What is the true meaning of the song "Hotel California" ???
 

I always though it was about a whorehouse.... any one think the same or different? ....Discuss

'Hotel California' - Eagles
On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night
There she stood in the doorway;
I heard the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself,
'This could be Heaven or this could be Hell'
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor,
I thought I heard them say...

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year, you can find it here

Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes bends
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget

So I called up the Captain,
'Please bring me my wine'
He said, 'We haven't had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine'
And still those voices are calling from far away,
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say...

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
They livin' it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise, bring your alibis

Mirrors on the ceiling,
The pink champagne on ice
And she said 'We are all just prisoners here, of our own device'
And in the master's chambers,
They gathered for the feast
The stab it with their steely knives,
But they just can't kill the beast

Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
'Relax,' said the night man,
We are programmed to receive.
You can checkout any time you like,
but you can never leave!

Dude its a Casino in Vegas. They use to cash my checks. lol

:1orglaugh

They say its about hell.

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh

The song really isn't about anything according to Glenn Frey. His quote from a radio interview a few years back was: ?we were listening to a lot of Steely Dan records at the time and were impressed with the way that they could make ?junk sculpture' lyrics about nothing and make them work into a song.?

The song is a great narrative tale about decadence (pink champagne) and mysticism (a spooky dungeon-like house) and even botany (the smell of colitus!), but it certainly has no realm in fact.

Don Felder brought the rough guitar track to Henley/Frey and asked them if they could do anything with it. This is unusual in that songs by them were typically written the other way around. It serves as an interesting note that further proves that they did some serious ad-libbing and probably got the booze and drugs flowing before they wrote this song.

The album on the whole is all about the southern California lifestyle at that time (Life In The Fast Lane, Last Resort) and shouldn't be looked at in any other way.

very cool.... isnt colitas a part of marijuana, the stem or somethging?

For me it was always about a brothel bar that sold drugs, all wrapped up in rock and roll. :1orglaugh

How can that be hell?

For me, it;s been about Satanism and debauchery....sort of a modern day sodom with a little ritual sacrifice going on

"And in the master's chambers,
They gathered for the feast
The stab it with their steely knives,
But they just can't kill the beast"

simple, its about living in LA and how it is here.

nothing more.

and its NOT about a whorehouse.

hearing that song and then living here gives new meaning to it.

Come live the life for awhile youll understand.

Life In The Fast Lane is a soundtrack to every night here in Hollywood.

whorehouse

I dont know what it means... good song tho :thumbsup

It comes across as hell to me

That's what I've always heard it was about. In the song he gets wrapped up in all the sinful pleasures at the hotel. Then at the end he discovers that once you're there living that lifestyle, you can't leave.

:1orglaugh Yup the "rock music is the devil" type Christians have a field day with that song.

"You can checkout any time you like,
but you can never leave!" muahhhhhhh :evil-laug

man you guys watch to much geraldo Rivera and believe this is some satanic song? ;)

if this was satanic trust me Id worship the song, its not. ;)

Its simply about living, getting wrapped up in the partying and living in California. When I first got to California I went crazy, its easy to get lost in the hotel, its all metaphors man.

Its a concept album like David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust, you gonna try and figure out that one too hehehe

Its just a song folks and its about California.

Go out night after night here spend lots of money do coke with rockers for a few months and see if the song sounds different.

California Love!

The first satanic church (LaVey-satanism, mind you) was located in an old hotel and nicknamed Hotel California, but I think that's just a co-incidence.

Isn't Anton LaVey on the album cover? :Graucho

edit: Never mind.. urban legend stuff see here

"Hotel California is an allegory about hedonism and greed in Southern California in the 1970s. At the time of its release, the Eagles were riding high in the music world, experiencing material success on a frightening level. Though they thoroughly enjoyed the money, drugs, and women fame threw their way, they were disquieted by it all and sought to pour that sense of unease into their music and to warn others about the dark underside of such adulation."

which is basically what Fletch said

http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/hotel.htm


gotta see this :thumbsup

i still have a record of that around here, lemme check.

Well, my impression is that it is a song about sex and violence, and vices and being trapped with all of it you can't just quit...

Take a look at the Hotel California album cover.

http://www.goodbyeguns.org/LidoHotel

That is the lobby of the infamous Lido Hotel. This hotel has been the home of many celebrities over the years. It is a Hollywood landmark, and has come close to being torn down many times. The manager of The Eagles convinced the group that the pictures of The Lido should appear on their Hotel California Album Cover.

Who knows...maybe The Eagles were talking about The Lido in their lyrics. Frey said the Eagles got their inspiration from staying at The Lido.

There you go!!!!!

everytime i hear that song people say its about cocaine addiction

thats what i thought

And in the master's chambers,
They gathered for the feast
The stab it with their steely knives,
But they just can't kill the beast

that is clearly and definately talking off shooting up, probably heroin