Justme1981
Member
I'm new to this forum and there are some nice people here. I like to share this online, my theory of Hotel California. The way I see that song and the Album cover is a glimpse into Hell.
Here are the lyrics and I'll explain as I go along:
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.
This is the beginning of the song and this is where the person dies. He is driving through the Desert most like California. Colitas is weed, that's an old Spanish Term for a joint. He is probably drunk to be honest. An oncoming car hits him and he dies on impact not realizing he has died. So, he stops for the night at a Hotel.
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 is where the song really reveals itself about the whole thing. He doesn't know he is dead but wherever he is, he could be in Heaven or Hell. What does that say about 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 place)
Such a lovely face.
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year (any time of year) you can find it here
He is created by the people who know he is dead. They are as much stuck in the Hotel California as he will be. When they say there is plenty of room in the Hotel California that sounds like a response to the Bible verse, "there are many rooms (mansions) in my fathers house." Well, apparently there is also endless space in Hell.
Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes bends
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
The woman who greets him is termed someone that is Tiffany Twisted. I've looked around for this slang term, but I think it just means she is promiscuous, edgy and superficial. This is the typical person that would run Hell or the Hotel California. Making her, "friends," dance for her for eternity. These friends are more like slaves.
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 place)
Such a lovely face.
They livin' it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise (what a nice surprise), bring your alibis
Focus on the alibis, everyone making excuses for their sins and trying to avoid Justice. While the Captain is greeting this hedonist who reminds him of all the people who went to hell in the Summer of 69 (1969 and a reference to another song Bryan Adams – Summer of '69 Lyrics | Genius Lyrics) the narrator is haunted by all the voices who greet him. Is this Heaven or is this Hell?
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
This is where he realizes he is in Hell. All those voices calling to him are people fighting the Beast within, fighting each other, fighting the beast literal and figurative. She sends him to his room, Tiffany Twisted, and he sees there is something completely wrong with this place.
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 check out any time you like,
But you can never leave!'
Remember the line is, 'you can check out any time you like,' that comes from the expression checking out meaning, dying. But once you go to Hell you can never leave. So, you can die at any time but if you are in Hell you are in Hell.
Here is the Album cover where you can see demons in the shadow in the background. Actually I can't put the picture here but here is an article on it.
feelnumb.com EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS: Location of the Ghostly Eagles “Hotel California” Lobby Gatefold Photo
I wouldn't go for official interpretations because the Eagles can never explain what the song means. Like a lot of Classic Rock (not all of it but a lot of it) I think it was written by other people and they are just commissioned to play it.
Cheers!
Here are the lyrics and I'll explain as I go along:
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.
This is the beginning of the song and this is where the person dies. He is driving through the Desert most like California. Colitas is weed, that's an old Spanish Term for a joint. He is probably drunk to be honest. An oncoming car hits him and he dies on impact not realizing he has died. So, he stops for the night at a Hotel.
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 is where the song really reveals itself about the whole thing. He doesn't know he is dead but wherever he is, he could be in Heaven or Hell. What does that say about 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 place)
Such a lovely face.
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year (any time of year) you can find it here
He is created by the people who know he is dead. They are as much stuck in the Hotel California as he will be. When they say there is plenty of room in the Hotel California that sounds like a response to the Bible verse, "there are many rooms (mansions) in my fathers house." Well, apparently there is also endless space in Hell.
Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes bends
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
The woman who greets him is termed someone that is Tiffany Twisted. I've looked around for this slang term, but I think it just means she is promiscuous, edgy and superficial. This is the typical person that would run Hell or the Hotel California. Making her, "friends," dance for her for eternity. These friends are more like slaves.
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 place)
Such a lovely face.
They livin' it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise (what a nice surprise), bring your alibis
Focus on the alibis, everyone making excuses for their sins and trying to avoid Justice. While the Captain is greeting this hedonist who reminds him of all the people who went to hell in the Summer of 69 (1969 and a reference to another song Bryan Adams – Summer of '69 Lyrics | Genius Lyrics) the narrator is haunted by all the voices who greet him. Is this Heaven or is this Hell?
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
This is where he realizes he is in Hell. All those voices calling to him are people fighting the Beast within, fighting each other, fighting the beast literal and figurative. She sends him to his room, Tiffany Twisted, and he sees there is something completely wrong with this place.
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 check out any time you like,
But you can never leave!'
Remember the line is, 'you can check out any time you like,' that comes from the expression checking out meaning, dying. But once you go to Hell you can never leave. So, you can die at any time but if you are in Hell you are in Hell.
Here is the Album cover where you can see demons in the shadow in the background. Actually I can't put the picture here but here is an article on it.
feelnumb.com EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS: Location of the Ghostly Eagles “Hotel California” Lobby Gatefold Photo
I wouldn't go for official interpretations because the Eagles can never explain what the song means. Like a lot of Classic Rock (not all of it but a lot of it) I think it was written by other people and they are just commissioned to play it.
Cheers!