|
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! |
You must be logged in to post your comments.
Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.
Send Lyrics to a Friend
12-28-2008
During a July 17, 2008 appearance on The Howard Stern Show on Sirius Satellite Radio, Don Felder described the origins of the lyrics:[citation needed]
"Don Henley and Glen wrote most of the words. All of us kind of drove into LA at night. Nobody was from California, and if you drive into LA at night... you can just see this glow on the horizon of lights, and the images that start running through your head of Hollywood and all the dreams that you have, and so it was kind of about that... what we started writing the song about. Coming into LA... and from that Life In The Fast Lane came out of it, and Wasted Time and a bunch of other songs."
thats it thing what you want but thats what they were thinking when they wrote the song...look it up for yourself if you dont believe me
You must be logged in to post your comments.
Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.
12-17-2008
I mean the way he see's the hotel at the beginning of the song it looks bright and magnificent and then as the song progresses it turns into a nightmare he wants to escape
I dont know just an opinion
You must be logged in to post your comments.
Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.
12-16-2008
The last two stanzas truly clarify this assertion.
"We are all just prisoners here of our own device" means that "johns" who patronize escorts are addicts to the sexual addiction. "They stab is with their steely knives but they just can't kill the beast" has its meaning as well. Even though the term "Steely" is a respectful, subliminal attribute to the band Steely Dan, the "steely knife" is the erected penis hot for the hooker. "...but they just can't kill 'the beast'" means that no matter how many times they fill their sexual desires, the desire will never be truly fulfilled.
Just like any addiction, there is immediate guilt after the act (whether it's gambling, pyromania or drugs), which is why Henley and Frey wrote "Next thing I remember I was running for the door. I had to find the passage back to the place I was before." However, even though this particular fulfillment of sexual addiction has been accomplished, it will be necessary to fulfill it again and again and again. The last words to this ominous song indicate this by saying "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave."
My guess is that either Henley or Frey had (or likely still have) a sexual addiction. Nobody else could write such a fitting song for a sex addict unless they've lived it. Those who live with this seemingly harmless addiction (as strong as it can be) will agree with my interpretation.
This is the best song that has ever been written, in my humble opinion. It's combination of major and minor chord shifts boggle the mind and takes the listener on a journey.
You must be logged in to post your comments.
Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.
12-14-2008
You must be logged in to post your comments.
Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.
12-12-2008
None of them had ever been there before and they were writing about how dreams can come alive in Los Angeles, and how they can also die. Don Henley and Glen wrote most of the words. "All of us kind of drove into LA at night. Nobody was from California, and if you drive into LA at night... you can just see this glow on the horizon of lights, and the images that start running through your head of Hollywood and all the dreams that you have, and so it was kind of about that... what we started writing the song about. Coming into LA... ". The term "colitas" in the first stanza of the song is a desert flower, also known as Antelope sage or Colita de Rata. The use of the word "steely" in the lyric (referring to knives) was a playful nod to band Steely Dan, who had included the lyric "Turn up the Eagles, the neighbors are listening" in their famous song "Everything You Did", according to Glenn Frey's liner notes for The Very Best of Eagles.
You must be logged in to post your comments.
Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.
12-09-2008
You must be logged in to post your comments.
Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.
12-05-2008
You must be logged in to post your comments.
Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.
11-21-2008
I picture the first verse as the reception into the facility. It looks like paradise but it's a prison, Heaven or Hell.The woman may be a female administrator. Voices in the corridor are other inmates messing with the new inmates head. The rest I picture as a kind of detox hallucination of the Heaven/Hell theme that a drug addicted inmate in prison at a luxury hotel might endure.The department of corrections uses a military ranking system, hence the Captain. 1969 may have been confused with 1963 the year the resort was given to DOC. They eat chow in what was once the master's chamber, and engage in sexual intercourse(steely is a reference to Steely Dan,see above posts) as is common in all prison. So an interpretaion of the line would be "We are all just prisoner's here... we eat here and we fuck here." So the inmate attempts to flee and runs into the night man(guard) who tells him "you can check out anytime you like but you can never leave" at it's first inception the center was a voluntary alternative to prison
Tell me what you think, I'm sure there are parallel and alternate meanings to the lyrics, most musicians lyrics aren't linear.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Norconian_Resort_Supreme
You must be logged in to post your comments.
Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.
11-06-2008
I don't know if it's a mental hospital or a drug or alcohol rehab centre, but it doesn't really matter.. I personally lean more towards mental treatment.
There are continuous references throughout the song to voices in your head, or voices coming from nowhere.. I spose this could also be a reference to any drug, though, as well as a mental disease. Also, the "mirrors on the ceilings, pink champagne on ice", is obvious, as andystoys as already mentioned.
Yeah. The more I think about it, the better it fits.
You must be logged in to post your comments.
Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.
11-02-2008
"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 "
Pink champagne on ice is the medication that most people in mental istitution are fed through IV. It's pink and has to stay cold.
Prisoners of their own device, meaning, their problems brought them here.
The feast is the examination you recieve when you first arrive at an asylum. Five doctors come in and try to figure out what's wrong with you.
"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 voices, an obvious forshadow of insanity.
Response to my idea?
You must be logged in to post your comments.
Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.
10-26-2008
the "steely knives" part of the song is a nod to Steely Dan, who referenced the Eagles in the song "Everything You Did" (wikipedia. reliable?)
You must be logged in to post your comments.
Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.
10-24-2008
most of the time, ppl cant get out of it like what the nightman said but you can take intermissions from it
the highway is life
and sometimes along that highway, u feel tired and drowsy ands in nee of help so you turn to drugs
You must be logged in to post your comments.
Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.
10-23-2008
On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
(The dark desert highway he's traveling down could be a symbol for living his life)
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
(This could symbolize the relaxation and wellness of his life. He doesn't have many problems)
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
(This is when his life came to a halt because of drugs, and he had to go to a rehablitation center [had to stop for the night]. Again, keeping the "road of life" thing in mind, this makes sense)
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'
(This could save him from drugs [Heaven] or this could make his longing for drugs even more powerful and painful [Hell])
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor,
(Others staying at the hotel/rehabilitation center)
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
(Although I'm not entirely sure about this certain verse, the pretty boys could be referrring to her drugs. She "calls" them her friends, but they're far from friends)
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
(Dance could be the act of taking the drugs)
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget
(Some take drugs to remember, some take drugs 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'
(In nineteen sixty nine, there were many major events and triumphs, hence the "spirit" [happiness])
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
(This could mean to have an excuse if drugs are found at the rehabilitation center)
Mirrors on the ceiling,
The pink champagne on ice
And she said 'We are all just prisoners here, of our own device
(This could obviously mean they are prisoners of what they're addicted to)
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 has referred to the devil many times, and the devil is obviously ruler of sin, so they can't kill their sin [drugs, alcohol])
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!
(You can leave the rehabilitation center anytime, but you can never leave your addiction)
You must be logged in to post your comments.
Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.
10-05-2008
That the song is about the Church of Satan is obvious from both the lyrics and the "Hotel California" album cover. Consider the following:
The Eagles were well-known Satan worshippers.
"The Eagles" can be rearranged to spell "gales (of) heet," meaning the winds of hell.
An old Christian church in California was abandoned in 1969 and taken over by the Church of Satan. It is this church that is referred to by the lyrics, "We haven't had the spirit here since 1969," and "This could be Heaven, this could be Hell."
It is in this church that Anton LeVey (referred to as "the master" in the song) wrote The Satanic Bible, and because he let his followers stay there while he was writing, it became known as the Hotel California.
The lyric, "They stab it with their steely knives, but they just can't kill the Beast," refers to the enduring power of Satan. And one of the Bible's names for Satan is 'the Beast', according to the Book of Revelation at the end of the Bible.
Members of the Church of Satan often have to lie about their membership (just as they are encouraged to lie as a matter of course), and this is referred to in the lyric, "What a nice surprise, bring your alibis."
Church of Satan members take an oath that is binding even after their death, hence the lyrics, "You can check out at any time you like, but you can never leave" and "We are all just prisoners here of our own device."
On the Hotel California album jacket, High Priest of the Church of Satan Anton LeVey appears in one of the windows.
On the back of the album cover a dead man -- sacrificed by LeVey himself -- is shown propped up by a mop.
You must be logged in to post your comments.
Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.
10-03-2008
You must be logged in to post your comments.
Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.
10-03-2008
You must be logged in to post your comments.
Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.
10-02-2008
I seriously have been convinced that this song was not intended to have a meaning. Heartbreaking, I know, but the two bits of information I've gotten straight from the Eagles really lead me to believe this... The first was on Sixty Minutes when Henley was confronted with Hotel California. Look it up on YouTube or something, no doubt its up there somewhere. Anyway, he said it was actually based on their career and how once they started they couldn't stop. Any Eagles fan could tell you about the issues with The Long Run and the breakup afterward. It makes sense... But, personally, I think it's bogus.
In the 2-CD set The Very Best of the Eagles (one of my greatest purchases), they had a comment for each of the compilations songs. Under Hotel California, Glenn Frey has this really long Twilight Zone-esque scene he describes which he concludes with, "'What does it mean? Nothing. It's just the movies.' 'Hotel California' is like that." Just... Go buy the CD. It's worth the money and it'll give you a bit more insight into their songs.
You must be logged in to post your comments.
Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.
09-19-2008
You must be logged in to post your comments.
Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.
09-12-2008
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
This obviously refers to sex or some big Hollywood orgy. Mirrors on the ceiling and pink champagne on ice are clearly symbols of wild sex. Devices are genitals. Feast in a big chamber is a big orgy and stabbing with their steely knives is just a 'nice' way to say intercourse. Because Steely Dan named themselves after a dildo of the same name from the novel "Naked Lunch" by William S. Burroughs and Glenn Frey said numerous times that the word steely is a nod to Steely Dan who had previously included the line "Turn up the Eagles, the neighbors are listening" on their song "Everything You Did". If it is reference then steely knife must mean penis. They can't kill the beast means they can't kill the sex drive because they are so high on cocaine. That would fit in Hollywood orgy, knowing that Hollywood is the most decadent of all places and milieus in California.
You must be logged in to post your comments.
Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.
09-07-2008
You must be logged in to post your comments.
Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.
09-03-2008
You must be logged in to post your comments.
Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.
09-02-2008
You must be logged in to post your comments.
Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.
09-02-2008
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
We are prisioners of our own device.
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!
Had to find the passage back to the place I was before? Makes sense.
You must be logged in to post your comments.
Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.
08-01-2008
"Don Henley and Glen wrote most of the words. All of us kind of drove into LA at night. Nobody was from California, and if you drive into LA at night... you can just see this glow on the horizon of lights, and the images that start running through your head of Hollywood and all the dreams that you have, and so it was kind of about that... what we started writing the song about. Coming into LA... and from that Life In The Fast Lane came out of it, and Wasted Time and a bunch of other songs."
There you go =] That's the meaning.
You must be logged in to post your comments.
Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.
07-31-2008
there's the twits that try to tell everyone what the song is about, like they actually know (as if kiddos).
then there's the twits that get psycho about what they THINK is right and what they think is wrong.
and then there's the twits that say: c'mon guys, its just up to a person's interpretation.
and THEN there's the twit (me) that sits back and laughs at everyone for being twits.
good for us eh?
You must be logged in to post your comments.
Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.