Have you not heard the most famous song Hotel California by The Eagles? Then you probably might have been living under a rock.

"Hotel California" is the title song from the Eagles' album of the same name and was released as a single in February 1977. It is one of the best-known songs of the album-oriented rock era.

Here's the lyrics of the song "Hotel California"

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 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

Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes bends
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys 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 place)
Such a lovely face
They livin' it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise (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
They 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 check-out any time you like,
But you can never leave! "

Interesting right? Have you ever really thought about the meaning of this song? I'm sure that first thing that comes to your mind ,must be Satanism. When this song was released in 1976, everyone heard it but no one really knew the meaning of this song. Some lyric parts such as this 

"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"

And also this diabolic line "You can check-out any time you like, But you can never leave! " made people naturally come to the conclusion that "Hotel California" is a song about Anton LaVey converting people to his church of Satanism, from which they could "never leave." 

Some other people believed that Hotel California was a real hotel  in Baja California near Santa Barbara, and the Eagles were venting about the hospitality industry. Others hypothesized that the band was referring to the Camarillo State Mental Hospital in Ventura County, and the meaning of the song is about Mental Illness and agony. An alternative interpretation of the meaning of the lyrics is that the song is a description of the journey from Need to Love and Marriage to Divorce and ultimately to the impossibility of regaining the life and happiness of the pre-divorce state. As the music critics view this song is an allegory about hedonism and self-destruction.The narrator is on an exotic experimental mind journey. The “Dark Desert Highway refers to a craving drug trip that has a disastrous aftermath. So basically they say that is song is about Cocaine addictions. 

Actually ... "Hotel California" has pretty much nothing to do with Satanism. The Eagles have admitted that it was a way of speaking against the greed and hedonism of the music industry in the 1970s 
they accepted the fact that they, themselves were drowning in to the drugs, money and women.
Listening to it, you get the sense that it is about something more than a man who made a poor choice of spending the night in a lodge. What do you feel when listening to it? Do you think it's about Satanism? Drug Addiction? Or Love, Marriage and Divorce? :) 


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Comments

  • There are many symbols in the text (read it again and think that why the writer should use such words); which we can infer this is a symbolic lyric.

    I doubt this song encourages Satanism, but it pictures an ecstasy lifestyle which will end up with slavery for Satan.

  • I always liked the song and had guessed what it was about. Nice to hear that the Eagles pretty much confirmed what I thought. I used to listen to the Eagles "On The Border" album when I was driving in my old car years ago.

  • Hotel California is about the persons who are suffering on their mistakes. They should have thought about that before they enter the darkness but too late now.

  • long way back i heard of this thing also about this song that its an anti-christ song and if u play it backwards you will hear somone saying "666"....i just heard it somewhere but i never tried to play it backwards. personally, i dont like this song.

  • I love this song! And I can say this Hotel California is kind of addicting to my ears,,,

    I doesn't  even knew that this song is some kind related to satanism as what some observer does.

    I only enjoyed it!!! :D

  • I love this song and when I read the text now I found there my own version :D Let me share it, dear Cup ;-) I wont make him freaky, satanist or drug addicted, I think he fell in love with woman and Hotel California isnt anything real but state of his mind - some pleasure he got when he was with her. Later he came to know she is into many other guys and it made him sad since he wanted to drink but couldntforget her :) in the end she admitted her life sucks and maybe they both decided to commit suicide. Actually, Night man was God who informed him that once he is dead there is no way back :o tadaaam now all critics can stare at my interpretation :D
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