The True Meaning of Hotel California
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- Опубликовано: 28 май 2024
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Sound Design by Graham Haerther
00:00 Intro
01:10 Title Card
02:05 Origin and Ambiance
02:40 Beverly Hills
03:13 The Magus
04:12 Cinematic Lyricism
05:23 A Clear Meaning
06:17 1969
07:41 Other Interpretations
08:47 Vaguery
09:42 Symbolism
10:52 The Hotel
11:41 Conclusion 
Видеоклипы
![Eagles - Hotel California (Live 1977) (Official Video) [HD]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/09839DpTctU/mqdefault.jpg)
“today i will tell you the definitive meaning of the song”
five seconds later: “there is no definitive meaning to any song”
Hahahaha
Lmaoo
Hahaha
Thx....saved me time
Listening to Alice Cooper’s radio show that have him giving a lot of rock history he said the song was inspired by a strange one night stand.
Hot take: the hotel California is a real place and the eagles are still stuck there they need your help go save them
ruclips.net/video/OdLxik3EVnI/видео.html
Back when I was a lot younger there was (I don't know if it was only in my country or it existed in other countries) an interpretation about Hotel California that I heard from an older relative. This relative mentioned to me that the song was about an actual Hotel called Hotel California and that a group of satanists/people of a satanic cult where in the master/presidential suite in the top floor (which happened to be the 13th floor) and that they somehow invoced some sort of demonic goddess supposedly called "Hylia" and as a consequence a lot of the guests and staff died there and their souls ended up trapped there (hence the whole, "you can check out, but never leave".
@@Ptero4 yes thank you easily searchable
@@silvanus623 Sorry if it cant be found. It's a very old story I heard from an older relative of mine. Said relative told it to me back in the days before internet was widespread so if it was somewhere on internet. Whatever old site had it is probably long gone. Plus, search engines back then weren't that good (I mean, why do you think Google made such an impact with such a simple search engine).
@@Ptero4 oh no i am saying it can be found, years ago i noticed the lyrics being quite akin to the movie eyes wide shut and did some research and found there was a hotel in california that had plenty of complaints of a sort of cult doing there meeting at the hotel and also alot of celebrities at the time went on a daily basis.
I always interpreted the actual "hotel" as purgatory. The dude dies somehow on the drive and ends up at the hotel in limbo. It's not till the dinner party that he realizes something is up. He then spends the end of the song trying to get back to the land of the living. "You can chexk out anytime you want, but you can never leave" meaning he's dead and stuck there in limbo. It just feels that way to me. I can't explain it. That's just the head movie I get when I hear the song.
The song talks about Hell! Once you're there you can never leave! Also the true Hotel California is The Satanic church of Los Angeles! The song explains all the temptation by Satan in our lives with the cocaine ect ect! The steely knives are also biblical and stabbing The Beast is Satan himself!! Extremely disturbing song but yet so true!!! JESUS CHRIST DIED FOR OURS SINS!! God bless you and your family!!❤
Checkout JOHN TODD on RUclips he explains all the Satanic things in the music industry!! Really creepy!!!
Interesting take.
Dfq... I remember having these same thoughts when I was a young lad. Reading your comment brought it back to my consciousness. Huh.
It also left me flummoxed.
Let's enjoy this before Don Henley copyright blocks it.
Big balls move to post this video. Don Henley just testified to congress he has dozens of people he has hired to act as copyright police. Old greedy buzzard.
@@groovefunkel that's ironic, given the song's possible commentary on capital greed.
One of the hardest bands to like in the history of rock.
💯 this comment... I love the eagles but Don is going to make sure no one knows about the Eagles unless he gets paid for even mentioning the band name. It’s so ridiculous!
@@claytonberg721 more like one of the hardest PEOPLE to like in the history of Rock. I don't know what the other members would do.
Don Henley tosses and turns every night, troubled by the thought that somewhere, somebody is listening to The Eagles, and he isn't getting paid for it.
Best comment about Don Henley and his obsession with copyright :-D Nailed it!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
As well as almost all his solo work.. "This song is Blocked in this country"
He would sue his mother
saw this exact quote on twitter
One of the most brilliant facets of this song is that dueling guitars represent the two phases of the singer's life - one being an acoustic sound, representing the life before coming to LA, and the other being a glam electric reverb guitar sound, representing the LA lifestyle. The song begins with the clean notes of a acoustic style guitar solo, and then the electric comes in, and they duel throughout the bridge, until they play in unison and the electric dominates
perfect
Wow! That's THE most brilliant interpretation of it I've ever heard! And I've heard a lot of them!
makes perfect sense to me. humdrum to (ROCK-N-ROLL) life style
I actually prefer the original version of this song. It's called "We Used To Know" and it was written and performed by Jethro Tull.
@@mikekean8344 That JT song is forgettable,and no Epic guitar solo!Can't argue with the success/impact of Hotel California.
I have long considered "Hotel California " to be one of the most innovative, deeply profound and poignant songs ever composed. Its haunting melody perfectly compliments the intentionally ambiguous reading of the lyric, underscoring its poetic, ballad-like arrangement and paying homage to the unsettling dark and ominous thematic subtleties commonly characteristic of mid-19th century allegorical prose and poetry. To this day, very few lyrical compositions match the sophistication and profundity of this extraordinary masterpiece.
You know you have written something AMAZING when nearly 50 years after release, people are still trying to figure out what it means.
59 years, if you include the original version of this song: "We Used To Know" ~ Jethro Tull.
Just like scrotie mcboogerballs
I was about to be offended then remembered I really AM close to 50 now... I was born in 77 and just turned 46...😮
Us georgians have a literary piece "ვეფხისტყაოსანი" from 13th century that has entire uni courses devoted to learning about it and interpreting it.
Existentialism at its best. Don't let it entice and deceive you. Read "Huis Clos" (No exit) by Jean- Paul Sartre and see how you want to spend eternity. I pray that you will know the Truth of Jesus Christ and compare eternity in the HOTel to eternal life with the Lord. Blessings.
Hotel California is about the music industry
Hotel California is about drugs
Hotel California is about women
Hotel California is about Hell
Hotel California meant to be taken literally and the Eagles are still trapped there.
It's a negative Yelp review with a guitar duel
💯
It’s about amazon,
You can check out
But you can never leave
Dude, that's the smartest thing I've read in a month.
Hotel California is about a hotel called California with pretty bad locks
Take away Hotel and you're describing California
Let’s see how long it takes for Don Henleys team of goons to take this down...
you mean UMG?
basses atta he stated in a congressional testimony that he has a team of people searching for content on RUclips that fits his incredibly loose definition of “copyright infringement “
PhantomOfMinecraft yes and he clearly states that team of people are hired by UMG. he was testifying in favour of UMG, which is ridiculous and further proves how little some old people know about technology
I think thats why there is no instrumentals
Hmm... if what you said is true then our comments would not be matter because they will be taken down too, right?
well in that case, you suck!
I've loved the eagles for most of my life, their songs comforting me at my worst moments, but I have to say that watching the eagles live in concert (especially when they perform hotel California) is such a different feel to listening to a recording. it was like there was magic in the air that took your breath away with its beauty. Seeing the eagles perform live is something I will never forget and something I shall indulge in whenever I get the chance.
The Eagles and The Animals are Neighbors; Hotel California is just a block away from the House of The Rising Sun.
You can get there by taking the Highway to Hell, drive north off of the Stairway to Heaven, take a right and head west along Penny Lane, turn left at the Strawberry Fields, go east along Ocean Avenue, and you'll find its just along the Boulivard of Broken Dreams, south of the Island in The Sun.
funny
COOL
The Californians
This comment is so underrated. Brilliant 👏
@@CatalinaFOIA It's also Under the Bridge, just west of Beverly Hills and a couple 100 miles north from the City built on Rock and Roll where Dirty Deeds are Done Dirt Cheap
"Hotel California" is actually literal. They're still there. Save them.
TheMadisonMachine the only way the eagles wouldve stayed together
But they can never leave
Don Henley does not want saving.
When I hear Hotel California I prefer to imagine it in the total literary sense, no second meanings, like a movie.... Its more frightening.
Luna Sturgis they can check out anytime they want but they can never leave
I've never understood why so many people think this song is so inscrutable. It's just a reflection on the "fame and fast living" lifestyle from someone who's been there. The dude starts out the song coming to the "Hotel California" and thinking it's awesome, then by the end he realizes it sucks and he tries to leave only to realize that you can't ever truly regain that innocence you had before. The Eagles spent years chasing fame and then they eventually got it. I'm pretty sure the song is just showing how something can look good from the outside but be unappealing on the inside.
I think it's less that people don't see that clear analysis, and more that people see more interesting and deeper analyses because of the way the song is written. It's not *just* a fame and fast living song. That's why it's more enjoyable than "Life in the Fast Lane" - It has more than one story to tell.
A lot of people think the Eagles are shit. Rightly so.
it's an old hotel because she lit up a candle
Also The Eagles and Don himself have many songs about that lifestyle.
Yeah but it's deeper. It's more than the music biz, it's the whole SoCal lifestyle, Hollywood, B> Hills, porn, glamour, etc.
I think Hotel California is a prime example of how music can make you think. Each of us hears the same words but all of us have different ideas about their meanings. I can't speak for the lyricists among us but i myself imagine that must be pretty cool. Knowing that your words inspire such discussion about their meaning, or the lack thereof 🙂
I remember exactly where I was when I first heard it. I was in the car near my family’s home in Sardinia, off the coast of Italy. My cousin put the radio on and Hotel California was playing
It struck me in a way no music had yet. It had a melancholic sadness that was evident even then when I was about 11 or 12
I allways thought that this song was about drugs. And about how wonderful they are in the begining but then you can never leave.
I thought or was told the Manson family. I've unintentionally heard this song about once a week as long back as I can remember prefer Desperado or Take it Easy
Makes a lot of sense.
Especially when you can "CHECK OUT anytime you want..."
It can be another microcosm for that
I thought it was about Hell
To me. Hotel california is talking about addiction. Its where you get trapped and there is no escape. You can't go back to the person you was before. You also can't escape the stigmata of addiction whether it's cocaine or food. Its the story of my young life, my mom teaching us how to be addicts and live that life style. Hotel california is a place where I still am because I can't escape it no matter what I change and who I try to be. But I will always be my mothers daughter. You can never leave. This song has been my sister and I song since our young teen years. Not because we chose it. It was chosen for us.
I have been clean for close to 5 years now. My life is not easy but I will never pick up another drug. I was just saying what this song means to me and this is how my sister and I have felt about it since we were 14 and 12. Watching addiction change the lives of so many around us. Everyone has an opinion.
addiction doesnt need to be your only fate, you can change
Stigma*
Not stigmata
Love is all you need.
Wow, incredibly profound...
"They stab it with their steely knives but they just can't kill the beast"
Shooting up in Anton LaVey's
"chamber"? Maybe.
As a writer, I love metaphor!
"Stabbing with their steely knives, but they just can't kill the beast" is a metaphor of a mental hospital where they try to kill insanity. Knives are needles and the beast is insanity. Also as a patient, that cuts way deep. As it says in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,
He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man.
-Dr. Johnson
Recently a band member basically said that the song was about arriving and living in California and how much fun it was.
Many think it's about addiction; it kind of is because they can't get enough of that place " they just can't kill the beast".
But it's not about addiction, it's basically a love song about California.
"Please, bring me my wine, the Captain said, 'We haven't had that spirit here since 1969."
They want to live it up like a rock star in California, and California totally welcomed that spirit.
The music is very relaxing, pleasing, mellow, with tons of harmony, and thoroughly enjoyable.
It's not sad; it's not a regretful type of feeling in the music. "What a lovely place(beaches, Hollywood, San Fran. California), what a lovely face(the women)"
I always thought it was about death. When he sings "My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim" he's failing asleep at the wheel and crashes and dies. Next thing he knows he is at the Hotel California, which he can never leave because he in the afterlife.
That's so cool,never thought of that!✌️
Same here .. it looks like when tony soprano went briefly to the afterlife
Interesting observation. When I was a kid I always thought it was a about a hotel ran by a cult
That's what I always thought as a child.
I like that one best of all.
I always took it as a interpretation of the Greek myth of Odysseus about the lotus eaters from the perspective of the band in a 1970's drug obsessed California. In the myth once you ate the lotus eaters food you would not be able to leave the island and you would not want to leave the island. I saw the song as that journey, in California it is a magical world you cannot trust, but once drank the Kool-Aid of Hollywood so to speak, you could not leave, you became "just prisoners here, of our own device". It is a hero's journey in a song, the textbook definition of a myth or fairy tale with a dark undertone and moral like most fairy tales.
I like this interpretation!
Nice!
I felt the exact same way, the surrounding areas are unnerving and twisted as if they are hiding something from you but their lair is inviting and relaxing and nothing is hidden, but once you stay there a while you come to realise that it's not so idyllic but it's equally as twisted and haunting but the catch is because you've eaten a lotus flower you can't leave making it worse than before, I like the idea of it shifting between the metaphor of the lair of the lotus eaters and actual California, with the singer providing the role of narrator as he leads us through his experience from the emotional verses to the disheartened "such a lovely place/face" and the guitar solo fading out playing the same riff over and over representing his fate of being eternally stuck in his situation
Perhaps you should consider God's word.
The Bible
@@kennethfears9254 nobody:
Absolutely no one:
Not a single soul:
The entire world:
Christians: have you heard about the Bible
I'm a 69 year old American man, a Native of Iowa. Excellent documentary. Many thought provoking insights. I have a BA in Literary Interpretation. I'm no Academic or Expert, but I recognize high minded interprepation of thoughts expressed with words, good stories.
I thought of Whiter Shade of Pale while listening to you. It creates a similiar atmosphere. Every listening I hear something new and moving. And, ultimately, I still ponder on what dd I just hear. What was that? A few years ago I was driving along the coast road in LA. Suddenly, on my right, towards the Ocean, I saw a building labeled as Hotel California. No idea how long it has been there. Peace. Mr. Writer Man. Whatever you do, don't stop.
My take on this song is that it describes the music business,and the contract a musician enters into with the record company,essentially selling their soul for fame and money,then realising that they are owned by them, and can check out any time,but can never leave…..the record company will make more money off you after your death ,they don’t care about you at all..
exactly !
FYI: "Mirrors on the ceiling" is a symbol of sex, not cocaine. Anyone in the 70's would have interpreted it as a scene from one of a million different TV ads for a honeymoon hotel, complete with the complimentary bottle of pink champagne on ice.
And the "love tubs"
"Dancing on the ceiling" was a more direct reference to cocaine, but even then the mirror was implied and no one ever admitted what it meant.
Yes the mirrors on the ceiling bit told me all I need to know what this song is about; The real raunchy life of fame and money behind closed doors with the “VIPS” of the industry.
Pink Champagne is also a variety of cocaine
The warm smell of calitus rising up through the air. Little girls
Hotel California is a master class in applicability over allegory, cause it's applicable to all these different things but not truly allegorical to any of them
They’re good lyrics for that reason...no one seems to be pointing out that the chord progression, melody, and vocal harmonies do a lot of the work to make them seem monolithically literary....also...just fuck off, Don Henley, with that absolutely ludicrous explanation of the ‘wine/spirit’ lyric. Teenage emo troubadours take their lyrics less seriously than that, and schoolkids come up with better desperate bullshit literary analyses.
The Eagles :'Hotel California' = Jethro Tull : 'We used to know''
Thank you for your talk. To me , this song is
a brilliant piece of writing performed by great musicians. If anything can make you think, this song does. To me, in many ways, it shows me how we human beings can get ourselves trapped in things and loose our way.
Mystery, menace, ecstasy, and unsettling sights. What ever else it is, it's a song that conveys an interesting atmosphere. It doesn't sound like it's from any decade in particular. It's from the 1970s , but it could be any decade since. The specific sensual and visual details sit side by side with unanswered questions creating an intriguing tension in the listener only relieved by a perfectly crafted guitar solo/outro. All of this is carried along by the Eagle's fine musicianship drawing from a wealth of influences. They were studio musicians and they had to know and understand types kinds of music and they drew from all of it. It never gets old.
You just made me realize something quite subtle - that ''perfectly crafter guitar solo/outro'' you mentioned (and indeed, I can think of none other like it), kind of feels like rising, peak, climax, and then a draaaaaaawn out tantric orgasm of sorts. Or perhaps the rush of a raunchy her¤in high at night in the desert, or something along those lines. Of ¢¤ke.
I always felt that Hotel California captured a bit of Edgar Allen Poe’s short story, “The Fall of the House of Usher.”
Silence, Pagan
Usher, yeah man
Whats with the pfp?
@@WoWBaxter Silence, yourself, fool. I am definitely not a pagan.
@@josephwright5921 He's referring to the Valknut symbol in your profile pic. Also associated with white supremacists.
It always reminded me of a summer version of The Shining.
I really like the direction this video took in regards to the meaning! I’ve been aware of the idea that this song is a metaphor for drugs or the music industry or whatever pretty much as long as I’ve known it, but at the same time I enjoy it best as a purely literal narrative song about someone getting trapped in a freaky hotel. Great analysis!
When I was small, I thought this song was about a cannibalistic cult that held up within the Hotel California, luring people with friendly staff and beautiful women. The last verse to me was when the protagonist accidentally stumbled upon the feeding scene of the cult one random night, then he made a run for it, but unfortunately, got caught.
This's why I was so excited to see AHS: Hotel. It was more about vampires, than ill-minded people partaking in cannibalism, but it was good enough for the weird little girl in me!😅🤷♀️
Still, after watching this video and have a better understanding on metaphors in music, I do admit that my interpretation was rather "on the nose", so it was probably not the most accurate way to comprehend Hotel California!🤷♀️
"You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave" Doesn't this allude to RUclips's hell of mid-roll ads tossed in at random places?
awesome description!
Talking about hell . "You can check out" also refers to dying ... once there, you can never leave hell.
@@eileenlester4342 I believe check.out but u can never.leave re: death means you can die but your spirit never leaves
😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣😂🤣😂🤣
😂perfect!!!!!
Title: “The true meaning of Hotel California.” One minute into the video: “Today I am here to tell you definitively the true meaning of Hotel California.” Fifteen seconds later: “I can’t tell you what the true meaning is.”
joemama62 And then "There is no one true meaning of Hotel California."
Don Henley said it was a tribute to Steely Dan because he and Glen loved their music, and they wanted to write a song like Steely Dan does. "...their Steely knives"... it's right there in the lyrics. Bonus points if you know the origins of the name "Steely Dan" :)
Good Really isn't it the name of a vibrator?
Isn't that the way they always do it? Promise something and then leave you hanging
Thanks for the heads up. Won't waste my time.
Wow! This is amazing. I remember the day I bought this album nearly 50 years ago. I was so excited because I was a huge Eagles fan. I drove for a couple of hours to my best friend's house where we would meet up with some guys we hung out with and played this album all night. Whether your explanation of the meaning behind this wonderful album is correct or not doesn't matter. I just know it brought back good memories of a simpler and kinder time in my life. There were also several other songs on this album that made it to the top of the charts but none of them are as memorable or iconic as the title. Thanks for sharing!
It is simply a song about those who go to CA thinking it is the land of milk and honey, However, they are in for a rude awakening when they get there.
Joe Walsh said that Hotel California is a metaphor for California. Aspiring artist from all over the world travel to California, hoping to make it big in the music industry, but they are only there for a short stay, much like a hotel.
they end up ....
pumping gas ⛽
or
serving tables 🍽
@@grahamfisher5436 "...weeks turn in to years, how quick they pass...and all the stars that never were are parking cars and pumping gas..."
California's darker underside 😮 land of instant karma too also one has to prove themselves as well...😮
Polyphonic: Here's the true meaning of hotel California
2 seconds later: SIKE get jebaited
Right at 1:25.
So stupid. It's such a dumb argument to make.
Whats the deal with people on the web saying "sike" instead of "psych" in the last few years?
What made me love this song so much is how through out listening you find yourself in the middle of the events as the person who's telling the story , also the sadness of the solo guitar after not being able to leave, you can hear that the guitar crying like a little boy.
I don't know but this song delivers all types of feeling you can feel your whole life, it's just magical no words can express what i feel when i'm listening to this song.
It is definitely magick
"The song is about the journey from innocense to experience"........ Quote Don Henley.
"She's got the Mercedes Benz" is actually a mispenned lyric, the real lyric is "She's got the Mercedes bends" like the sickness you get from surfacing too quickly while diving. You could take it as one of two things, or both things if you wish
A) she's spellbound by material things
B) she's sick of her extravagant lifestyle
It means that he isn't impressed by her life style.
then why Mercedes?
zzbzq double meaning, referencing both her lifestyle where she can afford the Mercedes and the bends referencing her hidden unhappiness with her lifestyle
I’m pretty sure that our protagonist isn’t the only unhappy person in that hotel
Janis Joplin reference
@@dominicmoisant8393 but her famous car was a Porsche
Hotel California has one of my favorite guitar solos ever
And no one can cover it on RUclips, thanks to Don Henley.
I don't like the Eagles, especially after they butchered a Tom Waits classic, but that solo is really great.
Avenue Teal yeah that was a real dick move
the version in "Hell Freezes Over" is over 7 minutes long, more solos, more of the joyride
Spartan Elf I’ll definitely have to check that shit out
That style of song writing creates songs that will last forever. The Eagles and Pink Floyd were fantastic at this. I recommend 1st listening to The Wall in its entirety, 2nd Watch The Wall in its entirety, and 3rd think about the political situation in Europe after WW2. There is also the consideration for the life of a rock star as well. These songs have powerful structures with open floor plans so to speak. Music can be incredibly timeless.
The chord progression is the most satisfying one of all time
I think of this song as a song about addiction, especially in the line “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.” You can try to stop your addiction but you know deep inside you're trapped
That's my favourite line of the song as I can well and truly relate to this! I've dabbled with drugs since I was 18 (I'm now 37) weed,
cocaine,
LSD,
ecstasy and heroine (but in the form of morphine from when I seriously broke my leg) and yes your right what this line means is you can stop doing all these drugs (checking out) but every addict or recreational user knows that you will always dabble again or you will always have thoughts of dabbling ......BUT YOU WILL NEVER LEAVE!
And another favourite part is......."and still those voices are calling from far awayyyyy"
"Wake you up in the middle of the night,just to heat them say"
Many of times I've been laying in bed trying to sleep and not give in to them voices in my head saying to me "wake up, get outta bed coz you no you wanna do a big crack pipe or a massive lime! Go on fuck work don't worry about it, just think of that euphoric feeling when you blow out that smoke! Give in give In.....
"AND STILL THOSE VOICES ARE CALLING FROM FAR AWAY,WAKE YOU UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT JUST TO HEAR THEM SAAAAAY"
FAVOURITE SONG EVER...COMING FROM A 37 YEAR OLD BLACK MAN FROM THE UK WHOS MAIN GENRE OF MUSIC IS RAP/GRIME/HIP HIP,HOUSE ETC!!,
Careful Polyphonic. The Eagles are quite notorious when it comes to abusing the copyright system.
I think the way he isolated and distorted the singing from the audio will prevent the automated copyright system from recognizing it.
The Eagles :'Hotel California' = Jethro Tull : 'We used to know''
Patrick John Woods hell no dude. The chord progression at the beginning slightly sounds the same for a little but hell no.
@@cooperdellane9363 “[‘We Used to Know’] was a piece of music that we were playing around the time, I believe it was late ’71, maybe early '72, when we were on tour,” Anderson explains in an interview, which can be heard below. “And we had a support band who had been signed up for the tour and subsequently, before the tour began, had a hit single, a song I believe called ‘Take It Easy.’ And they were indeed the Eagles.”
@@patrickjohnwoods7816 It is true what you write that the chords come from The Tull song...but it is Felder who came up with the chords..Felder wasnt even IN the Eagles in 71 or early 72..I think it';s just a strange coincidence..& you KNOW Henley would have put HIS name on the whole song if Felder didnt send Don & Glenn a tape of the basic song
I remember the first time I heard this song. My family and I had regular get togethers with our extended family on my Mom’s side. These were usually for birthdays and holidays. For (almost) every gathering, we met at my auntie and uncle’s house, where she would play whatever music fit the event on her tv. One day, this was classic rock.
I remember distinctly (think I was about 16) hearing something, and it caught my ear. Staring at the tv, I saw a video of a band playing something completely engulfing and mysterious. I loved it. I watched almost the entire thing, and after that, when I stumbled across the song again, soon finding out it’s name, I was hooked.
Being a native Californian born in 1950, I have to say I'm bewildered that none of the interpretations in this video or in the comments I read below posit what I've always considered Hotel California's simplest, most obvious metaphor: The State of California lures and seduces millions of people to relocate there with a heavenly promise that often as not turns out to be hell. I do love the song, as I still love the state, and if about 30 million people would move out of California, I move back there in a heartbeat.
1:21 "There's no one true meaning to any song. And anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something"
title of the video: The true meaning of Hotel California
LMFAO I don't know why this comment is not at the very top with 500 likes. Maybe the saying is true these days people do not want to hear the truth, I think in some way that applies here.
Exactly, he sold Skillshare, lol.
Well, we clicked the video, so he isn't wrong.
@G*man that's absolutely not the case. Even if the songwriter says it means this or that. It doesn't mean I can't take something else out of it and it's my truth. So as you see there isn't an absolute truth.
@G*man maybe one day you look at it differently. Just remember everyone has his own truth.
Maybe the true meaning is the meanings we came up with along the way.
True
Thank you for making that excruciating. Anybody that knows anything about the band already had that figure it out pal. Oh yeah for your information it's pronounced Glenn Frey! (FRI) fucking douche oh yeah your voice is annoying
@@markvanderwerf6417 what
@@markvanderwerf6417 relax Francis! (Stripes quote).
You're addressing your douche bag comment to some random guy, not the author.
You need to chill the fuck out
I dont think so
I was around 26 when I first heard this song and I fell in love with it. I can even sing it and play the outro singly or with another guitarist, although not necessarily the best of a rendition. The lyric has always been haunting me.
I believe the first person in the story actually died in a car crash while driving in a desert highway towards California but his soul didn't realize it at first. His soul continued and checked into the "Hotel" and enjoyed his stay there for a while. He got bored and tried to get out. Then he realized he could not leave because he had died. The guitar outro is his cry of realization that he had died and had to stay in his new form.
Two other tracks on the album, Life in the Fast Lane and New Kid in Town, are also about the dark side of fame and excess. The Eagles must have been going through a rough time and starting to reevaluate their life choices.
I think Cannibal Corpse’s “I Cum Blood” has a pretty straightforward meaning
Well their guy plays World of Warcraft all day what you fucken expect ?
I like how your completely fucking stupid contribution to the comments section adds a kind of je ne sais quoi to the whole thing!😃 Thanks for doing your part, buddy! 👍🏻
Pepper Potts Thanks, “Pepper.” I try.
i cum blood ?!🤢 Sounds like a typical emo song
@@wernerrainer4218 bruh
The ghosts in the song are metaphorical. Like "Life in the Fast Lane," "Hotel California" is a social commentary on wealth and excess. Billy Joel's album 52nd Street did the same thing.
Dark Side is of course a classic in this regard
I partially agree with you about 52nd Street, but "Until the Night" and "Rosalinda's Eyes "are just straight love ballads. How does " Half a Mile Away" fit your theory?
His best album though
@TheTot Process Big Shot and My Life definitely fit your theory, Zanzibar, Stiletto, Honesty kind of do too. May your evening be blessed
@TheTot Process physical or spiritual death? It could be both. I'll give you a weird interpretation ( not endorsing it). The church I attended in the 70s as a teenager had a speaker come in once to warn us about " evil satanic rock music", claiming it was the devil's tool to pollute our minds.According to this speaker, Hotel California's interpretation: the devil mourning the exclusive use of his music-- the lyric involving 1969-- that was the year the first Christian rock albums came out. Utter BS to me, but there you go. Rock is a style, lyrics are lyrics, positive or negative. This video was right in one respect: the lyrics are just ambiguous enough to allow for different interpretation. Reading the comments, there's more than three ways to go
A recommendation for a concept album, but accidentally so( the band denies it is, but each song lyrically connects): Supertramp's "Crime of the Century "
@TheTot Process "Crime" is still fresh, 46 years later. Supertramp is my 2nd favorite artist( Kansas is first).
I actually like how the song was meant to be open to interpretation. I often feel that any song could be viewed the same. It could be about something or someone specific, but we, the listeners can put ourselves in that same situation.
Sometimes a song can take you to a special time and place from your past. It could be just the thing you needed to hear in the present… and sometimes a song is just a song.
I've said this many times. I'm a song writer. It's rare that you have some really solid idea in your mind when writing a song. If you do, you're doing yourself a disservice. Song, generally tend to write themselves. You start out with a few chord changes that sound nice. A melody usually just fits itself in there. Then you start playing with words and finding words that work well with each other. Then, there's always some kind of meaning in there, stuff on your mind. Thoughts, images you like. But it's usually not really about anything. And if you are very concerned with making your songs mean something specific, you're not writing the best songs that you could.
All these are just speculations minus substance.Eaglesy themselves knows better the meaning of their lyrics.
This is very true for the most part unless they’re already starting with a certain concept and allow that to direct somewhat the inspiration
@@destroytheangels That's true. I should've been more precise. If that's the ONLY way you do it, you're not writing the best songs you could be. And when you do write about a specific thing, something that's important to you, maybe an issue, you have to be careful. You can't just say the stuff you want to say. It comes out all wrong like that. You have to weave metaphors and stuff like that. It's hard to explain but you can't just say it.
11:00 The Hotel. I've worked as a "night man" for many years, and I can tell you this... there's really no easier or cooler job. You meet fascinating people, you simply check them in and send them on their way to a peaceful slumber. If you want to make it sound mystical, I suppose you could say that you're the watchman of their souls for that night. I'll never forget in 2019 we had the TV in the lobby on to CNN, and they were doing an Eagles retrospective... and as a group of people came in to get checked in for the evening, "Hotel California" began to play. Several of the guests noticed it and turned to look at me. I simply grinned and said... "Relax".
Things that didn't happen for 500
Cool story, bro.
As a musician, i laugh at stuff like this, and not because its a bad video, not at all, this is a phenomenal video done with hours of research and executed flawlessly. I laugh because 99% of the time when we are writing lyrics, we have an idea of what we want to say, but usually end up just jumbling up words or fighting to make the words we picked fit into the verse rythymically, and more often then not just coming up with gobbledegook. Then someone comes along listens to it, comes up with their own conclusion as to what we were trying to say lol, then eventually you get asked by someone who also has their own idea of what you were trying to say, and we usually just nod and say "yeah man exactly, you get it", we take the deep philosophical credit, but we never came up with it.
LOL That reminds me of Bohemian Rhapsody. The Queen guys claim they just wrote stuff down without giving meaning. They are tired of people asking. The Polyphonic channel even has a whole video about this song.
Why laught if most of the lyrics have a meaning? At least the music I listen (heavy/metal) tells us always a story but I agree to some degree that you have to fit words and sentences accurately and no, iam no Song writer only listened tons of music of every part of The world half a century. ☺️
Well it's in the subconscious that the soul speaks from.
Well it's in the subconscious that the soul speaks from.
Thats not true in alot of cases, a main example is the lyrics of the dark side of the moon
It's about a place called "Night Winds". A very real place that's not real. 33rd Mason's understand it very well as they're the true writers of the song. It casts a spell on you. It's made for those that they can't cast a spell on. You allow the spell to be cast by listening to it of your own free will. A 33rd mason is a Witch, a spell binder. They call it "Witch language". It's in pretty much in any song you listen to.
Makes sense. The band would be 'in the club' too, all musicians at that level are.
@@Hero_Of_Old you're absolutely right, that level definitely comes at a cost ☠️ ppl are going to freak out when it comes out how many are actually "in the club". 😵💫
This is my absolute favorite song of all time. I’ve listened to it hundreds of times and it still gives me chills every time. It’s just hauntingly beautiful. The lyrics are amazing. The guitar is amazing. It’s just the perfect song IMO
💙Me too🥰 This song is everything❤ 😍
It's written by satan.
@DiabeticDaiper Same difference! ( Devil) 😈👿👹👺👽👽👽💀💀🙈🙉🙊
@@bettyschneider5268 I'm so glad you cleared that up for us mortal folk! Here we were thinking all along that the Eagles were just a kick ass, extremely talented, undeniably gifted, refreshingly original, highly successful, band that seamlessly blended many genres of music that became their own unique, signature sound!
I think it was everyone's favorite song in the 70s, which was the BEST Era for THE BEST MUSIC OF ALL TIME. Not like this music of today....
The Eagles: we live in a society
*4 minute guitar solo*
Pink Floyd: We live in a society
*26 minutes guitar solo*
Based.
@Hue White Me: *100 minute guitar solo* I don’t live in society
I fuckin' hate The Eagles man.
Lmaoooooooooo
I think you wrote this transcript extremely well and are capable of reaching your aspiration of writing something of similar significance, all the best.
I was in the Army stationed outside of Barstow from 1984 to 1988. I embrace the metaphoric influeneces in this iconic song discribing the very post I was at. It really is haunting how it works and accurate.
Everytime I hear hotel California I get this massive feeling of loss. A loss for the beauty of an amazing guitar solo
I always felt like the song was about addiction. "You can check out anytime you like but you can never leave "
Yes, addiction to drugs primarily.
I used to think the same, but now I know.
It could well be. Also "checked out" was a euphemistic counter-culture way of saying someone had died. Knowing that makes those closing lines even more sinister.
I interpreted as a representation for any internal meanings or struggles. Often your struggles are your own creation.
nope, it's about the cult of Illumin-naughty!! hahah (menacing laugh!)
This song has always been special to me, from the first time I heard it. There is something so special, otherworldly about it…
I am still looking for a song that is as good and can evoke the same feelings and images
House of The Rising Sun is the same vibe to me. Both haunting and open ended enough for personal interpretation. This channel has a video on it! I too wish I could find more songs that give that same feeling though
I am gonna throw a different spin on the meaning, because for me it ended up being my wedding song in 1987 my band/dj never showed up and my best friend brother had to run up to his house and get his Stereo and all his cassettes and 8 tracks that he had, sadly both my husband and I didn't really like country back then and all he had to offer for a wedding song was the Eagles, there were many songs on the cassette but we had to act quickly to dance, so we both said " Hotel California" I haven't shared our song to many people, because they laugh.. because with lyrics like you can check out any time you like but you can never leave" and it has the word kill in it a couple times, it has kind of set the tone of our relationship. There are so many times when you want to give up, when trauma hits your family and you want to leave but you just can't, This song always reminds me that We are all just prisoners here
Of our own device" lol Marriage, I wouldn't have it any different but we laugh when we hear this song because it has more meaning than any love song out there. I am sure that is not the real reason of the song, lol but imagine this was your wedding song, when it was supposed to be Always but Atlantic Starr, I would choose this song anyday over that, because we have had so much trials and tribulations and we have survived and this song gives me strength. Finally I told everyone how I feel about this song.
I was a child when the song came out. It was a time when the Vampire was just starting to permeate Pop Culture. We watched Dark Shadows and Hilarious House of Frightenstein, and around this same time, my Father was starring as the title character in a stage production of Dracula. I ALWAYS thought that Hotel California was about a guy accidentally stumbling upon a nest of Vampires residing an abandoned luxury hotel. (The line about not drinking spirits since 1969 being the most obvious nod to Stoker. Vampires can no longer drink alcohol after their transformations) There are other, more veiled references to Vampires, throughout the song. It's funny that many decades later American Horror Story's HOTEL could very well have been a scripted version of the song! They always DID say I was a precocious child. Perhaps I missed my calling..!
I also had the same thought! And you know what's unique? I heard this song when I was about 4-5 y.o.. and I didn't understand english at that time. English is not my mother tongue. The first time I heard the guitar intro, i felt some kind of mythical energy.. and the singing melody brought me to another world.. I didn't understand the language, but I FEEL the melody they've created.
@@dattaparamasatwika OMG SAME, even tho I born way after the release of the song, when I heard it for the firts time without knoeing english, the melody was just magic
same here
Adrenochrome.
Awesome take on it!!
My take was that the main character dies during the first verse after having too much to drink and passing out behind the wheel (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). He then goes to Purgatory, which could be closer to Heaven or hell, depending on how many vices someone has. The other people had their vices as well, which is why they are prisoners of their own device. They can "check out" eventually, meaning they can move to a different point in the afterlife, but they can never leave, meaning they are dead and can never return to Earth again.
Interesting....
I have loved this. Very interesting.
Wow.... I love this
This is exactly how I interpreted it as well! Glad to see someone with the same mindset haha
Super interesting idea!
Thats whats great about songs. There is no one meaning. It is for you to decipher for you to figure it out. Most of the time, the meaning of a song to you is what you need to hear. It's your mind helping you without you knowing. This is why music is so powerful.
Hotel California’s Open Endedness also compliments its meaning on a meta level. The one thing all the takes share in common is indulgence; a lack of meaning. The sound’s meaning being open ended and thus only partially existing really meshes with that.
Title: The true meaning
Video: There's not one meaning
he adresses this in the video
@@jandevries9653 It's still a bit of a clickbait title
You can click any time you like but you can never leave
@@3wGaming Welcome to Hotel Polyphonia
Just one minute after the vidoe starts.
Whooooo boy time to play it backwards and hear the voice of satan again
really which minute?
Spartan Elf if you play anything backwards, it could be consider as his voice. Satanist speak backwards, so just flip regular words and you get the demon language.
noted Lord Jesus ( I had to make that joke)
@@jesusroman2400 lol what
Spartan Elf hahahah
That’s why they hooked up with Stevie Nicks as she wrote what Christine McVie called ‘non sensical lyrics’ …but they are timeless songs with a feeling of nostalgia regardless of when they were brand new or decades old
edit: In context, a 'captain' is a steward at an expensive restaurant or hotel. ;)
Having lived in Southern California during the 1970's, I can honestly say that "Hotel California" caught the essence of life in SoCal during that period. Beautiful on the surface, gorgeous scenery and climate, and there was always something to do, day or night... but everyone had an angle, running some form of scam. With beautiful people saying beautiful things, but who would stab you in the back with a smile.
I've always seen this song as being about material excess, fame and the dark side of fame, like addictions to everything, from drugs to sex, etc., and the loss of innocence that we can never go back and reclaim, but I also see the part about never being able to leave as a reference to substance addictions in particular, because once you've been an addict or an alcoholic, you will always be an addict or an alcoholic. On the whole, I just always thought of it as being about the panorama of everything in life, the celebrity lifestyle in particular, yes, but also that all of these things are a part of most of our lives in one way or another, from the obvious to the hidden, from the famous person to the regular person.
I'm of similar view. It charts the descent into addiction or loss of innocence brought about all too commonly by fame and wealth. I understood checking out to mean suicide, deliberate or unintentional resulting from drug use.
But I like the video which gives many other interpretations to ponder.
Yeah, I always associated the songs with drugs and how you can get addicted to them. Though I guess fame is drug in itself.
Is about being a prisioner of oneself, prisioner of drugs, materialism, sex, adrenaline and can adjust to anyone not only rockstars.
The drug addiction interpretation has always made the most sense to me. "In the master's chambers/they gather for the feast/they stab it with their steely knives/but they just can't kill the beast." Definitely a second reference to heroin addiction. "You can check out any time you like/but you can never leave." "Check out" has long been a euphemism for death and recovered addicts will be the first to tell you, there is no "leaving" addiction. An addict will always be an addict, even after living a clean life for decades.
But addicts often do check out.
AMEN BROTHA...and we didn't need a Dr. to tell us that
I thought it was written for American Horror Story
@@christopherparks2987 🤦🏽♂️
@@Eliburgo honestly I thought this comment would get more hate.
immikeurnot yeah i concur
Never tried to analyze the words of the song. This was interesting to listen to. This song has always remained one of my favorites since the album was released.
I know a friend who did a tribute to the song and had permission to do so and RUclips took her channel away after asking her for the permission documents. They waited until they got the documents to take her channel away. They eventually gave the channel back but she lost all her original songs she wrote. Lucky for her she had backups… I wouldn’t even be playing the amount of the song you did since RUclips isn’t running the infringement department instead the algorithm tells the human what to do.
This song was the high point of the Eagles. They reached their peak with this song. This is the kind of song that only comes along once in a lifetime or more. Not only are the music and guitar solo absolutely legendary and could easily be argued to be the #1 of all time, but the deep and downright biblical lyrics are poetic, epic, and could have been written by Edgar Allan Poe...they're fricking awesome!. How can anyone write like that?. It is a God-given gift. From where did they manage to pull them from?. Some dark deep recesses. Those days are gone. Those kinds of bands, guitar solos, and songwriters are gone.
Hotel California could also be a metaphor for the United States and its immersion into Babylon a.k.a Hotel California
@Grateful Dead Who is theyr God.
The artists who sell their souls for fame and fortune don't write or perform their own songs....the devil they sold out to does. Beyonce admitted that's really not her performing...it's her demon inside, Sasha Fierce doing it. She claims she couldn't do all that by herself. And this goes for most of the others too.
Maybe consider that it was a moment in time of course, but that there will invariably be a future artist who composes a musical composition of equally fine quality and mysterious ness, but it will be far in the future so we will never hear it, likewise, certainly similar artistic compositions were made in the distant past, but without our knowledge.
Actually a ton of great bands out there, they just didn’t sign the deal
@@lunaticonthegrass4258 The beast they cannot be killed?
"It's no coincidence that 51 days after the Eagles released Hotel California, Stephen King released The Shining". So Stephen King heard the song then wrote the book, got it published and released in 51 days. I know he's good but that was seriously impressive!
Meaning, both were tapping in to the same zeitgeist.
Didn’t think of this till now
Actually, John Lennon’s song ‘we All Shine On’ is what influenced Stephen King to write ‘The Shining’
Thank you. Beat me to it.
It's impossible to write a but that fast, let alone get it edited and published.
I always saw the guitar solo as a soundtrack to the hero escaping. Driving on an endless highway
I always was fascinated with depictions of hell where it looks like heaven, drawing you in until it's too late to ever get out, then showing its true nature. This is what makes me feel like this song is about Hell. One time I was pretty high and wrote this whole theory about how Hotel California is about Hell, California Soul is about Heaven, and California Dreaming is about a lost soul trying to find their way between the two. California Soul is a song that radiates pure happiness and love. California Dreaming shows someone stuck in winter, the season of death, stuck between the church and California, one place wants to keep him there while he longs for California, the afterlife.
"Vaguery is the primary tool of songwriters." That's exactly it. Music is an art form, and art is subjective. Even if the artist says exactly what a piece means to them, it is going to resonate differently with everyone.
I distinctly remember first hearing hotel California. I was 7 and hadn't even heard of the English language or even knew what was playing on the radio. I just remember the lyrics started after the intro and I had an incredible sense of fear, covering my ears and running outside crying. My mom was trying to ask me what was wrong but I just wanted to get away from the sound of the music playing. Two decades later I found out about the industry, recording rituals and the meaning behind lyrics, subliminal messages etc. Still shakes me up thinking about it. Don't dismiss your kids when they are freaking out about something. Innocence can sense evil.
Good instincts, I always thought it was evil too
Very Good To point Out 2 Readers, Marlon ... People take Note!!!
And yet here we are. May you all understand and eventually lose the fear. Just because it's mysterious doesn't mean it's evil.
@@jmac5672
Evil is a relative thing. To the mouse the cat is evil; to the home owner the cat is a blessing.
@@robynannan7015 sure.
But I don't think that is what was being expressed here.
When I was a kid a group of us reenacted the song and created a whole story about trying to escape...so we, as 10 year olds, got the whole cinematic vibe. In out story we could only escape by renouncing all our wealth and property and taking a vow of poverty, but if it wasn't sincere, you would be lost forever in Hotel California and have to serve the next group of guests who had to go through the process themselves.
Being a young Angeleno during the time of this song I can tell you that living in California was happy and fun. Where you felt safe and able to express yourself without any judgment.
As a child in California in the late 70s , we were certain it was about the California State Mental Hospital. Not saying we were right, but we were convinced.
Yep, and now its California State University Channel Islands
I agree where they stopped serving the patients wine in 1969
@@sivalley I was told this too. My driving school teacher had me drive to it and told me that meaning behind it. It definitely makes sense.
Camarillo State Hospital right?!?! I remember hearing it all lining up and I swear one of the members confirmed it somewhere along the way. I love how you put it though. CONVINCED!
This song does exactly what a well written poem does, evokes a feeling. Not meant to be explicitly true. Excellent lyrics and music!
While true, the title of the video was ''the true meaning'' of the song, which should go beyond subjective feeling.
Hotel California was the first album I ever owned. I got it as a gift the year I graduated high school in 1977, yeah, I’m getting old.
I have to say I love your videos, i think they are very well put together and very entertaining. Because of this video I bought and started reading the magus, so far it’s a very good book and right up my alley
The Eagles are the reason music costs us more money. When McCartney was touring the country for $35, the Eagles set the new price with their reunion tour: $100. Ticketmaster has never looked back. Letterman wanted Paul and the band to play Hotel California, one night. Shaffer said no because of the copyright and performance fee. Later he revealed that the charge to play Hotel California ONE TIME on national tv would be $250,000. THAT"S who the Eagles are, and always have been.
I hate the Eagles! Wise words from the "dude".
Everyone at work (Sikorsky Aircraft...WPB FL facility) was looking forward tothe Hell Freezes Over Tour..UNTIL ticke prices were announced as EIGHTY FIVE bux...the enthusiasm for the return collapsed...
it's no coincidence that they can't play the actual song in this video
your point? McCartney couldn't get $100. I saw Hotel California tour twice at $25, then Hell Freezes over 3 times at anywhere from $125 to $450! Worth every nickel
& jus think they used 2 b a group of carefree hippies! Now there as greedy as a fortune 500 company😖
see I felt like the line, "you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave" was always about how David Geffen would let them go from Geffen Records, but their masters were something that could never leave. so you can check out any time you like, but you can't ever truly leave. That feels more in line with the tap into their take on the music industry from this song.
The Eagles :'Hotel California' = Jethro Tull : 'We used to know''
As someone who battled porn addiction after my first breakup, I am still battling the addiction even now I've been in a relationship for 4 years. Hotel California sums up the experience perfectly. Glenn Frey would be smiling down from heaven above if he knew how relatable his creation that is Hotel California truly is.
You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave 😈😈😈
Cool video, it would be awesome to see a deep dive into the full album!
Hotel California is a masterpiece of lyrical mythology and musical pictures. The greatest wedding of the two occurs where the phrase "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave" is immediately followed by a very strong guitar solo. Each half of the pairing adds punch to the other half.
I agree. You described it perfectly.
Always loved that line. I've never touched the hardcore drugs, so for me, that line was a mystery.
But that gives some meaning to that line. Thank you
Fallen angels/watchers...check out (die) but you can never leave. They are unforgiven!
@@novalee2200 I was about to type something similar.
Hotel California is a 7 minute bad yelp review
In the lyrics it's not 'Mercedes Benz' but instead 'Mercedes bends' this is an inside reference to someone who is obsessed with wealth and status, overly materialistic. Goes hand in hand with 'her mind is Tiffany twisted'.
The song is a vehicle for phantasms. A familiar companion for fantasies and dreams and a chauffer to the restless.
My therory: It’s about a hotel in California that is so good when people check out they enjoyed it so much that they can’t wait to come back next summer
Pretty sure I hear the same when I hear it played.
I ALWAYS stay at motels........you know.....to be sure I can leave....
@@fivecitydirttracker4776 Hello, Norman. By the way, is there enough hot water for a shower?
@@dingfeldersmurfalot4560 yep plenty of hot water..........the others are at the Hotel California.......they don't get out...... probably have shortages over there..... 😂 🗝️🍻
"See you next summer!"