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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1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:Hotel California.. Commentary..
“It’s basically a song about the dark underbelly of the American dream and about excess in America, which is something we knew a lot about,” Henley said in a 2002 interview with "60 Minutes."
In 2005, Henley further explained the meaning of the song to Rolling Stone magazine, which placed "Hotel California" at no. 49 on its list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
Hotel California, The Eagles..
Commentary by Daniel W. Johnson..
•On a dark desert highway
"Trip within, the closest, desert = confusion, a higher way of thinking, upper self"..
•Cool wind in my hair
"The feeling, breeze, of the energy flowing"..
•Warm smell of colitas
"rising Colitas = little tails, Kundabuffer, lower self, Devils tail"..
•Rising up through the air
"Higher vibrations, Spiritual movement, Air = 3rd level of conciousness"..
•Up ahead in the distance
"Upper self, the mind, which is to come"..
•I saw a shimmering light
"The lamp of the body, light within, just in sight"..
•My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
"Pressure/weight in the forehead/pineal/3rd eye/single eye when activated and both eyes closed, the thieves that deceive us daily"..
•I had to stop for the night
"Meditation, pray in secret, no thought, to sit in the darkness, the shadow of death"..
•There she stood in the doorway
"She = the female Spirit, Gaia, Goddess, Life, Mother.. Doorway to the Kingdom of Heaven"..
•I heard the mission bell
Bells of the seven seals, seven churches, seven chakras, seven energy wheels or seven energy centers of the body"..
•And I was thinkin' to myself
"Thinking within self"..
•This could be heaven or this could be hell
"Kundalini and Kundabuffer, Mountain top and valley so low, Upper self, heaven positive thoughts and lower self, hell, bottomless pit, negative thoughts"..
•Then she lit up a candle
"She/female spirit.. Candlestick of pure gold, Exodus, Revelation kjv"..
•And she showed me the way
"She/Gaia/Spirit"
•There were voices down the corridor
I thought I heard them say
"Inner voices of the universe one hears while listening in meditation or praying in secret/silence.. the passageway"..
•Welcome to the Hotel California
"Life on earth, Life Within self, Our Soul, 3rd eye, Pineal, City Within, New Jerusalem"..
•Such a lovely place (such a lovely place)
"Kingdom of Heaven within you".. God is Love"..
•Such a lovely face
"Face of God, Genesis 32:30 kjv, Pineal gland"..
•Plenty of room at the Hotel California
"Vacancies for each and evey individual soul"..
•Any time of year (any time of year)
You can find it here
"Always open, 24/7"..
•Her mind is Tiffany-twisted
"Tiffany = Manifestation of God"..
•She got the Mercedes Benz, uh
•She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys
•That she calls friends
•How they dance in the courtyard
"When we are woke, ying vs yang, light vs dark, day vs. night, Good vs. Evil.. The two coexists, we realize life is not a competition and life becomes a dance.. Courtyard = inner temple, house or palace..
•Sweet summer sweat
•Some dance to remember
•Some dance to forget
•So I called up the Captain
"Creator, God, Almighty"..
•"Please bring me my wine"
"Wine = Spirit"..
•He said, "We haven't had that spirit here since 1969"
"Spirit of 1969 = Love.. God is Love"..
•And still those voices are calling from far away
"Inner voices light years away"..
•Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say
"Activation of the pineal, the lamp of the body, in the middle of darkness to hear the inner voices of the Universe/God..
•Welcome to the Hotel California
•Such a lovely place (such a lovely place)
•Such a lovely face
•They livin' it up at the Hotel California
•What a nice surprise (what a nice surprise)
•Bring your alibis
"Claim or piece of evidence of being elsewhere or ones own personal experiences"..
•Mirrors on the ceiling
"Its all been written in the stars, what happens in the stars mirrors/duplicates what happens within"..
•The pink champagne on ice
•And she said, "We are all just prisoners here of our own device"
"Souls visiting earth, trapped in our earthy borrowed vessels"..
•And in the master's chambers
"Temple within"..
•They gathered for the feast
"Book of Revelation, Sup with God"..
•They stab it with their steely knives
But they just can't kill the beast
"We harness both positive and negative energy, the Beast is thy lower self, negative, Kundabuffer that can never be killed.. Coexistence:..
•Last thing I remember
"the experience"
•I was running for the door
•I had to find the passage back
"the way back"
•To the place I was before
•"Relax", said the night man
"The darkness"..
•"We are programmed to receive
"Pineal, 3rd eye and the12 cranial nerves, seat to our soul, antenna, connected into a single consciousness, Oneness with All life..
•You can check out any time you like
But you can never leave"
"We will all die/transcend but will be reincarnated back on earth"..
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2TOP RATED
#2 top rated interpretation:This song is about the attactive qualities of worldly things but their ultimate end. the man drives along the highway (his life) and his head grows heavy and his sight grows dim, forcing him to stop for the night (he dies). he sees a pretty woman in the doorway of the hotel but cannot decide if he is in heaven or hell. When the woman invites him in he sees the other people in the hotel. these people are mocking him as he comes in (such a lovely face) and they realize he does not know where he is. He goes to a party in the courtyard and sees people dancing (to remember better times, to forget the present). he askes the captain to bring him his wine, but the captain claims that they have not had that spirit (hopefullness or eagerness) since 1969. when the man starts to realize where he is (hell) he tries desperately to get back to his car (life). the doorman tells him there is nothing to worry about, he can check out at any time, but he can never leave (referring to the fact that, once in hell, a person can realize their mistakes, and repent of their wrong doings, but by the time they realize this, they cannot leave hell.)
Another interpretation I have found interesting is comparing the hotel with alcoholism/drug addiction (they stab it with their steely knives, but they just can't till the beast) and trying to overcome the addiction. -
3TOP RATED
#3 top rated interpretation:There are numerous interpretations of this song, and more than one interpretation can be correct. At the most superficial level it is about the West Coast lifestyle of the 70s, as Henley confirms. But there are deeper meanings. There is also an obvious parallel with the drug culture ("warm smell of colitas rising up through the air") and ultimate addiction ("check out any time you like, but you can never leave"). However, there is also a yet deeper meaning. Every 28 years there is the "Feast of the Beast" it is known to have been held some 15 times since 1618. (Go on, Google it.) It is a year-long feast which culminates around the northern autumn equinox. It is organized by certain members of the Collins family and attended by the world's elite, including Rothschilds. The "beast" is in fact, Satan himself. The song is about a guy who has got deeply involved in Satanism. He is informed that "We are all just prisoners here, of our own device". Then he describes how, "in the master's chambers, they gathered for the feast [of the Beast]" and even if they were to "stab it with their steely knives (as perhaps he'd now like to do) they just can't kill the beast [Satan]". So he then entertains thoughts of fleeing, but he is told, "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave" - [unless it's in a box]. Whether the Eagles knew all this at the time it was written, I do not know. But even if they didn't know, they were subliminally influenced to write these words. (It's the same with backward masking - singers do not intentionally do it, it would be impossible to sing backwards intentionally, but they do it nonetheless.)
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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It's about whatever looks shiny and tempting and oh so very cool...and then, it traps you.
Drugs. Alcohol. Money. Excess. An affair. Fame.
Whatever your personal Vice is, is the Hotel. From a didtance, it looks like an oasis, a harbor, a solution, a perfect escape. So you go in. And then when you want to leave, when you realize that your choices were terrible and you just want out, you can't because you are trapped. -
It's bdsm. They have meetings in hotels sometimes. Head grew heavy and sight grew dim after getting high. She lit up a candle, is a Mistress.. pretty pretty boys are her submissives.. when you sub under a Domme, or Dom, you give yourself to them in an agreement. You can break the agreement, but you hate to disappoint your Mistress. It can be heaven, or hell figuratively.
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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I interpret this song to be about hell. It's easy to see once you realize it. The music intro reveals a rattle coming from a rattlesnake. It's faint, but it's there. The snake representing the devil. A man on a dark desert hwy falls asleep at the wheel crashes, dies and end up at the gates of hell. "My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night. I heard the mission bell, and I was thinking to myself this could be heaven or this could be hell"
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
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year (Any time of year)
You can find it here" Hell is open 365/24/7
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys
She calls friend Some dance to remember
Some dance to forget ....Pretty boys are gay boys who according to the bible cannot enter heaven
Her mind is Tiffany-twisted
She got the Mercedes Benz
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys
She calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard
Sweet summer sweat
Some dance to remember
Some dance to forget
"Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face
They living it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise (what a nice surprise)
Bring your alibis" Why would you need an alibi? And she said: "We are all just prisoners here
Of our own device" prisoners of our own device is a huge hint.
And in the master's chambers
They gathered for the feast
They stab it with their steely knives
But they just can't kill the beast...The beast according to the bible is the antichrist. Only God can defeat him
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 check out any time you like
But you can never leave!" Find the passage back? You can never leave??
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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To me this is a song about PTSD and Vietnam. I left from California going to Vietnam. I wake up in the middle of the night reliving the experiences I had there. You can check out but you can never leave - you can leave Vietnam but it’ll never leave you! I cry every time I hear this song...
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Frey and Henley were both interested in the tune after hearing the demo, and discussed the concept for the lyrics. In 2008, Felder described the writing of the lyrics:
Don Henley and Glenn wrote most of the words. All of us kind of drove into L.A. at night. Nobody was from California, and if you drive into L.A. at night... you can just see this glow on the horizon of lights, and the images that start running through your head of Hollywood and all the dreams that you have, and so it was kind of about that... what we started writing the song about.
- from wikipedia
-Punk who has no opinion on this song. Wait for others who might have an opinion on this song!
(Seems you only welcome those people who are also Anonymous like you)
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I have been an Eagles super-fan for three decades now; I think Hotel California is one of the best songs of my lifetime and I have been on a journey to find out the meaning as intended by the authors (Henley, Frey and Felder). There are a lot of conflicting interpretations on the web, so I went to the horse’s mouth; Frey and Henley did an interview on 60 minutes. Frey and Henley also done one-on-one interviews – all in the 90’s.I have watched all these interviews and have compiled what I think the authors were after. The Eagles had great respect for Steely Dan’s lyrical creativity, so they set out to write a song that was lyrically progressive. Something like an episode of the Twilight Zone including fantasy, science fiction, suspense, horror, and psychological thriller, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist, and usually with a moral. Let’s start with what the song is NOT about: It is not about death and hell and Anton LaVey’s church of Satan, as many interpretations have surmised based on a nior interpretation of the lyrics and the photos on the album jacket.
The simplest interpretation per Henley: it’s about a journey from innocence to experience. It’s not really about California; it’s about America,” Henley said. “It’s about the dark underbelly of the American dream. It’s about excess, it’s about narcissism. It’s about the music business. It’s about a lot of different…. It can have a million interpretations.” We achieved perfect ambiguity.
There is a playful nod to the band Steely Dan in the song
The line "They stab it with their steely knives, but they just can't kill the beast," is a playful jab to rock band Steely Dan. in the song. Steely Dan and the Eagles had a mutual admiration club in the 70s – as they referenced each other in songs (see following).
Frey revealed in the liner notes of "The Very Best Of" that they alluded to the "Do it Again" rock band in "Hotel California" after Steely Dan made an Eagles reference in their song "Everything You Did."
This song to me (Frey) has always been the inability to run away from yourself and our own personal demons that’s why I love it so” … we are all prisoners here, of our own device…”
That’s my best shot. I welcome any other opinions. -
This is about the excesses and facades of the glamour life centered in Southern California. The lights and then a lady draws him in. He sees the glamour but recognizes this could be his dream life or a nightmare. As he enters the nightlife scene he becomes increasingly aware that this is not heaven. The lady with the pretty boys is rich and maybe once famous but is now using money to attract where beauty once did. She’s dances to remember those days while others are dancing to forget these days. There is no wine as it has been replaced with drugs. The beast is the addition to the lifestyle which is drug fueled but is socially driven to other empty excesses. The voices keep saying you are having great time here. The drifter shows so outside but inside they all know this is in fact hell. He wants to rewind the tape to the innocent time before. He has the power to check out, but as the night man explains, no one there has the will.
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