Hotel California Health Care

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
President Obama, with a health plan so fair
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
Said instead of surgery, pain killers will get me there
Up ahead in the distance, I saw shimmering light
On horizon, he promised government relief was in sight
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
Hypnotic speeches made reason wear thin
I had to stop for the night
I pulled over and saw a beautiful sight
There she stood in the doorway;
The promise of no pain, she didn’t need to say
I heard the mission bell
I heard the sound of a healing above
And I was thinking to myself,
I could be comforted, loved
‘This could be Heaven or this could be Hell’
Good or bad, I could not tell
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
Sweet temptress lead me, to where I could not say
There were voices down the corridor,
There were words of comfort ‘health reform will be ok’
I thought I heard them say…
It will all be free, you do not have to pay

Welcome to the Hotel California
Welcome to the Health Information Exchange
Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)
Such a controlling place (Such a controlling place)
Such a lovely face
Change at a fast pace, and a pretty face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Spaces for tens of millions at the Health Information Exchange
Any time of year (Any time of year)
It will always be here (It will always be here)
You can find it here
We choose your choices here

Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes bends
Her mind is plan-twisted, she got the power-bends
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys she calls friends
Congressmen frolic, pretty yes men she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
Puppets and marionettes on strings, just like a live pet
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget
Some dance to get favors, some dance to get to their jet

So I called up the Captain,
So I beckoned the chief,
‘Please bring me my wine’
Give me my health care
He said, ‘We haven’t had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine’
I promised you change, and your new health plan will be much more fair
And still those voices are calling from far away,
Make my decisions, so I don’t have to say
Wake you up in the middle of the night
I can have counseling so I can die with no religion in sight
Just to hear them say…
And soft words said I didn’t have to have a say

Welcome to the Hotel California
Welcome to the Health Information Exchange
Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)
Such a controlling place (Such a controlling place)
Such a lovely face
Change at a fast pace, and a pretty face
They livin’ it up at the Hotel California
Free at the Health Information Exchange
What a nice surprise (what a nice surprise)
You will have a new health plan, a new health plan
Bring your alibis
Bring your medical scans

Mirrors on the ceiling,
Deception and wheeling,
The pink champagne on ice
The care rationed on ice
And she said ‘We are all just prisoners here, of our own device’
And we wanted our decisions made for us, without our own advice
And in the master’s chambers,
In the power chambers,
They gathered for the feast
They looked for answers in the east
They stab it with their steely knives,
To put freedom to sleep, with death induced peace
But they just can’t kill the beast
But they just can’t stop the crowds screaming

Last thing I remember, I was
In the Health Information Exchange
Running for the door
Couldn’t get out, just lay on the floor
I had to find the passage back
It was a room with no door, how strange

To the place I was before
To late, I could not go back
‘Relax,’ said the night man,
You can only come in
‘We are programmed to receive.
I’m sorry if you were deceived
You can check-out any time you like,
I’m sorry your not pleased
But you can never leave!’
But there is one way we’ll help you leave…

– additional lyrics written by Dan Perrin