What do you think The Eagles' song "Hotel California" is about?

1. 69

   m920621mposted 14 years ago

   What do you think The Eagles' song "Hotel California" is about?
   
   The lyrics seem really creepy and scary to me. And the song itself sounds somewhat mysterious. I wonder what it's about.

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2. 59

   BobbiRantposted 14 years ago

   According to Don Henley, the song was about the excess of  American culture and about the uneasy balance between art and commerce.

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3. 65

   Antonia Monacelliposted 14 years ago

   Lots of listeners have given their own interpretations, including the believe that it's really about a mental institution, or a hotel that was converted in the "Church of Satan". 
   
   According the band though, it's not about either of those things; it's just about what they saw around them.  It is basically about sex, drugs & rock n' roll; hedonism, self-destruction, and the seedy underbelly of life in California during that time, especially in the music industry.

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4. 78

   Wesman Todd Shawposted 14 years ago

   The beauty of timeless song and poetry, etc, is that you form your own meaning from it, and that too is relevant.

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5. 60

   tobey100posted 14 years ago

   I don't think anyone really knows for sure.  I do remember Glenn Frey once stating that at the time Hotel California was written the Eagles were listening to tons of Steely Dan stuff and loved the way they could make what Don Henley called successful 'junk'.  Frey called these types of songs 'Junk Sculpture' because they were esentially about nothing but worked as a song regardless.  Bottom line....who knows.  I remember back when the song came out lots of people claimed it was about Satanism.  Course back then, any song that was different was Satanism.

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6. 61

   Diane Woodsonposted 12 years ago

   I did a little research into this so as to give all of us a really good picture of the composing of this song, This link will give you a better insight into it. Don Henley along with two other songwriters did this song. I have always thought it was an expose on California and the things the Eagles experienced there in the 70's which were very interesting to the 70's Hippie generation. Here is the more in depth link.
   http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1121  I have a group on facebook which dels with the Eagles and is entitled the eagles long road out of eden, please feel free to join us there.... this is a great question as so many listeners thru the years have interpretations of song lyrics all of their own and its great to know what the actual songwriters were thinking as they composed songs....

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