Eagles: Hotel California Meaning
Song Released: 1977
Hotel California Lyrics
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...
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I believe this song refers to addiction, any addiction. To sex, drugs, alcohol, all of it. I think the shimmering light he saw was fame, the woman in the door way was an addiction to sex. Or perhaps it was being with this woman that got him involved in the life of addiction. He is still in the stage of addiction where it is fun. The social stage. This woman, obviously a star because of her Mercedes " and her pretty pretty boys" This could be heaven or this could be hell I would say refers to possibility the coming down or drugs, the hangover the next morning, or just a bad night. Some dance to remember, some dance to forget. People become addicted for different reasons. I called to the captain plaese bring me my wine. There is a play on the word spirit here...It seems innocuous, referrng to his wine, but it could also be a jibe that he is still so new at this scene of drugs and indulgence....he isn't jaded and used up...yet. Mirrors on the ceiling, pink champagne...e reference to sex and the need for thrills because normal pleasures have become old hat. We are all just prisoners here of our own device...they made their choices...it's that that keeps them there, held prisoner. They stab it with their steely knives....A literal reference to a syringe, or the blade and mirror used by cocaine addicts for their lines. But they just can't kill the beast....the addiction is never satisfied...a beast that only grows...I was running for the door, I had to find the passgae back to the place I was before....realizing that you are addicted...wishing for that period of time when it was still fun and you didn't need it....Also knowing you can never go back and never not be addicted. You can check out and stop the party but, you will never leave.
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I believe any song can have a different meaning depending on the influences you have surrounding you at the time. Me personally for the longest time have believed this song to be about a Satanic church and the slow progression into satanism. But reading the other interpretations has made me doubt my own opinion. Seemingly enough, if the song is about drugs or the age of materialism both of which are temptations of the dark prince so in a way it could very well be all of the above. The fact is I own 2 of the albums and I know it is The Beverly Hills Hotel in the photos. The strange thing is in one of the album jackets on the inside cover there is a man standing in the shadows of the balcony. He does not appear in the other copy I own nor on my CD Cover. I had heard it was Anton Lavay and believe it to be after viewing photos of him and examining the jacket. But could be my mind playing tricks. I've also been told that the Eagles spent so time at a Satanist retreat to get inspiration for some songs. Witchy Woman is another subject I'd like to read about but that's later. I guess that's what makes a great song is the meaning it could have.
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This song is LITERALLY about the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles (note the photo on the album cover is a good clue folks) -- IT is NOTORIOUS to native Angelenos (and naive foreigners who come to LA seeking fame) that if you are "CHOSEN" for this industry -- you will ultimately end up at the BEVERLY HILLS HOTEL to "broker your soul" LITERALLY, and NOT FIGURATIVELY. These people out here in the business LITERALLY are engaging in SATANIC and MASONIC works, and if you are not willing to be "indoctrinated" you WILL NOT enter the business of MUSIC or HOLLYWOOD FILM - PERIOD. SEX RITUALS, MURDER and RAPE go on at that hotel -- LITERALLY (I don't really care if you think I'm crazy -- I've got 4 generations of family here and I have experienced this first hand -- that is what it is about folks -- why do you think "they" would give ANYONE the opportunity to have such wealth -- there is a PRICE (and a HIGH ONE -- YOUR SOUL - LITERALLY).
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Most people have no idea this song refers to the Church of Satan, which happens to be located in a converted HOTEL on CALIFORNIA street!
On the inside of the album cover, looking down on the festivities, is Anton LaVey, the founder of the Church of Satan and author of the Satanic Bible! People say, the Eagles aren't serious, they're just selling records. That's what you think! The Eagles manager, Larry Salter, admitted in the Waco Tribune-Herald, (Feb. 28, 1982) that the Eagles were involved with the Church of Satan! Not surprisingly, one of the Eagle's songs is titled "Have A Good Day in Hell."
1st Corinthians 15:33 clearly teaches that it is dangerous for us to allow ourselves to be influenced by the wrong crowd. The Greek word for "communications" means "communion" (or, sharing one's thoughts and feelings). "Corrupt" means to "defile and destroy." The Greek word for "manners" means "moral character." Thus, the influence of the wicked will destroy our moral character.
God adamantly forbids us as Christians from yoking up with the ungodly. Many young believers think that it is ok to listen to the music of the ungodly, just so long as they don't actually associate with them. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you're listening to their music, they are sharing their feelings and thoughts with you. You ARE being corrupted! Just as Satan wanted to sift Peter like wheat, so does he want to destroy you as well. -
It's about the exploitive nature of the music industry and Hotel California is a reference to LA, as stated by the band.
NOT drug addiction (although it does intertwine with the lifestyle), a cult, or a whorehouse (LOL).
Case closed. -
I think the song verses relate to heroin addiction. "She stands in the door way..."; heroin the evil seductress. Hotel California to sounds like a heroin den. "You can check out anytime you like..but can never leave". Addiction is life time struggle. "Stabbed it with their steely knives....just can't kill the beast". The constant hunger for a fix? Anyway, that's what I get. It's a classic regardless.
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Don Henley said in an interview he was blown away by all of the myriad interpretations to Hotel California. He and other band members said it was about the excess of American culture, especially California. It is fun to read the other interpretations, though! That's what so great about music, it speaks to us all differently.
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According to an interview on 60 minutes with the band, this song is about "the excesses that come along with fame"
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There's this part of the song that refers to a book The Lord of the Flies , the part about the beast "They stab it with their steely knives but they just can't kill the beast" which refers to a corrupt government (if you read and understand the book)
But that phrase isn't the whole song. -
Hotel California is about the progression of drugs...starting with less hard drugs, like weed, and then moving on to harder drugs. Then eventually addiction to them
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This song is simply about the band members on their tour bus. They are on a serious acid trip. Their bus comes up to a hotel.
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I don't know if anyone has said this already but I think this song is about the glamour and celebritism which was centred around them in late seventies. "you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave" is referring to the addictive life style they had in the LA music scene. LA is in fact the "Hotel California" as it is the "shimmering light" in the middle of the desert.
Once you start looking at it like this, need I say anymore, the girls, parties, greed, wealth, drugs they all help explain the song.
I prsonally think it is magnificent song as it has really captured the mood of the time. -
Well guys,
if you think about it
the most likely evidence
is that the person is addicted to/is using drugs
and knows they should stop, but they keep on.
here you go..
On a dark desert highway
Cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas
Rising up through the air
[person is already strung out]
------------------------------
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
[person is coming off of their high]
-----------------------------------
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
[person is being presented with a new drug, but has doubts]
------------------------------------------------------------
Then she lit up a candle
And she showed me the way
[candle=lighter other person offering drugs shows person how to take them]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
There were voices down the corridor
I thought I heard them say
[beginning of the high the drug welcoming him]
----------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to the Hotel California
[hotel california is actually being high, compared to a sort of retreat]
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely place (background)
Such a lovely face
[how great the drugs seem, how inviting they are]
--------------------------------------------------
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year
Any time of year (background)
You can find it here
[implies that anyone can get high at any time of the year]
--------------------------------------------------------
Her mind is Tiffany twisted
She's got the Mercedes-Benz
[she=drugs shows how much money is made off of drugs]
----------------------------------------------------------
She's got a lot of pretty, pretty boys
That she calls friends
[tells how lots of people who are addicted either don't know or don't admit it]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How they dance in the courtyard
Sweet summer sweat
[they=drug + user the courtyard would be the process of smoking, shooting, etc]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
Some dance to remember
[some use drugs to remember how good it feels to be high]
-----------------------------------------------------------
Some dance to forget
[some use drugs to forget their problems]
-----------------------------------------
So I called up the Captain
Please bring me my wine
He said
We haven't had that spirit here since 1969
[person saying he will use alcohol as an alternative to drugs to help him stop]
or
[person hasn't used alcohol at all since 1969, as opposed to drugs]
or
[they just ran out of wine]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And still those voices are calling from far away
[even after person stops, they still have slight calling to the drugs]
-----------------------------------------------------------------
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 Place (background)
Such a lovely face
[drug craving are so bad that you can't sleep, and have to get high]
-------------------------------------------------------------------
They're livin' it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise
What a nice surprise (background)
Bring your alibies
[shows how person either realizes their addicted and makes excuses and is in denial]
or
[person is enjoying drugs, but family and/or friends find out that person is addicted and person makes excuses]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mirrors on the ceiling
Pink champagne on ice
[hallucinations while high/being strung out]
------------------------------------------
And she said
We are all just prisoners here
Of our own device
[people are addicted to different drugs and can't stop]
------------------------------------------------------
And in the master's chambers
They gathered for the feast
[people gather to get high]
--------------------------
They stab it with their steely knives
But they just can't kill the beast
[people shoot up drugs as much as they can, but can't get rid of the addiction]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last thing I remember
I was running for the door
I had to find the passage back to the place I was before
[person wants off his high]
--------------------------
"Relax," said the nightman
We are programmed to recieve
You can check out any time you like
But you can never leave
[finally says that you can never get rid of a drug addiction, and to accept it] -
I think it is all about the AFTERLIFE . I think our spirits go to the other world and cannot come back. There we can have a different life . The afterlife or life after death is a generic term for a continuation of existence after death, typically in a spiritual or ghostlike afterworld. Deceased persons are usually believed to go a specific region or plane of existence in this afterworld, often depending on the type of person they are and the life they lived. Some believe the afterlife includes some form of preparation for the soul to be transferred to another body (reincarnation).
The major views on the afterlife derive from religion, esotericism and metaphysics. There are those who are skeptical of the existence of the afterlife, or believe that it is absolutely impossible, such as the materialist-reductionists, who state that the topic is supernatural, therefore does not really exist or is unknowable.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afterlife -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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