What "Hotel California" by Eagles is Really About
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- Опубликовано: 18 окт 2024
- "Hotel California" is a ubiquitously famous, globally loved song by the legendary American rock band Eagles. Written by Don Henley and Glenn Frey (lyrically) and Don Felder (musically), it was released as the second single off their album of the same name on February 22, 1977.
Hotel California's lyrics tell a story in a similar thematic style of a Twilight Zone episode, and it's been heavily debated as to what they actually mean for decades. Today on Lyristoric we'll dissect every line in every verse, while looking at the history behind this massive hit, to find out the true meaning behind the metaphoric labyrinth that is Eagles' Hotel California.
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![Eagles - Hotel California (Live 1977) (Official Video) [HD]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/09839DpTctU/mqdefault.jpg)
![Eagles - Hotel California (Live 1977) (Official Video) [HD]](/img/tr.png)
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I believe that "Hotel California" is a song about drug addiction. The antagonist sets out for a destination in California "smell of colitas, I heard the mission bell", and finds the excitement that they were looking for, most likely a party, but not a party with alcohol as it just makes their "head grew heavy and my sight grew dim". Then, they are offered a marijuana ciggarette "she lit up a candle and she showed me the way". this "way" is an introduction into the world of drugs. Then the party goers describe California as a great place to live filled with beautiful people "Such a lovely place Such a lovely face". They welcome them and tell them that there is "Plenty of room" for the antagonist if they would like to join them in partaking in drugs as, "Any time of year You can find it here"". They then describe how they are surrounded by not the poor and homeless drug addicts but, wealthy and good looking people "Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes-Benz, pretty, pretty boys". As the song reaches the lyrical mid-point there is a teetering decription between good times and bad times, "Some dance to remember, some dance to forget". This is when they begin to worry about hard drug addiction and try to go back to the safety of alcohol and marijuana, ""Please bring me my wine" He said, "We haven't had that spirit here since 1969"". it is at that moment that they realize that they are addicted and can't quit without withdrawals, "Wake you up in the middle of the night". The chorus or, other addicts, then tell the antagonist not to be suprised that they are now an addict and that their excusses won't help them, "What a nice surprise Bring your alibis". Then a woman, possibly the same woman that offered the joint in the beginning admits that addiction was never forced onto them, ""We are all just prisoners here of our own device"". Again the protagonist finds themselves in the master bedroom, away from the non-addicts of hard drugs like heroine, The addicts begin to shoot-up with needles, not helping them out of their addiction, "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". They finally find themselves desperatly trying to give up the drugs and become sober again, "I had to find the passage back to the place I was before". Their fellow addicts try to calm them down by telling them that it's not their fault, ""Relax, " said the night man, "We are programmed to receive"". The last line is a warning to the listeners as they explain to the person that once an addict, you will always be an addict untill you die, "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave"". That is why I believe that the song Hotel California is about drug addiction.
I wonder why people think that addiction to alcohol is less damaging than addiction to drugs. Perhaps, because addiction to drugs happens so much faster, but addiction to alcohol happens more slowly and is probably harder to recover from - because the consumption of it is so socially acceptable.
I see you're POV but (IMO) the "She" in this song is sex. All sex, and all that it brings about, becomes a gilded cage that's hard to leave.
It definitely describes the darkness in Hollywood, no doubt
It's about living the phony lifestyle and phony people in californiia. Mercedes Bends not benz
Wow bro. Your articulation of the way you interpret the lyrics was...damm impressive. I was right there w you, and I must say, your "version" of the meanings was, by far, the one I could buy into & agree with the most. Cudos kind sir. Thank you for sharing that Astonishing insight 😊
The song is a cautionary tale, "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world (wealth, fame, success), but forfeits his soul?"
Very true.
And the line about bringing him his wine, was about reaching out for the comfort of his religion, only to be laughed at and mocked, by the decadent evil, that controls Hollywood...
Absolutely true
right a lethal lullaby
Good point. The central theme of the song, whether you take it to be cultural commentary or just fanciful, is the theme of decadence and decay. One clearly gets the feeling of the sinfulness that underpins the lives of the characters. I believe that, among other things, Hotel California is a searing criticism of the California lifestyle and world view, which is strange because the Eagles themselves decided to live and reside in the state.
Doesn't say much for the choices the Eagles themselves made...seems it was they who "could never leave".
@@mysticone1798 Absolutely!
The song basically takes the uninitiated, through the indoctrination process of the Hollywood elite.
I assume, that the powers that were in charge back then, thought nobody would connect the dots...
With what is being exposed about Hollywood these days, this song could be one of the first to reveal the seedy underbelly of that dark infested place.
Agree absolutely
🎉
My first thought too! And like they’re suddenly going to tell the truth now?!?! Yeah right! Why are people still falling for this shit?!?!?!
I came here to say this too. I'm glad others are seeing it too.
Exactly
The problem is, no matter what the songwriter or performers INTEND the song to mean, its' true meaning is what it means to each person who listens to it.
Yes!
Exactly 😊
This!
Nah. That's not how that works
Your subjective interpretation does not make it the TRUE meaning. It makes it your own personal truth.
Hell. “You can check out anytime, but you can never leave.”
The darkest line in classic rock in my opinion.
It’s dark to be sure. How about these lines from Black Sabbath?
Day of judgement, God is calling
On their knees, the war pigs crawling
Begging mercy for their sins
Satan laughing, spreads his wings
Oh lord, yeah!
Actually, maybe those Sabbath lyrics I quoted aren’t that dark. It’s hard to imagine anyone is going to be held accountable for war crimes these days, even in the afterlife.
@@s.williamc. Everything is Recorded By GOD. Our words, Our deeds, Our Actions, Everyong will be helded accountable. Repent while your still alive !! GOD Cares about About your Soul , GOD wants you to be in Heaven with Him !!
alcoholism
I remember that line used to scare the hell out of me.
Having struggled with alcohol for most of my adult life and now having been ìn recovery for that last ten years, I've always associated these lyrics with addiction. Because as I stabbed it my skeely knives I couldn't kill the beast and even though I've "checked out" I can never leave, as in once and Alcoholic always an Alcoholic. I'm blessed now to be a sober Alcoholic.
Nice. Good for you and good luck❤
Awesome job I have two years sober now and am never going back to the way I was
I thought it was steely knives, being some kind of a reference to Steely Dan
GBU and happy for you.
That makes a lot of sense
You confirmed to the letter, what was said by an insider, many years ago. In the early days of RUclips, before the commercials and ads, there was this video about a man who was a Hollywood insider, blowing the lid on what goes on beneath the layer. It was difficult to nail down that video as it kept being deleted and then reappear again. Anyways, he briefly touched on "Hotel California" stating the Eagles all but spelled it in plain English what was going on in Hollywood, but the metaphors were vague enough as to not upset the powers that be, in the industry. This video here, is spot on to what that man was saying. He was trying to warn everybody that things are not what they seem in Hollywood.
NOW the line "you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave" means!
@@joangalt6270 IN. PLAIN. ENGLISH. - ruclips.net/video/jNn72qnp6kI/видео.html
@@joangalt6270You can check out dead, but not alive . Once you know what they do ...
I'd be willing to bet high that a lot of disgusting, debasing, and utterly corrupt things go on in Hollywood.
This is by far the best explanation. Hollyweird and the Chateau Marmont have very ugly ghosts in them.
Everytime I've listened to the song, it gives me a feel of the character in the song who eventually finds himself stuck in some kind of Purgatory. No matter how many explanations contradicting this they give, it is what I perceive. Truly, one of the best songs all time.
That's the interpretation I've always had too
When this was released in 1977, I was a Huntington Beach Police officer assigned to the jail. The downtown H.B. druggies/alcoholics would refer to the jail as the " Hotel California". They would form an impromptu choir in the Detox cells to sing: " Welcome to the Hotel California, you can check out, but you can never leave."
If you can treat a situation with a sense of humor, especially if the joke is at least partly on you, that's a sign of class.
@@JamesThompson-zk1ht Thank you for comment.
I was a kid in 80s we lived in Fountain Valley. Had friends in H.B. Taylor Avenue. Still remember address n phone number. Was awesome to live n be there. I'd love to move back. Tired of winter here in Alaska.
@@lancelindgren5655 CA was awesome in the 80s....now it's a blue zoo. Went from Golden State to golden shower.
It sounds " more convincing theory!!!
Knowing what is being revealed of the industry today, this makes perfect sense.
Exactly what I was thinking funny how industry insider have been trying to tell the public the whole time but were we completely oblivious
Welcome to the Machine!
We had a poetry reading of this song in high school. We interpreted as a drug trip.
@@dinakaya7155 Interesting interpretation....
@@dinakaya7155pretty obvious.
I'm 57 now but I was 21 when I first heard or listened to this song for the first time. It is a Godly inspired song to warn men of SIN and Addiction "Hotel California" is "A State Of Mind". I was starting to as they say "smell my self, " feel myself, and couldn't be told anything. Lured away from the Shephard under the cover of darkness like a sheep. The light was the eyes of the wolves, a demon, the beast...drugs, sex, alcohol, porn, "SIN"... Everyone there was inviting and having fun. The mission bells rang in my conscience pretty loud at first but the voices of those pleased and proud of my steps drowned them out Along with my ego....Long story short, Satin don't mind you leaving for a while as long as he still has your heart. This is why we need Jesus. He's the only one who can break the curse and free your heart. I was warned but this song became my story. Now I walk with the Lord.
Word…the enemy is selling regret and hopelessness
Knowing life over death , positive over negatives - follow the true Shepherd, Jesus .😊❤.
These americans. Anything suiting their own weiredness they call God or at least inspired by God. Oh boys, the US is one of the most godless areas of the damn world. Greed, money, property, power are the Gods and roothless capitalism, oportunism and fraudery are your religions. Period.
It Satan the devil having the audacity to tell his followers what is waiting for them for all eternity. Nazareth has a song I Sold y Soul To The Devil. These guys are satanists and dont know what danger they are in.
What was your device? How did you escape to hope? Either way I am glad you did.
Frey and Henley had the most amazing vocals, I particularly loved Frey's voice and how he used it in their songs, and also the harmony they all seemed to naturally posses. Amazing band all round, very clever musicians. We don't get bands like this any more for some reason, or I'm just getting old.
Nah we don’t, the seventies were unique
Don Henley is a nice guy I worked with him promoting his 3 solo album "heart of the matter" - when I was in Radio - I told him how that song ripped my heart out and analyzed the pain of the past. - (forgiveness) -
We gotta to know each other , I also grew up in Texas and started music on the trombone just like he did, he switched to drums, I switched to guitar, we went to the same college, Stephen F. Austin, of course he was 20 years ahead of me....
ANYWAY - your analyzation of Hotel Cal. was very insightful especially going through all the 5 senses, yet I think you left out the RESPONSIBILITY of being entangled and enticed by the light, when we are at our weakness, so- HE brought himself into the hell or quandary he was in. "if you want to see your true enemy, look in the mirror" - AND as a surprise, Don sent me a Gold Album "heart of the matter" he Autographed, so now the weary traveler is part of the Beast........I quit Radio, after serving the Beast, gave my life to Jesus Christ, because our bodys are temporary, but our spirits live forever. Now I help the poor, homeless, and lost - that just cant seem to get out of the Hotel. With Jesus, I show them the way out.
Nice guy, other than the underage girls with drugs.
You lost me with sentence #1
Wow God bless you I live in Ne Texas honey grove. I would love to meet you and share the truth of Gods word over coffee. 64 And active rebuild hemi engines.
Beautiful..
Good for you, rock and roll music is addictive, and from Satan, many rock stars have admitted this in interviews. They know who the master is in this song, it's Satan, whom they serve with their demonically inspired lyrics and music arrangements.
After all these stories about billioners islands, girls and kids(!) traffic, with all kinds of celebrities visiting them, and about celebrities "dark parties" revealing all the disgusting things people can ever do... the song opens up differently!
Thank you for the video!
You said "girls and kids(!) traffic . . . "dark parties" revealing all the disgusting things people can ever do... the song opens up differently".
Here's some truths along those lines.
A Ranch In California (please read the description first) -
ruclips.net/video/ZSwBewgT7eE/видео.html
I worked at a mental facility in Camarillo, CA that was home to not only mental patients but to drug addiction, alcohol, physical abuse, rapist, etc..ages from young to old. I was told by a former employee that Eagles
Band member was there for drug/alcohol rehabilitation. It was hush, hush! Everything confidential in this place. At this hospital there is the original mission bell tower that still has that mission bell he sings about There are the corridors he mentions in the song and other patients do yell out. You can’t just walk out and leave this facility, but you can walk the grounds. All in the song authentically depicts Camarillo State Hospital which has been there for years! It’s now been Converted to a university. But you can still feel the spirit of the hospital. Many other famous people stayed or entered themselves here. I recommend visiting the grounds if you like history. All the original buildings still there. It was its own city. You never needed to leave.
This comment hits home for me, my mother was a patient there in the early and mid 60s and I remember going and visiting her there and the place really gave me the creeps as a young child.
Our company did the plumbing on the new buildings and houses there when they converted it to a university. At first, some of us wanted to work Saturdays because there was union scale wages so, lots of money. But the first Saturday, the workers heard screams and moans coming from the old unoccupied buildings. Needless to say, we went back to working weekdays when there were lots of people there.
A band that I was briefly in played there. The patients were dancing. Some wearing helmets and some kept dancing after we finished playing a song. I saw a guy trying to not be seen. After the show, I sat at the front of the stage and let them strum my guitar that was still on. One patient asked if I had a mommy. They seemed like sweet people.
😮😮😮❤😢😢😢❤😊😊😊@dca7773 Thirty One Years Ago, My CSU dorm friend told me this Eagles inpatient rehab story, as we drove by, in my brand 🆕 teal Chevrolet Cavalier sedan, 🚗 about the vacant Camarillo State hospital,🏥 now known as CSUChannel Islands. I believe.(?) It was such a beautiful building site; I love all the 21 CA missions & the Kings 👑 Highway 🛣️ 🔔 El Camino Real sign posts, & I enjoy the various CA Missions' Roman Catholic Masses held in person and streamed online, although I respect that many Native Americans hold very different feelings towards the CA Missions, CA 👑 Kings Highway 🛣️ Mission 🔔 Bells, & San Junipero Serra statues. As a native Californian, the imagery of this song resonates with my entire lifetime and family history.✨🕯️✨🕊️
My grandpa was Bob Estrada. We'll x in-law. He was the barber. I was in the California Conservation Corp. So, I learned some things there as well. It was there on the property. This was in 1996. They just about were shut down completely.
The line 'She got the Mercedes-Benz' is actually a play on words Mercedes 'bends' which is a 70s California term used to describe someone who has the sickness of materialism. The Bends being a sickness divers get from surfacing too fast, but in this case when used with the name of an expensive car it becomes a term for a different kind of sickness. Goes right along with the 'Tiffany Twisted' line right before it.
The song in general is just about the hedonistic, decadent, materialistic, drug fueled party lifestyle the band encountered in LA after they moved west and the inherent addictiveness of that. They moved to California for the love hippy ideal but in the 70s they found it to be something different.
Founding member Bernie Leadon was previously in another band The Flying Burrito Brothers who had an album 'The Gilded Palace of Sin' which explored similar themes.
In 2002 I was working in San Diego and my wife came to visit we went to Mexico. A Resort in Rosarito was suggested it was a $4 bus ride from Tiajuana. It was a bus trip on a dark desert highway no street lights very dark. You could smell open sewers that have another name "Colitas". Then there was a shimmering light as we got to the Resort. There is the old misson hotel with a court yard from the late 60s early 70s The room keys had the name on them and doubled as bottle openers. The name of the hotel? The Hotel California in Baja California. It was a run down place with bullet holes in the walls. Not the 4 star resort we stayed at but we had to check it out. I still have the bottle opener with address and phone number on it. The logo is the exact Hotel California logo and the sign in front was decades old. Coincidence?? Who knows but the trip there was the whole first verse.
Tijuana
Very interesting
Wow! Reminds me of the line from Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s do the Time Warp
Again!! 😳🤣🍾🥂🍷
The warm smell was from flowers of the desert
@@JulieHedrick-y3f Flowers instead of sewers but Don and Glenn were from TX and would have explored a bit of Mexico. It fit their sound.
I actually worked at the California Hotel in Berkeley in the 80s. It was an absolute freakhole.
Berkeley itself is a freak show. It reminds me a lot of Ann Arbor. But Berkeley is more out in the open with their craziness. I worked in both cities. Made lots of friends in both. But these are not normal places.
It’s still have ppl who live there do drugs😅 as of 2 years ago
Wow. 😮
nah.. they're singing about a different hotel in so cal. not bezerkely
The song became the unofficial song of the ship I was stationed on in that time frame. The USS California was a nuclear powered guided missile cruiser at that time home ported out of Norfolk, Virginia. What was wonderful about the song was that you could understand every word sung and the accompanying music didn't drown everything out like most music that came afterwords. The theme fit perfectly to the crew who all felt trapped in a peace time navy on a ship with no purpose other than to show the flag. I got out of the navy in 1978 with the last words of the song stuck in my head for a long time.
Thanks for the story. Your comment on trapped in a peaces time navy, triggered a thought of my dad and 2 uncles. Dad and one were in the Korean War, that uncle was severely wounded and should've never walked again. The other uncle was a Huey pilot for 3 tours of Vietnam, he was wounded on the 2nd but not bad enough to discharge. He was one of the 229th Aviation Btl who volunteered to repeated go back/forth to LZ X-Ray and other horrible spots in Ia Drang Valley in Nov 1965.
All 3 checked out of their various combat zones/countries. But I guarantee their minds never left those countries. My dad talked about the army and his experiences almost until his death at 88 years old.
Stabbing at the beast with their steely knives but can't kill the beast, sounds like a metaphore for why they were sent to these places to fight as in stop the Marxist beast from spreading. FWIW--Karl Marx was a Satan worshiper so the "beast" fits right in.
@@LuvBorderCollies The song rang so many bells in that time frame. Thank you for your story and your relatives service. I have known many of those who served in the war zones and hold all of them with the highest respect.
Welcome to US Military Psy Ops…..
Our Brigade song was “Running With The Devil. Devil Brigade 82nd Airborne Division. “The Devils in Baggy Pants.”
The misconception about Psy Ops is that it’s something that is hidden. But it’s the opposite. It is what you see and hear in your face every day.
Its about a haunting by a beautiful seductive ghost i.e. The Spirit of 1969, Such a lovely face! The other "visitors" were those people that came before him, so instead of finding a peaceful retreat, a place to rest on a lonely highway, they stumbled into a place they cannot leave with people who are not what they seem. They're all Ghosts.
So many explanations which is why its a classic, each listener can make up their own conclusions. Like a fine piece of art, a Masterpiece.
Beautiful song! Now an old lady of 86, I never tire of hearing this. So meaningful - & memories of youthful, dark, endless highways to new adventures. Sigh...
Hear Hear ! ❤❤❤ and I am only 70 😊
One question, oh Lady of Great Wisdom - what in the HELL is a "colita"???
@@joangalt6270 What is it?
@@kathyg5919 Reference to smoking marijuana.
Pityriasis Rosa = colitis
Hotel California is a true masterpiece. There are so many levels to it one never tires of listening to the song, always finding new meaning. I think it's the best rock song of the 20th century.
Some verses of this song make me think of all the people who've been lured in by the glitz, glamour, beauty, lights and Hope of Stardom to Hollywood, California, and all the dreams that go along with it...
Only to find that when they "Enter the Master's Chambers", and AFTER they've signed the Legally-Binding, Air-Tight Contract, and NDA's, "By Their Own Device", do they see Hollywood for what is REALLY is -- a Haunt of Demons! 👿
When they realize what they've done, and try to turn back, unfortunately, it's TOO LATE!
They are now locked-in, with no chance of Escape.
Sadly, they can't "Kill The Beast" that's "imprisoned" them.
MANY Musicians and Celebrities have learned this the hard way!
And, now they're all TRAPPED!
I would venture to say, with all the success The Eagles have had, they are some of those Musicians.
You don't attain that kind of success in Hollywood, without making a Deal With The Devil! 👹👺
*imprisoned
Exactly!
God gives you talent but the devil makes you famous.
Of course the credit for success that is brought by writing lyrics such as these has absolutely nothing to do with the Eagles success,it’s all handed to them after making a deal with the devil…..
As long as there is life, there is hope
God forgives us of all our past and sin. The only thing he can't forgive is blasphemy of the Holy spirit which is God's Voice that we don't like to listen to. And I also believe the other unforgivable Sin could be is Unforgivness. GOD said If we don't forgive others, he won't forgive us.
If we could all forgive others and ourselves for all the bad others have done to us and ourselves for what we have done to ourselves and others, the world would be an awesome world.
Forgiving others is the hardest ever but when we do forgive it is the most awesome feeling in the world. We are no longer tied to that person in a negative way and we move on to be better people.
I can say this from experience.
I always Loved this song, but I always felt the underlying darkness because of "1969", "The Beast," and " You can check out any time You Like, But You can Never Leave." Great analysis. I understand the song a lot better now.
Colitas,could be open sewers ??
Think of a brothel and listen to the song again
Well... I understand this a lot better now. I'm 75, and I lived those times. I have come out on the other side a follower of Jesus. He is truly the only key to that "Hotel California."
Amen 🙏 ❤
Amen!
You can't really understand this song, without living it. Only after edging the darkness but not committing to it, I came to understand it's meaning. All of us are weary travelers at some time of our life and that is when we are most vulnerable to that welcoming hotel in the song
🙏🙏❤❤💯💯 God bless! The only way you can "check out" and leave, without offing yourself basically imo
No. There are a lot of paths to truth and self sovereignty and morality. Doesn't have to be Jesus.
Great analysis! My whole life, I was born in 72, I have always viewed this song as super creepy, yet melodically captivating. It has some very dark undertones. Its a musical masterpiece for sure!
72 here to mate.. 👍🏻
While I love this song, I prefer the not really knowing what it means because life is shitty enough
'72 as well here, and yes that describes the feeling with H C.
Having been there as a early 20s I saw what he was singing about.
Lucifer is the Angel of music. He's also easy on the eyes! Deceiving, trickery, alluring, captivating, Hypnotic! His best traits! Stay aware, and guarded! Its real out there...hold tight to the most valuable possession on earth, your own Soul!!!! Dont let go! God Bless Us All! 🙏 Amen
I think the lyrics are better understood in our times, as we are seeing this play out in plain sight
Exactly. Who knew!
In plain diddy sight indeed !
/👁\
Yip totally agree with this
The song was ahead of all its audience…. Time was needed to sober a bit
Thank you so much for having this narrated by what sounds like an actual human, not AI. All the words are actually pronounced correctly. A pleasure.
Love it when lyrics had literary value. They sure don't write songs like they used to anymore.
when talented people enter la, they go on drugs and their talent flies out the window. Then they tour for 50 years on the three or so hits they wrote before going on the drugs.
They don't even try to wrap things up in literary themes. Now they just say what they literally mean and if it's not contrived and empty, it still lacks imagery or subtlety
True, you cant analyse the lyrics on most 90s and beyond songs, they are meaninhless
Its been awhile...
Maybe you don’t listen to this genre but metal music contains a lot of this old spirit of writing. One of my favorite bands is Falling in Reverse because the lead singer and songwriter Ronnie Radke is extremely good at telling a story and it doesn’t hurt that I enjoy the fast paced music. I think that maybe the most popular music isn’t so deep anymore but there certainly are bands and artists that create masterpieces still.
2,600 years ago Plato observed that artists produce compelling works but are utterly incapable of explaining their meaning
An important aspect of that view is that man is inspired by his irrational self. It is the feeling, believing part expressed. Plato was right in his far-seering analysis and synthesis of Humanity.
Dude, how profound a statement. I salute you.
Let me analyze my own interpretation of the song... It's an allusion to California, a chimera, a mirage, an alien or a Phoenix. Maybe it's about Hollywood, maybe Los Angeles or the whole, just as the moniker mentions. The allure of California is unparallale. For the residents of other parts of the country, are ambivalence, jealousy, envious or just complacent, depending on their perspectives: hinged upon politics, religion, ideas, ethics and morals. It's just grapes are sour phenomenon. I lived in there for 16 years. I was bound to check out not by my own volition, and I am left with a love and hate relationship. Love for the weather and hate for the traffic and frequent shakers. I can't check back in, primarily on the grounds of economics. I would love to live in the coast of northern California in a heart beat, but the beast, I can't kill and it would not scare or derail me. 🎉
That's exactly why so many people read it back then! Everyone explains the lyrics their own way, Plato just was jealous.
Your explanation is exactly what I always thought these lyrics were about (at least to me). I often found myself in similar, weird circumstances in the 70’s where I did not understand (naïve) what was going on around me - drugs- cultish behaviors, and I wanted to flee-for the door before I was forever trapped. More than one of my friends did not escape that time! Great lyrics to an eternal song!
I was 'trapped in CA' for over 20 years, and was addicted to many drugs and cults, good & bad... And found 'My Way' out by moving to Hawaii, and embracing the 'Aloha Way'...!!
This song is a masterpiece.
When I first heard the song I thought its about a guy who was driving all night (maybe high on drugs with the warm smell of colitas) tired and sleepy, eyes grew dim then suddenly saw a shimmering light. Guy thought it was a hotel as suddenly he was being welcomed (but the truth was the shimmering light came from an oncoming vehicle that he collided with) & not knowing he was dead & that the hotel was like some place where lost souls go through & he got to meet & hear about the lives/past of the other souls there. The guy, not knowing he was dead, was looking for a way to get back outside & drive away but was told that he can check out anytime but can never leave or go back again since he is no longer of the living 😅
Your interpretation is on point too, with a bit more details.
Woe
Holy cow, that’s one way to look at it! 🤔
Right next to Motel Hell...
"PLANT 'EM!
Great interpretation
In my high school in France during the 80s, we studied it in English class. Once we had translated and learned the words, we wanted to understand more of the meaning of the song. At that point I remember our teacher said it was too dark and we would have to search for it by ourselves. To me it's since always been about a dark ceremony by some kind of sect. After understanding this, I have never been able to hear the nice melody again, much like the lyrics explain there's no coming back from that hotel. I am convinced that for the band, it was a way to let go of all the dodgy stuff they have been made aware of in Hollywood.
It's about the descent into drug addiction that once you get addicted you can never leave.
When you’re driving on PCH with the top down here in Cali, you’ll understand
This song is the same as the movie, "Eyes Wide Shot." You are right about the Hollywood sects.
Well said.
I have liked the Eagles for years! I am a guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and "Hotel California'
was one of the first songs I heard that really 'grabbed" me. AND since I was born and raised literally in Los Angeles, I got an idea of what the song was about almost immediately! And to be blunt, your analysis is right on, to use a phrase from that era!
I am convinced that living in LA for 2 years in the 1970s just working at a job there i have seen things i never could have imagined existed.
Me too. '73 to '76 changed my life forever. So many songs about California. I had to go. The backwoods ways I grew up with were destroyed immediately. So many great people! Such a different outlook on life! (I am grateful for the technology businesses because I'm an electronics nerd and I never looked for a job for more than 4 hours.) Put a little down and buy a car, and the world is open to you. Those four years are where I go for great memories.
Try growing up there.
I've always loved the song, when I was in boot camp at Parris Island I became pals with a hard core punk kid and this was the one song we both knew all the words to and we'd sing it when cleaning the "pissers" in the head. Years later I moved to LA, did some acting, worked in the film business, went to the parties, lived the life for ten years or so.... Had a friend that lived in the building where that famous photo of the hotel lobby with the balcony exists .... I walked away from all that but am still here in LA 32 years later - At 57, having lived a wild life and having seen the underbelly and choosing to walk into the light, now reflecting on it all, stumbling upon this video is somewhat cathartic
Love this story!
What's it "really" about?😮
My father was a marine at Paris Island in the 70s. Too cool.
Hotel California, both the song and the album, are my favorites from the Eagles. I was in high school back then.
I contend that very few "starlets" bought their own Tiffany jewelry or Mercedes Benzs. They couldn't afford to. They have/had sugar daddy producers, directors, or whoever who buy "favors" from these girls with these "baubles" and promises of making their Hollywood dreams come true; "their minds are Tiffany twisted". (their heads are turned by the money being spent on them)
But of course, each party knows that its just a game with a barter system. Rich, older, powerful men using younger girls, always dangling that carrot on a stick just to keep them in their grasp.
Young, beautiful girls wanting fame and fortune either naively or knowingly end up letting the older men paw them until they get their break. But the girls don't love these old guys and so they have a "lot of pretty, pretty boys that she calls friends". When the sugar daddy is busy or away, she has her "friends" over.
That's my take on Hotel California.
Thanks.
Yes me too love the eagles and their songs
As Glen Frey commented to the other band members after watching a beautiful young lady out with a much older man, "Look at those Lyin Eyes."
A few girls get the full Svengali treatment, but most of the girls are then used in turn to entice young men wanting fame and fortune. The execs throw girls at them, the carrot to get them to sign bad contracts. These guys are so distracted by all the perks that they don't realized they're also being exploited and robbed. The company pays for their cars and drugs etc. But one day they wake up and realize that they don't own anything. There's a reason the Playboy mansion was always full of celebrities.
I've lived in California all my life - with occasional excursions outside the state.
The meaning was immediately clear to me - no need to make things more complicated than they need to be.
Agree. I don't live in Cali, have been to LA a few times, no offense but NEVER enjoy LA. But since I was a kid I kind of understood what they were getting at. I think you're right, people are overthinking things.
Agreed! ❤
It always spoke to me about the end of life. Which has been a recurring theme throughout my life. The line that stood out for me is “You can check out any time you like but you can never leave.” That’s why I love art in all its forms. Good art can appeal to different people in a multitude of ways.
Who knows what these young guys were thinking about during the 70's... their music, this song puts me in a feel-good mood that I just sends me. A classic that stays on repeat in my playlist.
Maybe. What you describe fits with many Eagles songs. Not this one, for me it is different. I remember vividly my first hearing and it affected me in a way that non of their other songs have. I was not an addict. It just gets under the skin. The steely knives are probably syringes as this You Tuber alludes to.
There are obviously different ideas growing out a specific feel of life, written down under the influence of substances. Some changes surely were made to fit rhyme and rythm. At the end not even the artists can tell what exactly the lyrics mean. It means a lot to a lot of people. And therefore its art. And that is all there is.
This is my favorite song ever. The haunting melody. The lyrics. That guitar solo. I’ve listened to it 100 times and I get chills every time. For me, it’s always been an allegory for drug addiction, something that I struggled with myself in my younger days. “Some dance to remember, some dance to forget” especially resonates with me
That's what I thought...drugs.
My buddy visited the Hotel California back in the 80s, and he said it's a dive, which describes the debauchery in the lyrics.
It is about the OCCULT aka *satanism / luciferianism* -
which is what you have to join and pledge allegiance to (ie *sell your soul to the DEVIL* = the “god” of this world) -
in order to become FAMOUS and PART of the satanic Hellywood / Music Industry!
That’s the ONLY accurate interpretation and meaning.
So, in every sense, the band member did tell you more and more of the ACTUAL FACTS in his every explanation, respectively!
“You can *check out* any time you like, but you can NEVER LEAVE,” means:
*You can only leave their satanic secret societies* through PHYSICAL DEATH!
🚨 It is erroneously believed that once you join the Occult/secret societies/service to sATAN, if you attempt to leave it, *_they will kill you._*
Which is not untrue, judging by the manner and age of deaths of over 90% of celebrities…
So no, the devil doesn’t let you leave so easily!
BUT❗️☝️
You can only leave *by accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.*
But of course, the devil and his minions will never tell you that! They keep you captive by threatening and intimidating you my physical death.
Make your choice wisely!
ASAP, while you’re still breathing.
You may not leave to see tomorrow.
⚠️📛🔥🔥🔥📛⚠️
Same... I'm old as fu*k I have listened to it more than 100 times+ Never bothered to check what the lyrics meant.. This popped up in my feed today. I always assumed it was about going to California/L.A. drug culture/addiction and debauchery. It's not a happy song. I do however enjoy the musicality, vocals and "ambiguity."
Be well!
You hit the nail on the head, (America) Vanity of Vanities, All is Vanity
When I got out of the Navy at Miramar NAS in 1979 I went to LA and worked at The Whiskey. I was walking down Sunset and saw a poster for bartenders. Applied and worked there for 2 years. The stories I have that I'll never tell. At 65 , it was the best 2 years of my life. Thanks Brian
My brother was plane captain on F-4 at Miramar an on Enterprise aircraft carrier at sea. I visited brother on base. He let me sit in F-4 cockpit. I witnessed jet crash an parachute. Brother told me of him being ordered I to burning hanger. My fishing friend joined military to fly. He became jet pilot then a test pilot. He was picked to fly space shuttle but new wife said no! He flew from Portland to Miramar to participate in top gun. I saw him in Harley shop,where he asked me what I was doing over the weekend? We're going sailboating on Timothy Lake. While we're on lake, we hear rumbling noise. Then see 4 jets at tree level. Jet lower still over water they are making rooster tails from water. As the pass by our sailboat I see my friend solute me an wave his wings. They split around Mt Hood returning to Portland. Everyone on water an on shore now screaming with delight! I know a real top gun!
Of course you do; in your dreams.
@@timbarnett3898yea,yea,yea, an my prick is a bloater. I nipped up Mt Everest naked the other day, got to the summit made a cup of tea and got home All within a day. 🙃
@@timbarnett3898 I believe you! I knew one too, dated one a long time ago.
Never tell? Why? I am 64 I share my experiences with my family and others it is who we are?
Great job on breaking down the meaning of the song. My take was that the band was describing each of them as musians finding fortune and fame. Once they become famous they checked in the Hotel. They all are drawn to the chambers to be tempted by there own personal demons women, alcohol and drugs. Now that they have checked in they can check out but they never can really leave.
I thoroughly enjoyed this interpretation of the Eagles' lyrics for Hotel California. I had my own interpretation about what the song was about, but this is heavy duty and makes you think how ingenious Don Henley is as a songwriter.
think TAVISTOCK... that's who actually wrote it
To think that sawed off little A-hole actually wrote this song, lol. People are so gullible.
Excellent analysis of what I consider one of the greatest bits of song writing...at least in my lifetime. And I'm 74. Total fan of the Eagles. Absolute masters of their talent.
The harmonies man, the harmonies. Wow
The 70s and 80s were awesome.
Thank you very much. Philadelphia USA 🇺🇸 Nostrovia ❤❤❤
You can't take it with you
Sure was much younger then that's the difference
@@LaurieValdez-zk3dy don't want to
.. 1977 .. I was living in Atlanta, working for SouthernBell Telephone...I purchased Hotel California at Peaches Records & Tapes in Buckhead, I have and still listen to that album to this day, but only on the anniversary of it's release. Yeah, I'm weird, that's what my wife tells me..." _I'm 75 my music keeps me young and alive, we still dance to the beat of the music in the streets_ " 😛
Thank You !!
I haven’t heard southern bell in a long time. I grew up in Cobb county. Did you ever raft the chattahooche during the raft race? I was only 5 in 77. But I remember it and my parents going. I think my mom cut her foot real bad from the broken beer bottles
@@johncamp7679 🤣been down the Hooche many times in different states of inebriation while listening to Gary McKee on WQXI radio, wayyy back in the day 😛 looking back on those days, we were total mindless idiots in a ginormous party 😎
My wife & I...54 years now, do reminisce and have a good laugh. When our two daughters were old enough, we taught them how to have fun on the Hooche !!
We enjoy it to this day with our grands !!
@@ltdees2362 Gary McKee!! Dude, brings back so many memories of when Atlanta radio was the best. Z93 96 rock Kasey Kasem top 40. I had a great time growing up. My wife and I have been together 30 years.
I lived in Buck-head in the 90s and lived that city so much. The Lenox Mall was my favorite and I love the trees blooming in Spring. I loved Buford Hwy and there was a Red roof Inn on a hill that was so quant and just a beautiful area all over Buck Head. I miss those days. 😢🙏🌼🌼
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim…he got a head full of ideas and reality took a back seat
For 40 yrs this song was pondering my imagination. Your video confirms that I wasn't very far off. Great job making it.
😂me too... Great Writing I can't begin to imagine how many others have been captivated for this long each time you hear it...the mind just soars away...
I didn't understand some of the words but I understand it's meaning. It's a hotel that I am tempted to visit but I'm afraid I may never want to leave
@@rogerm3708because it's a brothel
This is the best interpretation I've yet heard of this mysterious song.
It is certainly one of the best and I really enjoyed the time I
spent watching the video and considering the thesis.
I just have my suspicion that it was an Illuminati party and once you sign...you literally cant get out. Great video!
Exactly, but who knew at the time.
The satanic church and anton levay believed in do what thou will indulgence, whether it be sex drugs, anything , once you go down this path you can never really leave also the first satanic church started in 1969
You nailed it!👍
Adrenochrome addiction.
@@Donna-ff3ek Noone...all lyrics now are starting to make sense...
This Amazing song became my favorite song since the very first time I listened to it ❤️🥇🇺🇸, I love The Amazing Eagles music ❤️👍🇺🇸!!!
Great job on putting this video together. Everyone has their own ideas and interpretations. Don Henley spent time in a juvenile detention center called Fred C. Nelles, located in Whittier, California, which served as the inspiration for the song. The lyrics reflect his experiences and emotions during that period of his life. For instance, the line 'Welcome to the "Hotel California"' can be interpreted as a metaphor for the detention center, with 'You can check in anytime, but you can never leave' echoing the feeling of being trapped. It's worth noting that during the 70s, juvenile records often remained clean.
Great lyrics, great breakdown, and great guitar solo!
"Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you."
You become to what surrounds you.
I've stared into it for years and you're right! You see them they see you!
Please credit the quote to Nietzsche
@@quantumkids9659 That's why I used the "quotation marks"
I always took the line "you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave." As saying "you can get as high as you like when you like, and that's all you can do. You can't leave this loop life."
Just played the CD for the first time in a long time! Forgot how great that song, and the whole album was. Played it again and again to get the feeling back of how great their music, and their lyrics are.
I have been teaching ESL for more than 20 years. I used the song Hotel California in my classes to teach English. It was one of my most popular and memorable lessons taught at Chiang Mai University. In Thailand, all my Thai college students have heard the song. The parents of my undergraduate students also knew the song. So, when we finished the two class lesson, it was always interesting what the students thought of what did the song mean and they would talk to their parents about it too. I leave you with the Thai culture and perception is unique and interesting, but that would be another story... Thank you for sharing the video and I enjoyed your perspective of the song the Hotel California.
I'm very interested in Thai culture and would like to know what their perception of the song is.
I believe The Doors song, "L.A. Woman" is similar. A lot of people think it's about loving LA, I think it's about how Hollywood chews up young women and spits them out in pieces...
"Are you a luck little lady in the City of Lights? Or just another lost angel? City of night..."
I've met a lot of women who came to LA to "make it big." Most get regular jobs, or worse, and that's depicted in the song too...
"Cops in cars, the topless bars, never seen a woman so alone... Motel money murder-madness. Let's change the mood from glad to sadness."
Most of the women I met who got spit out by the system, are very alone, and there's a facade of gladness, until after the motel money changes hands. They find a way to justify selling out their dreams, but in the end, they're alone, it's pretty sad.
You are right on the money the Door's had a few other's like that like rider's on the storm about serial killer's hitchhiking to get there next victim they grew up that way into this house we're born into this world we're thrown like a dog without a bone or hackler all alone.....
@@RobertMajor-jq2ke I didn't know that about Riders on the Storm. Thanks!
Very true, I know some of those women myself.
I think you hit the nail on the head. I was a teenager when The Hotel California first came out. I knew that a lot of songs like this had meaning in the lyrics. Like Don McLeans American Pie.
Excellent breakdown, thank you. The Eagles are my favorite band and I have always wondered about this song. I now have a new appreciation and understanding.
I was working in a hotel by the sea when this song came out. It was too far to get into town during our breaks, so we were isolated. It was run utterly chaotically by the weird foreign management and the chef was a psycho. We had to stay till the end of the season to get paid. We called it Hotel California. We really bonded in that captive summer.
Cool!
Yikes. I get a "Bodega Bay" vibe lol
Reminds me of Home by the Sea by Genesis.
This depiction is right on. The part of all parties only some are invited to. No one leaves without selling their soul, but even on check out they got you forever, think Diddy parties with cameras. I've watched countless friends go to these parties across the globe, they exist in every profession and country, they always come out the same. Sad
King of Hollywood by The Eagles ..... covers that aspect too
Don't forget about Epstein Island.. Diddy is not the only one. Distraction.
it's a blackmail club. like you said, selling the soul. anybody who's anybody is transformed into a puppet for the grand puppetshow. the mob rules. owned.
@@paarker Yes, he must have noticed something he didn't like. He left early, at a great time
Will we ever see the likes of The amazing song writing from amazing Bands like the Eagles again??
Henley always wrote Eagles songs that wryly had multiple meanings at once. That's how next level he was with his English lit professor creative skill set. This also includes their song titles as well having duel definitions. That's what makes Eagles songs deceptively simple on the surface, but if you start to dig beneath the superficial artifist of its mainstream easy listening hooks and addictive ear worm up tempo rock tracks usually is some insanely dark subject matter being explored and thought provoking lyrics with a casual black poetic wit interwoven throughout. Frey with Henley also liked to work in double entendres and innuendos as well into the mix to add yet more layers of a densely layered think piece sold and misunderstood as just some slickly produced cynical corporate rock. High literary aspirations fused with sick shredding guitar licks. The band were able to strike that perfect harmonic balance of commerce and commercialism. With multiple threads of themes and meanings and enough ambiguity to leave breathing room for open interpretation and something to the listeners imagination. The Eagles were doing Inception-like multiple levels of creativity at every position and production phase of studio time. Henley and Co. at this creative peak we're playing fourth dimensional level chess while everybody else were still playing two track deck tape checkers. The Eagles indeed were the rare majestic and going quickly extinct soaring songbird fated to morph into the doomed grotesque Phoenix flame outs all bands eventually become. But, this was their high water mark masterpiece where they not only made their lasting impression on pop cultural and the zeitgeist of one finite moment in time, but made a dent in the universe by sheer force of musical will and indomitable force. This wasn't just a landmark achievement in music history that transcended its place and spanned it's indelible influence into all other medias and genres. It was a reckoning. Once you hear this song, there is no unhearing it. It immediately changes the molecular structure and atoms in the room and your very DNA. You are forever changed. You indeed may be able to check out anytime you like, but you can truly never leave.
Love this!
Frye and Henley were the Lennon and Mccarthy song writers of the 70s in my mind.
GOOBLETY GOCK DUDE
straight up gooblety gock what you wrote.
Eat some more 🍄
why not decipher something more obscure, like 'don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy'
Easily one of the most pretentious, overblown, full of oneself comments I have ever read. Not to mention the 55 word run-on sentences that you need a roadmap to follow. If I were an English professor I'd print this and hand it out to my class as an example of how NOT to write.
This breakdown of the iconic song is pretty much dead on. Nice job!
Your explanation is as good as any I’ve heard. Kudos.
Cali phone is good diggers hangers on pretending they are something they are not.
I did not grew up in US. I heard this song only few years ago. Just liked their guitar. Then heard the lyrics which were so unusual and tried make sense out of it. Your interpretations really makes sense and makes it very clear to me.
🙏
My all-time favourite line in that song has always been "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave". My interpretation of that was, and still is, a suspicion that it may relate to drug use.
At 73, I still love to play that song at fairly high volume, as it unfailingly sends that thrill of sound and rhythm of guitars right through me. The best.😊
I think this is the best explanation of Hotel CA....And I concur that "once you lose your innocence, you can never go back."
The song "Gollum's Song" is about this loss, and meant as much to me personally as Hotel CA did in my youth.
You really explained Hotel California lyrics to the best, nobody has ever done it better than you! You're awesome! Thanks!
Don Henley once said in an interview, and I do believe it to be an attempt to avoid the question "basically the song is about a journey from innocence to experience".
I saw the Eagles in 1975 at a concert in Bloomington, IN. It was pre Hotel California. the were playing songs like Witchy Woman, Take it to the Limit and etc. . 3 bands played that night. Kansas, The Eagles, and the Headliner was The Beach Boys! Fantastic concert.
The Beach Boys went everywhere! Saw them along with Steve Miller Band and Moody Blues at Alpine Valley!
I've always seen it as Limbo. The protagonist collided with an oncoming vehicle after passing out, and found himself at the Hotel California, with the many other travelers that have met their end on that highway. There's a great movie called "The Circle" that perfectly encapsulates the song, in my opinion.
That is one of the best breakdowns and analysis of a song I’ve ever seen in my entire life. AND it was a little spooky at first because everything about the song was my life. Ultimately the only thing that is different is that unlike the very end when it is stated that there’s no way out~ there is! Had I not come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ I would have died by the mid-70s because everything in that song happened to me. I remember the sensations like they were yesterday. I recall literally shaking as I entered Los Angeles. Theater major. All the same dreams you talked about all the same events all the same senses but a decidedly different destiny. And now I am on my way to Heaven. Soon and very soon I am going to see the King….
God bless you! See you once there!
.. vivid imagination runs wild and you can never truely leave. takes a fiasco, some dance to forget. Just take your pick guys. Two thumbs up.
Wow! Don't think I will ever hear this great song the same again.
Brilliant, multi-dimensional poetry in lyrics here. The vast possibility of interpretations while not truly giving the author’s explanation offer us a wonderful experience in making this song what it means to us. It is artistry. Bravo
My buddy visited the Hotel California back in the 80s, and he said it's a dive, which describes the debauchery in the lyrics.
Yes, good analysis! What a masterful song, and with one of the most perfect guitar solos ever played. Thanks.
There are two different guitarists playing it! I agree - I love the solo. B minor rules! (see also Comfortably Numb)
Yeah it's like the band Steely Dan once stated... We let the audience decide for themselves what the tune is about...We never tell them... However they did tell about certain tunes from the Gaucho album such as 'Glamour profession'..... Most of it is all up to us....Love that MO... How many tunes by the Dan I already had clicked in my own head what each one was about......Nice!
Glenn Frey nailed it with the " Ambiguity" assessment. I accept Don Henley's explanations--the various ones he gave back up GF's "Ambiguity" . i love it--deep, metaphorical, Twilight Zone...
The song is abstract it depends on who is listening and what mood they're in that's why it's so compelling. A song about everyone's distinct personality.
Great job. We'll never know for sure what it's about, but the ambiguousness of the lyrics are part of the magic of the song
I've never used drugs, so I equate the song with a soul-crushing career and a job that you feel stuck with.
No matter what it means....It's Classic Genius!!!❤❤❤😊
Arguably the most brilliant song ever written.
Certainly is or at least one of them.
It's one of the most intricate. I'd argue that as there are a lot of brilliant songs. The Pretender, by their friend Jackson Browne, comes to mind.
@@rainmanjr2007but that song is not as magical plus jackson Browne’s vocals are not as superior. And no ethereal guitar
@@arribaficationwineho32 I wholeheartedly disagree. Concerning the lack of guitar I'd say one had an ethereal drum, piano, and David Lindley.
@@rainmanjr2007 what abt lack of pure vocal? “Ethereal” drum? I had the album and say there is no comparison between the 2 songs
For me this is a perfect interpretation of the song, particularly true when you look at California today.
The Steely Knives I think of as hypodermic needles.
Everyone should remember that Don Henley, and Glen Frye were part of the Laurel Canyon scene in the mid-1960s, so they experienced the glory of that time, such as the Summer of Love.
Not many knows Laurel Canyon scene. I only found out after one youtube made fictional video of party he went in. I went to google map (street camera) to checkout every house there to find which house could have hosted that party.
@@nastybadger-tn4kl I’m a total audiophile. For me, music is life, and I listen to literally everything. My mother was very much into music, and I have older sisters that actually went to high school with Don Henley in Linden, Texas. So, I grew up listening to music all the time. I fell in love with Elvis Presley when I was five years old.
As somebody from Linden, one should know that Henley was brought to LA by Texan Kenny Rogers only in 1970. Frey did get there in 1968 and formed Longbranch Pennywhistle with another Texas transplant, J D Souther. "Summer of Love" specifically refers to summer of '67. All of this is late 1960s to 1970.
😂 i always loved this great song, which is lucky because it got played about every half hour on the radio when it came out. 😅
@@Suzette-gb7ujlike the late Dr Wayne Dyer always said …. “ don’t die with the music still in you “
Back in the mid 90's, my daughter and I ran gaming conventions here in Florida. LARP was in its heyday, and we needed a draw. A mutual friend who knew Brian ask if it'd be okay if we used this song for the basis of a LARP. He gave the nod and we ran with it. The lyrics were the clues to how to get out of the hotel. To say the least it was a successful game we ran 3 times before retiring it. We even got a supreme compliment for having a Cthulu game that didn't have to be monitored by security. It seems some people get carried away, literally and figuratively while in character. Anyways, Fond memories and a tip of the ratty top hat to the Eagles. Thanks guys.
I am 68 and my girlfriend and I and my friends all said, that it was about Camarillo State Mental Hospital. So it was good to hear your story, which makes a lot of sense. Ray
I've heard that it was partly inspired by The Standard Hotel in LA.
I’m 75 and I always thought this song was about CDC( California Department of Corrections) Substance abuse treatment center located just outside (about 60 miles LÀ) I worked there as a clinician, and I think one of these song writers spent some time there. There’s a mission right on grounds and the song to me was about substance abuse and addiction. You can always check in, but you can never leave!
It's an allegory. You're trapped at a concert hall having paid $595 for your ticket and realize Don Henley is lip syncing badly to a prerecorded vocal track, but you can never leave.
That’s very good.
Too sad but true!!
2023 November @
Moda.
Pure genius!
😂 Hahaaaaa!! Needed to laugh!!
Hahaha 😝
This song breaks almost every rule of music theory and is phenomenal very eerie and creepy feeling but so beautifully melodic
I never new all the words to this song. Focussing on the last parts of the song; (you can check out any time you want, but you can never leave.) to me, it sounded like the Hotel California was a cemetery.
This is an incredibly written and thought out song by the writer. So much detail with so few words with so many personal opinions on each meaning.
I think there are many levels to this song. One level being a slave to the five senses. Another being the beast is man without the guidance of God
Having scanned through dozens of these interpretations here, and they are all correct, I cannot help but think that this allegory is as old as time. It harkens back to the biblical story of when Adam took a bite of the apple. Plain and simple. Once you've crossed that divide, you are cursed, and retrieving back to where you once were is a difficult and almost futile effort.
The apple was an act of sedition. Eve took the risk and when she didn't 'die' like they were told would happen, he thought he was lied to and was just being kept away from this 'wisdom that would make him like God'. Too bad God meant 'eternal death' not bodily death. Once kicked out, they realized this and adam tried to be the sacrifice to atone for the sedition. Trying to obtain God's power is sedition. Trying to reach heaven by building a tower, trying to take his power by getting a bunch of the host of heaven on your ideological side, and trying to obtain his wisdom through doing something he told you not to are all examples of sedition done by creatures he created. The sin of sedition carries the price of eternal death. The good news is that in our case, we were promised salvation from God himself, that he would be the sacrifice to pay for the sin. Now thats love. This happened and we no longer sacrifice animals, instead we appeal to the Redeemer, Jesus. The thing about repentance is that it requires you to be ashamed of what you did, which you aren't if you keep doing it.
He's correct. Ignorance is bliss. Some things seen can never be unseen.
This reminds me of a conversation I had at lunch in the pediatric office in NJ I was working at in the late 90s. I was in my early 30s and was having lunch with one of my partners while one of the nurses was looking at a guidebook planning an upcoming trip. She mentioned they were considering a hotel called Hotel California. I said I hear they have plenty of room there. The nurse, oblivious to the reference, said yes the rooms look spacious as my partner began to chuckle. I then said I hear they really live it up there and the still oblivious nurse said yeah it looks like a fun place. This went on for several minutes until I finally said yeah I hear you can check out any time you like but you can never leave. By then my partner is laughing so hard she can’t finish her lunch and the nurse finally realizes I’m not talking about the hotel she’s looking at. Most of my jokes are misses but this was a direct hit.
Quick wit
Great one!!
My younger and I stayed at the hotel California in Paris when we got there we realized it was a 5 star hotel we were back packing thru. France same joke the clerk asked me when will you check out I told him I thought you could not check out he laughed my brother was puzzled 😂
😂😂😂