Story (Link)
(Teacher Lee’s interpretation)
This is a spooky song about a traveler on a dark lonely highway (Line 01) who sees a shimmering hotel ahead in the distance (03). Inexplicably, he suddenly becomes very fatigued (tired and sleepy) (04), which forces him to stop at the hotel and stay for the night (05). Upon entering the hotel, he is met by a beautiful woman who invites him in (06). He then hears the ominous gong of a church bell (07) and, for a moment, a thought flashes into his mind that he could possibly be entering Heaven (a place of extreme happiness) or Hell (a place of extreme torment) (08-09). The hotel seems very plush and inviting at first, and he imagines that he hears voices welcoming him to the hotel (12-18).
Then he learns that things are not what they seem (he suspects something is wrong) (19-37). He attends a feast (a banquet or a large, fancy meal) in a large room (38-39) and discovers some kind of monster (40) that is perhaps going to feast on (eat) the guests instead! The guests try to kill the beast with steel knives but they can’t hurt it (40-41). He flees from the room (42-43) and tries to leave the hotel (44-45) but finds that he is trapped in the hotel forever and can never leave (47-40). It is at this moment that he realizes that his previous musing thought was prophetic — he has indeed entered Hell.
(Wikipedia’s interpretation)
The lyrics weave a surrealistic tale in which a weary traveler checks into a luxury hotel. The hotel at first appears inviting and tempting, but it turns out to be a nightmarish place where “you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave”. The song is an allegory about hedonism, self-destruction, and greed in the music industry of the late 1970s. Don Henley called it “our interpretation of the high life in Los Angeles” and later reiterated: “It’s basically a song about the dark underbelly of the American dream and about excess in America, which is something we knew a lot about.”
In 2008, Don Felder described the origins of the lyrics: Don Henley and Glenn wrote most of the words. All of us kind of drove into Los Angles (L.A.) at night. Nobody was from California, and if you drive into L.A. 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.
Lyrics
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On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
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Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
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Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
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My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
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I had to stop for the night
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There she stood in the doorway;
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I heard the mission bell
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And I was thinking to myself,
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“This could be Heaven or this could be Hell”
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Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
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There were voices down the corridor,
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I thought I heard them say…
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Welcome to the Hotel California
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Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)
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Such a lovely face
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Plenty of room at the Hotel California
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Any time of year (Any time of year)
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You can find it here
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Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes bends
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She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys she calls friends
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How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
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Some dance to remember, some dance to forget
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So I called up the Captain,
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“Please bring me my wine”
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He said, “We haven’t had that spirit here since nineteen sixty-nine”
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And still those voices are calling from far away,
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Wake you up in the middle of the night
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Just to hear them say…
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Welcome to the Hotel California
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Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)
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Such a lovely face
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They’re living it up at the Hotel California
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What a nice surprise (what a nice surprise)
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4 Bring your alibis
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Mirrors on the ceiling,
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The pink champagne on ice
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And she said “We are all just prisoners here, of our own device”
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And in the master’s chambers,
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They gathered for the feast
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They stab it with their steely knives,
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But they just can’t kill the beast
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Last thing I remember, I was
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Running for the door
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I had to find the passage back
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To the place I was before
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“Relax,” said the night man,
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“We are programmed to receive.
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You can check-out any time you like,
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But you can never leave!
Questions for the Students
1.Many listeners have their own interpretation of what this song is saying. What does this song mean to you?
2.If you were about to enter a place that suddenly sent chill bumps down your back (made you feel suddenly unsafe), what would you do? Would you go in anyway?
3.Are you a hedonist?
Grammar Analysis
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A “shimmering light” (03) could refer to a mirage, which is an image that is so faint (dim) and indistinct (blurry) that you aren’t sure if it’s real or imagined. (This sentence uses a “so-that” clause.)
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(11) He didn’t hear people talking; he heard “voices”. Stating it this way implies that he may be thinking that these voices were those of disembodied ghosts rather than living people.
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(13-18) Hotel California seems to be an ideal place to stay — lots of nice places and pretty faces, lots of room, and all available anytime of the year.
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(19) This line refers to greed by using two double entendres. A twisted mind is an insane mind. Tiffany’s is the name of a famous jewelry store in New York City that sells very expensive diamonds. “Tiffany-twisted” sounds like “definitely twisted”. Is she crazy or does she just like diamonds?” The bends” is a life-threatening illness caused by scuba diving too long or too deep. Mercedes Benz” is an expensive car for rich people. Is she rich or is she dying or perhaps already dead?
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(20) “She calls friends” means that, though she calls them friends, they may not be friends in reality. She may be a rich, shallow person who doesn’t really care about her “friends” at all. She may just keep them around to amuse her. They may be her “toy boys” (young men who offer sexual favors to rich women).
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(22) This line expresses the grief of the loss of a loved one (dance to remember) or the guilt of a past, bad sin (dance to forget).
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(24) Wine is usually used to celebrate a happy event. This line could imply that this hotel has had nothing to celebrate since 1969, which implies it is now a sad place to stay. In 1969, the USA landed an American on the moon. The vehicle was named “Eagle”. In that year, America enjoyed a great sense of pride and patriotism. No event since then has made us feel so optimistic and hopeful about the future.
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(27) Hearing voices that wake you up in the middle of the night (long after bedtime) is unusual. Why are these “people” awake so late? What are they doing? Are they doing something nefarious (evil) perhaps?
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(33) A “nice surprise” could refer to a newly discovered forbidden pleasure. (34) An alibi is an excuse, usually a lie, concocted to “prove” that you could not have done some sinful or evil action that you are accused of doing.
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(35-36) Honeymoon suites in a hotel (or rooms in a motel for illicit sex) may have mirrors on the ceiling so a couple having sex on the bed can see themselves in the mirror on the ceiling. This may be a turn-on (slang for something that excites you sexually) to some people. Pink champagne is often provided to newlyweds to celebrate their happy event (just married).
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(37) “To be a prisoner of your own device” means that you have done something evil for so long that circumstances force you to continue doing it whether you want to or not. In other words, you can’t stop doing something evil.
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(40) Normally we would say “steel”, not “steely”. “Steely” was used here as a “salute” to a musical group called Steely Dan. Steely Dan referred to the Eagles in one of their Steely Dan songs (which is a “salute” to the Eagles’ fame, of sorts), so the Eagles returned the “salute” by mentioning “Steely” in this Eagles song.
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(47-49) These lines tell the traveler that he is trapped in Hotel California forever. While he may think he is free (you can check out anytime), in reality he is a prisoner forever (you can never leave). He has entered Hell (or perhaps Purgatory).
