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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zeppelinatic
05-21-2009

Rated 0 
ps 1969 mentioned in the song was when the first satanic church was registered in america

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darazan
05-14-2009

Rated 0 
I have to say, no matter what it means, it's a really great song to play on guitar. However, I've also heard the "cynical view of paradise" theory. It was in an interview with a band member. I don't remember which one, because I tend not to get into band's personal lives, to the point that I barely know who makes up a band. ^^

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blaze_em_all
05-13-2009

Rated 0 
i think its much more fun and twisted to think of this tune as about a cult cuz the music is beautiful but the overall has a certain creepy/sadness to it, this song never gave me nightmares but it would give me the chills when i would daydream and listen to it, but that could be the power of suggestion too, but anyways thats just some.

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Laralyne
05-11-2009

Rated 0 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_California_(song)

Henley Explains the meaning

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Chamoule
05-08-2009

Rated 0 
Drug Addiction
The Cult
A mental institution
Prostitution
Prison life
Suiside
Depression and drug treatment

It's all the same. Only you know the rest of the Story. Don?

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tyler03
04-29-2009

Rated +1 
this is most definately abou drugs. The title T he
H otel
C alifornia
is referring to THC. The song starts out and the speaker is weak "my head grew heavy and my sight grew dim, i had to stop for the night". they are then introduced to the drug with "she" being a reference to the drug or addiction in the song. At first they are a little skeptical about it. the second verse talks about how many people are addicted and that some peopple do it to remember good times, and some do it to forget the bad times. When it refers to the mirrors its sayig that drugs are glamorized but once your addicted you can never really recover from it, the addiction will never die. At the end of the song the person wants desperatley to get back to the life they had before addiction but is not capable of doing so because of the stanglehold addiction has on you.

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chamelion
04-13-2009

Rated 0 
plus the word 'colitas' literally mean little tail, as in marijuana buds, its says very clearly, if you need proof :)

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chamelion
04-13-2009

Rated 0 
Right so not that long ago The Eagles themselves held a press conferance and stated the song was about a man who is extremly high and stmbles into a brothel, where he does more drugs and rather than soft drinks like wine he turns to whisky, rum, etc. and harder drugs like meth and shrooms. Also they thought this story was similar to a cult so they named it after that. The inspiration for this was about how they felt they were being treated in the music industry (there talent being the drug everyone wants) its all a metaphor so stop the fighting and do some weed and listen to this song :)

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NiKeCluTch
04-04-2009

Rated 0 
Song is about Drugs, typically a general drug like marijuana

"Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air"
- Colitas is a type of marijuana grown in the hills of california that has a special/unique type of scent.

"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'"
- She is refered to the drug(marijuana), you can have a fun time with it or a bad time

"Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way"
- Lit up the marijuana and it started to effect him...he got all happy,etc. thats why they say we havent had this spirit since 1969, when marijuana used to be a big hit

"Some dance to remember, some dance to forget"
- same take it to remember good times and have fun, some take marijuana to forget about bad things and get away from stuff

"Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say... "
- you grow addicted to eat

"I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before"
- he was addicted to it, it started to be unhealthy he wanted to be back to normal then refers to

"you can check out, but never leave"
- once your in it, you can get out of it...

theres a lot more metaphors you can use but yah just a little interperatation

hotel california, he used california cause this is sort of the lifestyle in southern california lots of people do drugs to get away from problems or to have fun, not gonna go into detail but yah

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beans29
03-22-2009

Rated 0 
Has anyone heard of the book "Tortilla Curtain" By T.C. Boyle? If so how can this song be connected to this book?

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Zianaly
03-12-2009

Rated 0 
This song is not about drug addiction.

This is about materialism and excess. California is used as the setting, but it could relate to anywhere in America. Don Henley in the London Daily Mail November 9, 2007 said: "Some of the wilder interpretations of that song have been amazing. It was really about the excesses of American culture and certain girls we knew. But it was also about the uneasy balance between art and commerce."

There thats what it's about. But I can see how you would think so.

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pereida1031
03-04-2009

Rated 0 
I think this song is talking about that he was driving down a dark desert highway and he was drinking and he saw shimmering light (the cops) and he had to stop for the night and they took him to jail.... then i got lost when he said welcome to the hotel california

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spikenpatrick
02-28-2009

Rated 0 
The song is about Anton Levay. The guy who founded The First Church of Satan. There is even a subtle Jayne Mansfield reference in the song.

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Shroomie
02-26-2009

Rated 0 
I think it's about how Hotel California is haunted (ghosts and such).

"We haven't had that spirit here/Since nineteen sixty nine"

"We are all just prisoners here/Of our own device"

"We are programmed to receive/You can checkout any time you like/But you can never leave!"

And the variations "I thought they heard them say"

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Shawzy15
02-19-2009

Rated 0 
i think the song has references to drug usage and fame in california

its about how one might want to go to california and hollywood for fame - "we are all just prisoners here of our own device." this is also a drug reference because thats what a druggee is

"this could be heaven or this could be hell" drugs could make one happy or screw up one's life. and lighting up a candle refers to drugs.

"her mind is tiffany-twisted" - reference to being screwed up by drugs.

"some dance to remember, some dance to forget." - some do drugs to have a good time and some do to forget how bad their life might be.

"they stab it with their steely knives but they just cant kill the beast." - the beast being the addiction

"last thing i remember..." - because hes high

"i was running for the door. i had to find the passage back to the place i was before." - he tries to quit his addiction and go back to the way it was before.

"relax said the night man we are programed to recieve. you can check out anytime you want, but you can never leave." - you cant escape it so dont try. you can stop doing drugs but you will always want to use them and might give in and start doing drugs again

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metallica2k2
02-19-2009

Rated 0 
"Members of Eagles have described the album as a metaphor for the perceived decline of America into materialism and decadence"

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Trout Mask
02-18-2009

Rated 0 
It's not just drugs, although they're definitely involved. It's about the excess of celebrity life. You're tired, and lost on the highway, when you finally become famous and you enter the Hotel California. But then, once you've been there, you're so stereoptyped as 'one of those rich playboys' that there's nowhere else to go. Possibly The Eagles are trying to compare this to Satanism.

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kittykatgirl
02-13-2009

Rated 0 
i always thought it was about a haunted hotel lol

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tekno45
02-04-2009

Rated 0 
its about a guy who is high on marijuana (colitas) and does not realize he has just walked into a rehab clinic thinking its a hotel

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Corneillia
01-23-2009

Rated 0 
i always thought this song was about death penalty... as if they made believe the guy they made hima big party but its his "goodbye party". " you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave" i thought that meant that once the party is over. you leave. but u never get out, kuz u go on the electric chair or whatever...

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killerdudee
01-21-2009

Rated 0 
its not about a mental hospiatal, its about drugs, think about the time period...

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kojakfeltzg
01-14-2009

Rated 0 
Its About a Mental Hospiatal

"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 others chanting from thier rooms

"Her mind is Tiffany-twisted"


"What a nice surprise, bring your alibis "
Say your not crazy

'We are all just prisoners here, of our own device
you choose to go there






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RestlessWarrior
01-09-2009

Rated 0 
The hotel represents Heroin
The lady represents the devil

The song is about drug addiction, the hotel IS drug, you can never leave!



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ashaleee
01-09-2009

Rated 0 
My dad is quite the rocker... he listens to mainly classic rock, and has a lot of opinions on song meanings and whatnot. The meaning that I derived from the lyrics was this:

A lot of the people that become famous end up losing themselves in fame and fortune. Drugs and sex. No matter how hard they try to escape the celeb life, they can't get away from criticism and tabloids. Once you take that leap into the lime light, there's no way to get out.

However, the comment about drug use and addiction seems to be a great explanation as well. I have no idea. There are facts supporting the idea of a cult, however this is not what the song is about. The sanctuary was called "Hotel California", but seeing as how there is no relevant or metaphorical reference to religion or Satanism, that would probably not be a good explanation.

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emuhhlee__
01-02-2009

Rated 0 
i don't know, this song makes me think about ghosts. lmao
some of the lyrics just sound like he's being haunted.
but it might just be because it sounds kind of eerie.

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