Where can I find information about the real meaning of the song “Hotel California”?
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Teseo77 asked:
I’m trying to analyze the song and I heard that the “Hotel California” refered in the song was, in fact, the veteran’s of war hospital in California. Someone has information about it or can tell me where could I find it? Thanks.
Leon
I’m trying to analyze the song and I heard that the “Hotel California” refered in the song was, in fact, the veteran’s of war hospital in California. Someone has information about it or can tell me where could I find it? Thanks.
Leon
January 23rd, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Actually, it’s about Camarillo State Mental Hospital, about an hour north of LA, where one of the Eagles’ members apparently spent some time. That’s a picture of it on the cover of the original album.
January 26th, 2009 at 5:19 am
I looked it up on Wikipedia and here is the link.
)
January 29th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
^ Here are the lyrics and some history, please see the sites below. I hope this helps.
On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night
There she stood in the doorway;
I heard the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself,
‘This could be Heaven or this could be Hell’
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor,
I thought I heard them say…
Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year, you can find it here
Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes Benz
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget
So I called up the Captain,
‘Please bring me my wine’
He said, ‘We haven’t had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine’
And still those voices are calling from far away,
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say…
Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
They’re livin’ it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise, bring your alibis
Mirrors on the ceiling,
The pink champagne on ice
And she said ‘We are all just prisoners here, of our own device’
And in the master’s chambers,
They gathered for the feast
They stab it with their steely knives,
But they just can’t kill the beast
Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
‘Relax,’ said the night man,
We are programmed to receive.
You can checkout any time you like,
but you can never leave!
The Eagles’s “Hotel California”
Actually, the most accepted theory is that Hotel California talks about “high life” in So. California during the time the song was written. It talks about a being trapped in the high life, and having to deal with many obsessions - especially drugs. Many of the lines mentioned in the other review of this song present on this site are a direct reference to drugs: “We are all prisoners here of our own device” - you choose to live the high life, and then are stuck to them; “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave” - as an artist, you can always step away from the spotlight, but you’ll always be stuck to it somehow; “this could be heaven or this could be hell” - once more, a reference to the high life, and also to the high during a drug run, and the low afterwards; “And in the master’s chambers, They gathered for the feast The stab it with their steely knives, But they just can’t kill the beast” - a reference to buying drugs for someone, doing the drugs, and still wanting more.”