry

Mirror sends me reeling
My reflection isn't nice
And I said, "I'm just a prisoner here
of the Geiger device."
And in the Doctor's chambers
He writes it nice and neat,
"Patient tolerating RAI
but she just can't seem to eat."

Last thing I remember
I was running out the door
I had to find the passage back
to the main revolving door
"Relax," said the HMO,
"We are programmed to deceive
You can check out any time you like
But you can never leave..."