Lyrics for Hotel California as interpreted by Demau Senae

Hotel California Lyrics
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 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
The 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!

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stairway_to_heaven
01-14-2006

Rated 0 
They stab it with their steely knives But they just can't kill the beast is actually reffering to steely dan. You know the band that sings ricky don't lose that number.

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CaliforniaLaurie
01-07-2006

Rated 0 
When the single Hotel California was released, the story I heard from a radio DJ was that it was about a recoevring addict in Camarillo State Hospital (SoCal).

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nk3007
01-04-2006

Rated 0 
don't know if this was mentioned yet, but here's what the song is actually about, all drugs and "individual interpretation" put aside, the song is about the Church of Satan in California, which is nicknamed the Hotel California (i don't know if this is because of the song or not) A man by the name of Antonne Lavye (not sure of spelling) was the leader of this watered down form of satanism and author of The Satanic Bible. It is well documented that Lavye had a friendship with members of the band. I would speculate that the reason members of the band have given the LA music industry explanation, is because of the devastating effect it would have on their carriers if it was publically known that they are/were involved in Satanism and that their signature song is written about it. Either way its an awesome song, and I can listen to it guilt free because of the almost antisatanic themes in it

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Sparkie06
01-02-2006

Rated 0 
This song is one of the most famous songs with backmasking, which is playin a song backwards and discovering words and sentences, if this song is listened to backwards there are many references to satan and worshiping him. This combined with the fact that there is a Satanic Church by the name of Hotel Caifornia gives evidence to show rthat this song is about Devil Worship, i do also agree with the drugs theory.

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coastal_bird
12-30-2005

Rated 0 
This song may have just been thrown together, but it can still have a deeper meaning to some. Just look at what all it COULD be about. Drugs, cults, sex, satanic worshipping it could be anything. Nobody really knows what the artist was thinking of when he wrote this song, regardless of how reliable the source. The point is, music is like poetry, it doesn't matter what it's supposed to mean. What does matter is what it means to the listener. That's the real purpose of music: to touch the listener. When you think about what to song is supposed to mean you kill it.

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jrhawk42
12-28-2005

Rated 0 
This song doesn't really have an intentional meaning it's just some lyrics thrown together. This happens in music alot more than you think artists will just throw things together cause they sound good, but don't want to admit their song has no meaning. Artist pride themselves on conveying emotion through their work, but if the audience knew the emotion was being faked it would lose it authenticity.

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Mellie78
12-26-2005

Rated 0 
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

I think this is reference to a house of prostitution where drugs are available. So he decides to stop there.

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'

The "mission bell" makes reference to a church and he is thinking that his experience with the prostitute and the drug use could be a good "trip" or bad "trip".

Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor,
I thought I heard them say...

Lighting a candle could be reference to lighting a crack pipe, and the voices in the corridor are the other prostitutes and johns.

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California

This prostitute is pretty, and there's plenty of room there because johns come and go.

Any time of year, you can find it here

Drugs and sex.

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

Here, she's taken with the money of her profession, but reminds us that she doesn't have any real relationships. It's about glitz and the California stereotype of money, "pretty" people, dancing to remember and to forget, means that some experiences are good and some are not.

So I called up the Captain,
'Please bring me my wine'
He said, 'We haven't had that spirit here
Since nineteen sixty nine'

Sexual reference- 69.

And still those voices are calling from far away,
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say...

Flashbacks.

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
They livin' it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise, bring your alibis

It is an escape from reality, johns and hookers, as well as drug addicts, all have a story to tell.

Mirrors on the ceiling,
The pink champagne on ice
And she said 'We are all just prisoners here, of our own device

She chooses the life of prostitution and is a "prisoner" to it.

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

It sounds to me like this is an orgy and stabbing a rock of cocaine to break it up to use, but "you just can't kill the beast" meaning you can get rid of the drugs, but you cannot get rid of addiction. It stays with you for life.

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!

This man apparently had "enough" of the experience and wanted to return back to the world of sanity and reality.

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Matty Dubs
12-22-2005

Rated 0 
Another utterly tiresome song that should be banned forever.

Oooooh, a spooky ghost-hotel... how mysterious!

STFU, Don!

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BluesRaven
12-06-2005

Rated 0 
In the booklet for the Very Best of the Eagles album it says:

"The song began as a demo tape, an instrumental by Don Felder. He'd been submitting tapes and song ideas to us since he'd joined the band, always instrumentals, since he didn't sing. But this particular demo, unlike many of the others had room for singing. It immediately got our attention. The first working title, the name we gave it, was "Mexican Reggae."

For us, "Hotel California" was definately thinking and writing outside the box. Similar to "Desperado," we did not start out to make any sort of concept or theme album. But when we wrote "Life in the Fast Lane" and started working on "Hotel California" and "New Kid In Town" with J.D., we knew we were heading down a long and twisted corridor and just stayed with it. Songs from the dark side-the Eagles take a look at the seamy underbelly of L.A.-the flip side of fame and failure, love and money.

"They stab it with their Steely knives, but they just can't kill the beast" was a little Post-It back to Steely Dan. Apparently, Walter Becker's girlfriend loved the Eagles, and she played them all the time. I think it drove him nuts. So, the story goes that they were having a fight one day, and that was the genesis of the line, "turn up the Eagles, the neighbors are listening" in "Everything You Did," from Steely Dan's The Royal Scam album. During the writing of "Hotel California," we decided to volley. We just wanted to allude to Steely Dan rather than mentioning them outright, so "Dan" got changed to "knices," which is still, you know, a penile metaphor. Stabbing, thrusting, etc.

Almost everybody in my buisness can write music, play guitar, play piano, create chord progressions, etc., but it's only when you add lyrics and melody and voices to these things that they take on an identity and become something beyond the sum of the original parts. I remember that Henley and I were listening to the "Hotel California" demo tape together on an airplane, and we were talking about what we would write and how we wanted to be more cinematic. We wanted this song to open like an episode of The Twilight Zone-just one shot after another.

I remember De Niro in The Last Tycoon. He's got this scene, and he's talking to some other people in his office. He speaks to them: "The door opens... the camera is on a person's feet... he walks across the room... we pan up to the table... he picks up a pack of matches that says 'The Such-And-Such Club' on it... strikes a match and lights a cigarette... puts it out... goes over to the window... opens the shade... looks out... the moon is there... what does it mean? Nothing. It's just the movies." "Hotel California" is like that. We take this guy and make him like a character in The Magus, where every time he walks through a door there's a new version of reality. We wanted to write a song just like it was a movie. This guy is driving across the desert. He's tired. He's smokin'. Comes up over a hill, sees some lights, pulls in. First thing he sees is a really strange guy at the front door, welcoming him: "Come on in." Walks in, and then it becomes Fellini-esque-- strange women, effeminate men, shadowy corridors, disembodied voices, debauchery, illusion... Weirdness. So we thought, "Let's really take some chances. Let's try to write in a way that we've never written before." Steely Dan inspired us because of their lyrical bravery and willingness to go "out there." So, for us, "Hotel California" was about thinking and writing outside the box."

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chris23
11-11-2005

Rated 0 
Good guitar solo. Really good.

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danddan
09-29-2005

Rated 0 
i just thought i should tell you all - i don't konw if someones mentinoed it before - but the line you have writeen as "her mind is tiffany twisted -
shes got the mercedez benz" is actually "mersades bends"... it says so quite clearly in the lyrics section of the story of the eagles book thing in their selected works boxed set.

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Vendzilla
09-24-2005

Rated 0 
I grew up in Camarillo California, the rumor that the song was based around the mental hospital outside of town made sence, if you listen to the lyrics, dark desert highway, it was located out side of town, you can check out but you can never leave. It's call Camarillo State mantal institute and was closed down in 97, but as a kid I always spent Halloween there, when it still open, they have a bell tower!

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Wifulife
09-20-2005

Rated 0 
Still don't know what it meant but one day while driving on mother's day this song came on the radio and I heard someone said this is a perfect mother's day song.....can anyone please tell me how this song can probaly have any meaning regarding mother's day please????

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-fool-
09-18-2005

Rated 0 
read this
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.lasso?id=1121

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exmafioso
09-14-2005

Rated 0 
I’m glad this song was written so simply. It leaves the door open to more than one interpretation. I don’t even mind if I’m wrong, but this song has always been about Prison to me. It just seems to have this sarcastic approach to an imaginary escape or delusion a convict has to have. Please hear me out or even better.. Read the lyrics with that approach. Here are a few examples.

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

I picture one of those correctional facility trucks rolling into a remote location where the prison resides.

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

The sarcasm seems to be almost like an Opposites Game throughout this song no matter what your interpretation is. “She” is most likely a Male Prison Guard. The mission Bell could be a metaphor for the Prison Bell. Lit up a candle could be referring to the on and off functions of the Prison Bars Or Opening up a corridor.
While walking into a prison, we all heard the stories of what a New Guy experiences.. Cat Calls, Whistles “Such a lovely face”.

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...

She again, The prison Guard who most likely drives a modest car. Pretty Pretty Boys at first I thought were prisoners, but I now strongly feel it’s fellow Prison Guards.
Dance in the courtyard to me is referring to Playing in the courtyard. Some prisoners Play sports to remember, some to escape.
Called up the captain line is perfect for the cafeteria humor.

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
The stab it with their steely knives
But they just can't kill the beast

Mirrors on the ceiling. No questioning that. The rest to me is not so clear. I can see a few interpretations here.

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!

Obviously admitting he was delusional for some period of time. He even tried to get out. But when it comes to prison You can checkout any time you like (Die),
but you can never leave!

If your still reading this.. Your awesome and have a lot of patience. HA HA

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pontius
09-13-2005

Rated 0 
This song is a vision of society as it was about three decades ago. The hotel is a metaphor. It stands for a system in which everybody will be trapped in sooner or later. Once you're part of the system you can't escape anymore.

The hotel captures free minds. You start your life full of ideals, but there comes a time when you are part of very system you are fighting.

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ibarra1
09-12-2005

Rated 0 
its not about sex, drugs, cult, etc. Its about an experience the drummer had in The Hotel California somewhere in Mexico (Baja California), close to the US border. The drummer (of the band) ended up somehow in that hotel, probably he was too high and had to stop in that cheap hotel to rest. Then in the night he was drinking in his room or whatever, then he saw a girl (a ghost) who talked to him and showed him the hotel. I dont know very well the story. The Hotel California exists and many people have seen that ghost. She supposedly invites the men who pass the hotel to come and stay in the hotel california. The girl (ghost) was murdered in that hotel, in the same room the drummer was stayin, and there is a picture of her in the room of the hotel.

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weezer_wabbit
09-11-2005

Rated 0 
most of you are wrong, this song is not about a cult dammit, or fricken drugs....it is about THE Hotel California, it's a mental institution not far from Los Angeles called, can u guess? Hotel California. It's for the criminally insane. There is no lockdown policy there (Hence "you can check out anytime but you can never leave"). People try to think too hard about a song's meaning. A lot of times it is much simpler than that. Look this up if you don't believe me.

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weezer_wabbit
09-11-2005

Rated 0 
most of you are wrong, this song is not about a cult dammit, or fricken drugs....it is about THE Hotel California, it's a mental institution not far from Los Angeles called, can u guess? Hotel California. It's for the criminally insane. There is no lockdown policy there (Hence "you can check out anytime but you can never leave"). People try to think too hard about a song's meaning. A lot of times it is much simpler than that. Look this up if you don't believe me.

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Joe555
09-08-2005

Rated 0 
Dude... Any Body Who Has Done Drugs Can Relate To This Song And Can See The Meaning Behind THe Lyrics

Here's My Interpretation:

The Way I See It The Hotel Is Either A Tweeker Pad Or A Drug Rehab, I'm More Inclined To Think Tweeker Pad Because, This Guy Is Driving Through The Desert...Alone...In The Middle Of The Night...Probably Looking To Score. He's Obviously On A Come Down, Can't Keep His Eyes Open. And He Notices One Place In The Middle Of Nowhere, In The Middle Of The Night, That Has The Lights On.

Now The Part That Has Me Confused Is That He Gets There And Can't Tell If It's Heaven Or Hell, He Hears A "Mission Bell" (Sounds Kinda Churchy)

Now She Lights Up A Candle And Shows Him The Way...Hmmm

On One Hand She Could Be Cooking Some Up In A Spoon Or A Bottle Cap And Showing Him How To Slam It Or Busting Out Some Foil And Showing Him How To Smoke It
Or She Could Be Lighting A Candle And Showing Him How To Pray, Like Asking Forgiveness And What Not. Show Him The Road To Recovery

Personally I Think She Cooked Up A 1/2 Gram Of That Shit And He Slammed The Fuck Out Of It

Now We Get To The Courtyard, And There's Some Chick That Probably Used To Be Rich And Has Thrown Her Life Away Doing Drugs But Wont Shut Up About It, Hence The Words "Tiffany Twisted"
Now She's Hanging With A Bunch Of Dudes That She Thinks Are Her Friends But Really Just Think She's Rich And Want Her To Buy More Shit, There Sayin "Tell Her To Buy More! Look That Bitch Has A Mercedes" Anywayz, Now Their Dancing...But Are They Really Dancing? Or Are They "DANCING" I Can Think Back To Many Times When I Was Getting High And I Loaded Up My Glass Pipe, Flicked My Lighter And Said "Let's Dance!" Just Before Taking a Blast.

Now He's Probably Thirsty (tweek will do that to you) So He Asks The Dude That Owns The Pad (or captain) If He Can Get Some Wine. And The Captain Is Like, Dude! We Don't Have Fuckin' Wine...but We Do Have Some "PINK CHAMPGNE" or "ICE" HELLO!!!!!!!

Now He's Like "Damn! These Fuckers Party Hard, There's Even Mirrors On The Ceiling!" and the chick tells him that they are all prisoners there of their own device

Now They Go To The Dining Room For A "Feast" and they're all sitting there and the dude that's hosting this party throws like a pound on the table and they all go to town on it with their knives (or Razor Blades) but this is some good shit, they can't fade a whole pound

So Now This Dude's Been Up For Like 6 Days He's All Burned Out And Friggin Paranoid, And Decides That He Needs To Go Home. So He Breaks For The Door But Is Stopped By Some Dude Who Tells Him To Chill, And Tells Him What He Already Knows. "You Can Go But You'll Be Back"

This Song Is Definately About Drugs, It May Be About Other Things Too But First And Foremost It's Drugs

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mjknight96
09-07-2005

Rated 0 
Did u know that is actually "mercedes bends", not benz? It is a play on words all though most people think the lyric is talking about the lady having the car. Also i was wondering what people felt about the line "We haven't had that spirit here since 1969?" its always puzzled to me as to whether it is saying the spirit as a drink or as in the spirit of bring me a drink.

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ICantLeaveU2Behind
09-06-2005

Rated 0 
no this song is not about drugs. you just can't quote one or two lines or use whole stanzas to prove your point. even quoting line by line is a little iffy. i think the only posts you really need to read are Jon Beulter (pg.2) and FrankyBkk (pg.3&4). i also think that Screech (pg.5) and Fleeting Thoughts (pg.7) did a really good job, although i don't agree with them. also, due to computer errors, i couldn't read page 6, so that might have some good stuff.

anyway, even though this two things could not be based off each other, and this is deffinitely not what this song is written about (mainly due to a 15 year gap), i think this is the perfect song to describe Stephen King's Dark Tower, the God-like structure in the Dark Tower Series, but is only actually seen in the Dark Tower, the seventh and final book in the series (please excuse the repetitiveness and the length of this sentence) i think this song is a lot more fitting than Elton John's Someone Saved My Life Tonight (major song in book series). for example the voices the character in the song hears are like the voices that call Roland to the Dark Tower. there are also many other coincidences, but they would give away the ending.

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GhettoSloth
08-28-2005

Rated 0 
I think it about Hell.

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trapperjohn
08-07-2005

Rated 0 
This song is about heroin addiction. Because all of the members at the time were hooked on heroin. Just listen to the lyrics. "Prisoners of your own device; Can't kill the beast; You can never leave" And then there is the perfect hotel metaphor. I'll just take it but I won't get hooked on it. Just once. I'll stay the night but not any longer. Just the night and then you start to have more and more fun until you realize that it's not all that it appeared to be.

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darkfairy13
08-03-2005

Rated 0 
I would like to say a few quick things. One, this song is not about a satanic cult, and two, the person on the balcony in the picture is not Anton Levey or any other cult leader. it;s not even a man. It was a woman they hired to pose in the shoot. It is a great song. Leave it at that.

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