History of Hotel California

The lyrics of the song describe the title establishment, a hotel where "you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave." On the surface, the song is a tale of a weary traveler who becomes trapped in a nightmarish hotel that at first appeared tempting. There are many urban legends about the meaning of this metaphor. The song is generally thought to be about the hedonism and self-destruction in the Hollywood music industry; the idea is that Hollywood is likened to a luxury hotel which is initially welcoming, but which ends up trapping its residents through their own self-destructive wiles ("we are all just prisoners here of our own device").

The original version of the song is performed in slow rock style, opening with a long, repeated acoustic twelve string guitar motif. During the verses, guitar and bass provide melodic counterpoint to the vocal. The end section of the song consists of a series of guitar solos building to a multi-layered variation on the opening theme with multiple guitars in chorus. The song is also well known for its guitar solos, which are performed by both Joe Walsh and Don Felder, with Glenn Frey playing rhythm guitar. The guitar solo has been ranked by many as one of the best guitar solos of all time.

Guys the meaning of the lyrics


The term "colitas" in the first stanza of the song is a Spanish term for "little tails." This is a reference to the buds of the marijuana plant, which contain higher concentrations of the psychoactive ingredient, THC, than other parts of the plant.

The references to courtyards and wine, coupled with the influx of iranians during that time points to a Sufi festival of Iranians (dissidents or establishment; probably both), who still make up a large percentage of the population in Los Angeles county. The minaret-like structures on the cover of the album also support this rumor.

The lyric "They stab it with their steely knives/But they just can't kill the beast" was widely believed to be a nod to Steely Dan's lyric "Turn up the Eagles, the neighbors are listening" in their song Everything You Did (and in the liner notes of The Very Best of the Eagles (2001), Glenn Frey confirmed this).

Urban legend has attributed the name "Hotel California" to many physical locations:
o The Church of Satan which happens to be located in a converted hotel on California Street. The Satanic Bible was also written in 1969, a year that is mentioned in the song. Some believe that the lyrics, " ... kill the beast," and "... that spirit here" refer to black magic. Also, others believe on their inside cover of the Hotel California album, looking down on the festivities, is either Satan or Anton LaVey, the founder of the Church of Satan. These rumors, however, were proven false.

o The California State Mental Hospital at Camarillo, so called by some of the staff who worked there. This interpretation is backed up by the lyric from the song: '"So I called up the captain, Please bring me my wine, He said "We haven't had that spirit here since 1969"'. The staff used to give wine to the patients to calm them before dinner. This practice was halted in 1969.

The lyrics "her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she's got the Mercedes bends" (NB bends rather than the typically used "Benz") both associate physical discomforts with expensive merchandise.

Some believe that the initials of [The] Hotel California may refer to tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive ingredient of the Cannabis plant, commonly abbreviated as THC.[citation needed]

It has been speculated that the song is also about drug rehab and the reference to stabbing the "beast" with "steely knives" refers to the cutting of cocaine prior to ingestion by nasal inhalation.

Additionally, there has been some speculation that the song refers to cancer and that the "hotel" is a hospital. The "stabbing" refers to surgery and the "beast" is a cancer or tumor