I read through about half to the existing reviews before I signed up just to write my own. Although I would never maliciously critisize anyone elses personal opinions on the matter, I would like to point out that this song is not about a cult, drugs, a sadist church, or a mental hospital. Hotel California is a metaphorical representation for a Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle.
The drug explaination makes only a little bit of sense. This is a common misconception because there is a sort of addiction in the song, yet it is not a chemical addiction. In a way it is an addiction to fame, but in another way it is not the rock stars mind holding him in, but other forces like the media and fans ensure the rock stars immortality.
Basically it is saying that being a rock star is a glorious life, filled with riches, fame and love. Yet the drawback is that one cannot escape from this lifestyle. Up and coming artists hold a one way ticket to stardom, yet once they reach thier destination, they are trapped. I will explain further.
The song opens to "A dark desert highway" This represents the road to fame which all artists hoping to make it big walk. Some, including the Eagles, make it to Hotel California, which is the eutopia this song explains.
Later in that verse the song reads "this could be heaven or this could be hell". This indicates very early that there are going to be drawbacks to indulging in this lifestyle.
The chorus further describes how wonderful and glorious the life is, making it seem evident that one would never want to leave.
The next verse speaks "Her mind is tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes-Benz, she got a lot of pretty pretty boys, she calls friends" The Mercedes Benz represents the money involved with being a rock star, and the pretty pretty boys are a clear representation of fans and fame. Yet by referring to the pretty pretty boys as friends, she is denying the fact that their love for her is only because of her fame, she wants to think that they love ther person inside her.
The beginning of the next line reads "So I called up the captain, please bring me my wine, He said we haven't had that spirit here since ninteen sixty nine". This line is referrring to the progression of Rock 'n' Roll through the past four decades. By saying "We haven't had that spirit here since 1969" he is referring to Woodstock '69, which is often considered the historical pinnacle of Rock 'n' Rolls popularity.
The Second Chorus again displays what happy, glorious lifestyle rock stars live.
The next verse is very important, mainly because of the famous line "We are all just prisoners here, of our own device." I agree this does indicate that there is a drug addiction involved, but that is not what it is meant to say. They are prisoners of Rock 'n' Roll, otherwise known as "Hotel California". This means that a famous rock star can't just disappear, his legacy is eternal.
The ending of this verse, along with the beginning of the last, represent a struggle to escape. First he tries to "Kill the Beast", the he attempts escape. This is shown in the first four lines of the last verse ( Last thing I remember, I was running for the door, I had to find the passage back, to the place I was before.). His escape is intercepted though by the nightman. The Nightmans line, "We are programmed to recieve, You can check out any time you like, But you can never leave" is very important. It is more or less saying that once a rock star, always a rock star. A popular artist can sheck out any time he likes by simply resigning from the band, quit making music, or even dying. However he is not gone, his entire existence does not disapparate into oblivion. His fans keep talking about it, the media still reports about it, and the albums still sell. I have walked into the music shop and bought albums by The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and many other dead Rock 'n' Roll stars, this proves that their legacy lives on, their existence is remembered, their influential words still exist.
I hope this has cleared up some misconceptions, and hope you all continue to support the nearly dead genre or Rock 'n' Roll.

Just a song? Of course, I agree that a song is a song, but nothing is ever a song if you know who wrote it, why they wrote it, or the influences on their writing styles. It IS about a cult, however.

i heard this song was about a mental hospital. my mom is a little looney and she says that whenever she hears this song, thats what she thinks of. that the lyrics are what shes thinking all the time.
drugs sounds about right too though.
i dont know about a cult
and whats up with antichrist and ghost stuff? Its jsut a SONG ... a very good one at that

This isnt about the acutal song...but I heard somewhere that on the cover on this album (or possibly on the inside) some ghosly aparition (sp?) showed up in the picture. Has anyone else heard this?

hey can ne 1 temme whether this song is anitchrist or no??.....

this song is about the cult charles manson had in california back in the 70's.

i no 1 thing ... i love this song .... itas awsum ... i alwayz play it on my guitar ... hey is this song really anti christ

After reading through all the comments, I think daffyb's is the most valid. It seems a lot of times bands sing about the music industry, and it is in metaphors. They make the metaphors sound like they could be talking about just about anything, as evident in the comments before mine.

I'm sure whichever one of them wrote this knew he would be toying with everyone's minds for the next 100 years. :)

I have always been told that this song is about Camarillo State hospital (a mental hospital) where a lot of famous hollywood types had stayed at. camarillo is between LA and Santa Barbara. It is closed now, but that place was freaking spooky. I know for a fact that the picture on the front of the album is camarillo. Someone mentioned it had to do with james taylors girlfriend, and she had stayed at this mental hospital before she killed herself (fire and rain is written about her) has anyone else ever heard about this idea? The song has always freaked me out because i had a cousin that killed herself back in like the 70's in that place, makes it a lot spookier. Oh and also I just have to say this song has always reminded me of the movie "The Shining" (before anyone gets angry, that does not mean i think the song is about the shining.) ok thats all, just wondering if anyone else has heard about the mental hospital topic.

this song is about drug addiction.
"you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave"
think about it.

"they stab it with their steely knives, but they just cant kill the beast" the best line here.

not really my favorite song, but a good one. way too overated.

Here i go, interpretting every line:

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
**the shimmering light represents how ideal the drug might seem, especially in his state, represented by the "dark desert highway."**

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'
**All we know of heaven and hell is that one is bliss, and one is doom. But which is which? Yah, ur right, I don't really know.**
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
**Again, the light represents how ideal the drug may seem to be, to lead you out of the dark.**
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
**Could this be a silhouette of the wildness of california? NO! of course it can't.**

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...
**Geez... You know I am really drawing a blank here?**

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
**When the lives of the drugges are perfect, they figure out that they're not.... I'm never doing this again.**
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
**The beast is the beast of addiciton their master uses to keep the drug users under control. gathering in their master's chamber for the feast means to use the drug.**

Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
**He's tryin to get out of the drug hoopla.**
'Relax,' said the night man,
We are programmed to receive.
You can checkout any time you like,
but you can never leave!
**Of course, you can always say that you ahve left the hotel, but the doors are always locking you in... I'm leaving now.**
and i promise to never say hoopla again.

This song is about a whore house..example:

"they stab them with the steely knives but they just cant kill the beast"(the knives are there peckers and the beast is the woman.its saying no matter whaty they cant please her enough)

"the warm smell of colitas"(you tell me)

This song is about a whore house..example:

"they stab them with the steely knives but they just cant kill the beast"(the knives are there peckers and the beast is the woman.its saying no matter whaty they cant please her enough)

"the warm smell of colitas"(you tell me)

yo satan hater, r u a christain? u sound like a hypocrit to me, mouthing off all the time is exactlyy what satan wants u to do!! and eagles are country rock not black metal!!

i think that your theory's make more sense than any thing, although i was told tha this song was about the man trying to escape his girlfriend, and his place was caled hotel california. maybe hotle california is the eagles word for drugs??

I agree that this song is about drugs... but I think the drug is California! You see, people became addicted to the way of "partying till you die," and as hard a they tried to get out of that shameful, hippie existance, they couldn't, because the intoxicating feeling that came with no cares captured them like addiction.
Eh?
"The light" he sees represents a newer, freer life.
"This could be heaven or this could be hell..." means that he could be happy for as long as he can get it to last... only for it to end in doom, anyway.
I'm too tired to finish... ah, just ignore everything I said.

i thought that hotel california was a mental hospital? "You can checkout any time you like,
but you can never leave!"
i was told it was a mental hospital, i dont know the drummer or anything but thats all i was told
it kinda makes sense if u think about it

i think the song is about the death of the charachter in the song...he fell asleep at the wheel and didnt realize he was dead until after everything happen....hence the u can check out anytime but u can never leave. However daffyB's long interpretation sounds good too...its probably true...but this was my first impression of the song.

I heard the song was about a whore house...I don't know if it's true or not, but alot of the things makes sense in the song.

Dieser Song ist, egal wie viele Male ich zu ihm höre, es die geraden Unterhaelte erstaunlich, die besser erhalten. Jeder ist ein Arschloch für ihn unten setzen. Ich hoffe den Kaffee bin kalt.

to bwoodmeyer...

that comment just cracks me up!! wouldn't be just a stab at those who REALLY seem to take this too seriously?? ha!!

it's not "such a lovely taste" it says place in the lyrics on the album so ya bit wrong there mate

pink ponies flowing in chocolate milk to the sound of jimi hendrix while CIA agents dance in too-toos around a tye-dye colored bonfire which produces a magical genie that gives you moon pies no matter what you ask for. thats what the song means to me and according to nietzshe_66 thats what the song is about then.

(JK nietzsche_66 i just saw an oportunity to write some wierd stuff and i took it :D)

I have a friend in Chowchilla Women's Prison in Cali, and she says that she had heard this song was about the prison. That before they turned it into a corrections facility, it was an actual hotel. She says it's haunted, and that you can hear the ghosts at night.
I always thought it was about drugs. But that's the beauty of art, it can be whatever you want it to be.

well, I totally agree with drderail. He's got it pretty close to what I heard about this song. Of course there may be other ways to interpret it but that's the "hidden meaning" and knowing that just makes this song creepy to me. i mean the guitar riffs are cool and it's a cool song but just that it's sorta about the satanic church makes it scary to me... hey, why do people diss "christian rock" but then when there is "satan rock" (only they don't call it that) they say it's cool? Don't get pissed at me, I'm just saying how I feel.