Upon extensive research into the origins and meanings of the song "Hotel California" by the Eagles, we have come to the conclusion that the song is most probably about disillusionment. We have weighed several different interpretations of the song and discovered the ties and flaws in all of them. Our research began at the local public library as we searched for sources specific to the song and its creators. However, since "Hotel California" is not a major literary work, we were hard pressed to find anything significant on it. Hoping for better luck, we ventured to a university library; however, finding a reliable reference person was next to impossible. The sources we attempted to locate were lost, so we had to resort to abstract thinking and drawing on our own literary knowledge to find parallels in the song. Once we had a start, we could return to the public library to find sources related to the theories we developed, and search the internet for related topics.

Drawing on our findings, we have established a relatively clear interpretation of the song. "Hotel California" is about many things: drugs, magic, change, and most of all disillusionment. Two of our favored theories, the music industry theory and the commercialization of California theory, are closely related and differ only in a microcosm/ macrocosm fashion. The Eagles may have been trying to portray the dark side to the pleasant image of California and its music industry. In fact, "Hotel California" may be semi-autobiographical. The Eagles started out as an idealistic young group ready to explore the country roots of rock and to create music worth listening to. As Don Henley says, "We were young, and the times were exciting, and the future stretched out before us." (DeCurtis, 90) Just as the future lay before the Eagles, the highway of life lay before the singer in "Hotel California". Ahead of the Eagles were the shimmering lights of Hollywood, a life in California, and a career in the music industry. The Hotel which the song centers upon could be a symbol for several things: fame, the music industry, or the change of California itself. Waiting to greet the singer is a woman who leads him through his new surroundings. Possible interpretations to her identity include Linda Ronstadt, a longtime friend of the Eagles who helped them get their start in the music business (Tsang), or she could represent the vision of glory that was always present in the band members, a vision which Henley felt wedded to (DeCurtis, 93). The hotel seems wonderful from the outside, but as time passes, it loses its appeal. Corruption runs rampant, wealth and power have twisted the beauty of the state, its people and the music that comes from it. Agents and politicians had all the power (Tsang), and the idealism of the sixties had passed. "The dream was unfulfilled. In the late Seventies greed reared its ugly head. We turned from a society that was concerned with our brother and our fellow man into a society that was very self-centered, self-concerned, about money and power." (DeCurtis, 93) Sensing the desecration of their Shangri-La, The Eagles fell into the California subculture of drugs, sex and parties, and eventually fell apart. Just as the singer in "Hotel California" can never escape the trap he has laid for himself, The Eagles are plagued still with hordes of fans, lack of privacy, and the memories of a lost era (DeCurtis, 94).

 A: The California Commercialization Theory. "On One of These Nights," the Eagles began to examine the dark side of the California dream, a concern that grew into an obsession on Hotel California, (1976)…" (DeCurtis 90) ***abbrev. "CalCom"***

B: The Drug Theory -- The song tells the story of the use of drugs in California.   It also recounts a personal battle with addiction. ***abbrev. "Drug"***

C: The Religious Theory – 1) The song is about religion, cults, and their       growing influence on the culture. "(Frey) I mean, we covered it, from love to sex to drugs to the future of the planet to… (Henley) Religion." (DeCurtis 92) 2) The song tells about Charles Manson, his influence on people, and the murders of Sharon Tate and others.***abbrev. "Cult"***

D: The Music Industry Theory – "There was a time during 1976, 1977, where the record business went crazy. That was when Hotel California came out…" (DeCurtis 90)  ***abbrev. "Music"***

CalCom:  The narrator, an unknown person, is leaving his home, a place in the dark about Californian lifestyles. He is traveling through the desert unaware of what he will find in California. "Traveling over an unknown road signifies new undertakings, which will bring little else than grief and loss of time." (Miller, 189)

Cult: Taking the symbolism of the 2nd-4th words of the line, a highway would symbolize a journey or life's path, the darkness would symbolize evil, or a difficulty seeing.  Lostness and deserts biblically symbolize temptation.   This person is out, lost and alone in life, looking for acceptance.

Music:  "We were young, and the times were exciting, and the world lay stretched out before us…" (DeCurtis 90) The desert in the song could be used as a symbol of loneliness, and naivety. The band is just starting out, cruising around, looking for a break. (Tsang)

Note:  A highway could symbolize a journey. The desert suggests that he is lost, and the narrator is in danger of being tempted. The cool wind show's that he is on the move.

CalCom:  Marijuana was prevalent in the hippie culture, a symbol of the old life. "Marijuana is the basic black-bread staple of the hippie world." (Yablonsky, 22)

Drug:  "Colitas" is a slang word for Marijuana (Adams).

Cult:  The warm smell was enticing, luring him from the dark and cold of the desert like a spell.

Music:  The California rock star lifestyle and drug culture, symbolized by an entrancing, drug related smell, were luring him towards Hollywood. (Tsang)

Note: After two lines denoting coldness, we have a reference to warmth; the narrator is getting closer to something hot (California). Colitas refers to colas, the tips (and most potent part) of the marijuana plant.

CalCom:  He sees a to stop, and he is probably tired. They are the lights of Hollywood. Hollywood is an attractive destination for a lost soul. (DeCurtis 90)

Drug: He is using a hallucinogenic drug, and his vision is obscured. Long term abuse of a hallucinogenic drug can cause delusions (Silverstein 189).

Cult: Satan was called the "Angel of Light." He sees a "shimmering light" which symbolizes the inherent evil to which the place he is going.

Music: In reference to his first arrival to Los Angeles, Henley said : "And of course, I had never seen a grid of lights like that in my life. It just went on forever." (DeCurtis 90) The band is nearing their destination: Hollywood literally, and fame symbolically.

Note:  Shimmering suggests that he can not clearly see his goal. 

CalCom:  He's tired after travel and the night life, and the colitas he smoked on the way probably did not help his state of mind. "Grass" often caused a happy confusion, leading to drowsiness." (Yablonsky 24)

Drug:  Long term marijuana users are described as "burn outs" and "space cadets"; they are not able to move very fast and look and act dull (Berger 45).

Cult:  He is being drawn into something powerful (a cult/Satan) that has obscured his vision.

Music:  The band is naïve, tired of fighting their way up, and is ready to be established into the music industry. (Tsang)

CalCom:  She represents an experienced party girl who can show the narrator the new Californian lifestyle. (Conelly)

Cult:  "She" could be any number of people some of which include Hecate, a witch, Xerxes, an enchantress, a temptress, a Siren, or a cult leader. Someone to draw him into evil.

Music:  "She" could represent a female rock star who has already made a name for herself and acts as a kind of mother figure to help the band start up. Possibly she is Linda Ronstadt, who gave The Eagles their break. (Tsang) Or on a completely different note, she could symbolize the vision of fame and glory that held the band together. "We were wedded to the muse or that vision—whatever it was…" (DeCurtis 93)

Note:  Whoever she is, she is a welcome sight after long cold hours of travel.

CalCom:  The bell could symbolize chance or fate. His entering this life is a major step, a major change for him.

Drug:  Bell ringing might be another hallucination (Silverstein 189).

Cult:  A Satanic church was built on Mission Blvd. Also, cult members often go out and "missionary" for new members. A bell is also one of the objects used in excommunication.

Note:  In For Whom the Bell Tolls a bell is used to signify death in the book by Ernest Hemingway and in a song with the same name by Metallica. This meaning signifies chance, as one never knows who the bell is ringing for.

CalCom: Heaven and Hell represent the duality of the California lifestyle; a paradise on the surface, but also a dark underworld. "…Hotel California's depiction of a gorgeous paradise - the American aspiration - transformed into a kind of sunny hell of unsatisfying pleasure." (DeCurtis 90)

Drug: The instant gratification of drugs. Is it worth it? (Friedman 46).

Cult:  He is losing touch with reality, falling into the occult.

Music:  The band is weighing the consequences of entering the industry. They could become a major music icon, but fame has its price. (Tsang)

Note:  He is having self doubt and inner conflict.

CalCom:  More duality. Either she is helping him deal with the culture shock of the California night life versus his former life, or she is showing him how to use drugs. (Connelly)

Drug:  She is showing him how to smoke cocaine.

Cult:  He is being initiated into a cult, or being taught black magic. "The Way" is often used in religious circles, implying a cult. The candle is another symbol of excommunication.

Music:  The Hotel could be a symbol for the industry. Whoever "she" is, she is showing him around California, and the California lifestyle, teaching him about the sex orgies, drugs and styles that come with the territory. (Tsang)

Note:  The candle either symbolizes understanding, enlightenment and the truth or fire and mystery.

CalCom:  The voices could be in his subconscious. (Connelly)

Drug:  Voices may be hallucinations or other addicts speaking to him, luring him on.

Cult:  If he were in a cult, voices would be dead spirits communicating with him, or possibly other cult members, nameless and faceless in the shadows.

Music:  They might be spirits of dead musicians, memories calling from the past, welcoming a new group to the music industry trap. Or, less obtusely, the voices could be Hollywood sleaze-type people like agents, who are eager to get their claws into a new band. (Tsang)

Note:  Are these voices real people or is he going crazy?

CalCom:  Big business (the enemy) is trying to entice people to come to paradise. "They are lines from the big business– tourists and plastic surgery" (Connelly)

Drug:  Drug use has an attractive, popular front. "Hotel California could be a metaphor for cocaine addiction (Adams).

Cult:  He is welcomed into the cult by other members. There is a positive outward appearance of membership.

Music:  This would be the superficiality of the music industry in all its glory. Agents and publicists try to tell the band how nice it will be to be a star, and welcome them to the lifestyle. (Tsang)

Note:  Things may not be what they seem to be. The voices are reassuring him that all is well.

CalCom:  Temperate weather drew people into California, which meant money for big businesses. (Connelly see 10 A)

Drug:  There is always room for a new addict. Drug use is continuous year round.

Cult: The cult is always on the lookout for new members, and is enticing him to join.

Music:  Hollywood agents are always on the lookout for new talent, hence there would be plenty of room in the industry for new people to be exploited. (Tsang)

Note:  The California population is often rising due in part to the good climate.

CalCom:  The woman, and California, have become materialistic and money driven. "There was, even in the early seventies, too much emphasis on packaging." (DeCurtis 93)

Drug:  She has been warped by drugs and money.

Cult:  The Manson family cult wrecked a Mercedes.

Music:  Tiffany's is a symbol of wealth and jewelry, saying that Tiffany is twisted shows that there is something strangely wrong with the wealth and status that "she" has attained. Saying that the Mercedes is bent, or crashed, reveals a flaw in the way "she" lives her life, she goes to fast and has to pay. (Tsang) Following the logic that "she" is the vision, this line would show how the dreams the band had were becoming warped by the power of the industry and its money.

Note:  The Bends, in diving lingo, occur when the diver rises to fast and the air dissolved in the blood stream does not have adequate time to pressurize, leading to dizziness, confusion, loss of motor skills, or death. She may be literally twisted by wealth, perhaps by rising to wealth too quickly?

CalCom:  "The boys represent the rising homosexual population." (Connelly)

Drugs:  She may be the drug dealer and the boys are her customers.

Cult:  The boys may be cult members. Some cults castrated their male members, making them, as some would say, "pretty."

Music:  The boys could be fans of the female rock star, or groupies that she hangs out and has sex with. (Tsang)

Note:  Is she California, or a person in California? Repetition here is important. It would be too simple if they were actually just friends. She is using them, or they are using her, or they are more than just friends.

CalCom:  One author describing the California sixties party culture: "The drums, combined with clanging tambourines, inevitably produce a young girl who begins to sway and undulate with the music. Often a shirtless male will appear and after much teasing the couple appears to simulate fornication." (Yablonsky 202)

Drug:  The dancing and sweating could be a drug induced frenzy.

Cult:  This could be an occult ceremony with dancing and orgies.

Music:  Dancing in a courtyard and sweating could represent concerts given on a stage which would involve both motion and exhaustion, or it could be parties and sex after a concert.

Note: The writer didn't see this as a bad thing. The summer sweat is sweet, "How they dance" implies fond memories.

CalCom:  These were people's reasons for coming to California; either for a personal discovery or to get away from home. (Connelly)

Drug:  These people are using drugs because they cannot deal with the disappointments of life (Silverstein 17).

Cult:  Remembering and forgetting are the cult member's reasons for joining, either for revenge or an escape.

Music:  The music industry often ruined the musician's lives, so they sometimes would resort to nostalgia and escapism. The people dancing, probably musicians, want to remember the past, the good old days, to forget the problems of the present. (Tsang)

Note:  Both remembering and forgetting mean one thing; discontent with the present.

CalCom:  The captain could be a head waiter in ritzy restaurants. This is a symbol of the glamorous California lifestyle. (Connelly)

Drug: Captain could be a drug dealer.

Cult:  Captain might be a cult leader, Satan, a demon, or Pilate (see below). He could also be a priest the speaker has gone to to repent his sins.

Music: The Captain might be some sort of agent or a drug dealer to the stars. The narrator of the song is coming to him to ask a favor. (Tsang)

Note:  Regardless, the captain is some sort of authority or power figure.

CalCom:  Wine often symbolizees peace. That's what California once was all about. (Connelly)

Drug:  The speaker wants a fix.

Cult:  This might be a sacrificial wine for some ceremony, or as referred to above, Jesus cried "I thirst" and was brought bitter wine by the Romans. The singer is calling for help, but to no avail.

Music:  This line could mean one of two things. First, the narrator could be calling out to the Captain so he can get high because he has become disillusioned. Still being young and new to the scene, wine would probably be enough to let him temporarily escape. (Tsang) Another possibility is that the musician is more seasoned now and is longing for the halcyon days of his success. Henley stated: "I seem to remember that the wine was the best and the drugs were good…" (DeCurtis 92)

Note:  Wine has a dual nature, it is archetypically good, wholesome and holy, and yet has a dark side. Which aspect does the singer want?

CalCom:  The (human) spirit (of love) has been gone since 1969, the "Summer of Love." (Connelly)

Drug:  Drugs had replaced traditional wine as the source for amusement.

Cult:  The (holy) spirit has been gone since the construction of the satanic church in 1969. Drugs have replaced wine (or maybe blood has).

Music:  In the later seventies, heavy drugs were more prevalent than they had been before. The Captain could be saying that lighter drugs, like the ones that were around during Woodstock in 1969, were now obsolete, or tame like wine. (Tsang)  Or he could be referring to a notion that the soul had gone out of music since the end of the sixties.

Note:  Spirit may mean alcohol or human spirit.

Music:  Depending on which viewpoint you look at the voices from, either they are hallucinations brought about by the musician's recent drug use, or on a more concrete level, they are agents and publicists reassuring the band that everything will work out. They repeat the welcome, drawing the band further into the industry trap. (Tsang)

Note:  Basically, things aren't getting any better, the earlier voices (from #9) still haunt him.

Note:  They are waking him up just so they can repeat themselves, these are some adamant voices.

CalCom:  More Parties. "The ceremony began around 1:00 p.m. with the consumption of large amounts of beer and wine. Before long a large percintage of the group began to smoke pot and drop acid." (Yablonsky 202)

Drug:  They live it up at parties and use a lot of drugs.

Cult:  Cult members possibly engaging in various rituals.

Music:  ". . . [Henley] implied that his years as a Seventies rocker consisted of little more than pointless excess." (DeCurtis 90)

Note: "Livin' it up" does not necessarily mean happy

Note:  You need to be prepared to explain whatever trouble you get yourself into with any of the scenarios.

CalCom:  Promiscuity was prevalent in California. "We became the symbo for that 'laid back, rich and don't-give-a-shit California lifestyle." (DeCurtis 94)

Drug:  Prostitution and drugs go hand in hand. Mirrors might refer to razorblades used for snorting cocaine.

Cult:  In the Manson case, this is what Sharon Tate's room looked like.

Music:  "Lots of money was spent on parties and champagne and limos and drugs." (DeCurtis 92) The champagne and the mirrors could represent the lavish lifestyles and sex lives of musicians. (Tsang)

Note:  Champagne usually means either celebration or seduction. In this case, with the mirrors,  it is probably seduction.

CalCom:  "This is why we came to California. It just got bigger than we ever expected it to. It kind of scared us, I guess." (DeCurtis 93)

Drug:  People cannot escape their addiction.

Cult:  Once in a cult, they rarely let you leave.

Music:  The fame the band sought has trapped them in the public eye. (Tsang) In one of Henley's other songs, The Sad Café, he says "I don't know why fortune smiles on some/ And lets the rest go free." (DeCurtis 89) The Eagles probably felt like they had lost their freedom to success.

CalCom:  "Huge commercial companies are about to clean up [financially] in California" (Connelly)

Drug:  This could be druggies at their dealer's house to get hooked up.

Cult:  1)  The arrangement seems similar to when the Romans were judging Jesus.     2)  Or could be cult members are gathering for a ceremony or ritual.

Music:  To cope with the depression brought about by such and empty lifestyle, the musicians would be gathering in their masters' chambers to do drugs. (Tsang) Who the master is is unclear, possibly he is a producer or agent.

Note:  This could be a reference to the a sort of Last Supper arrangement, one final gathering before an end.

CalCom:  "It" is commercialism, and the stabbers are those who want the old California back. (Connelly)

Drug:  Razor blades for cocaine and needles would represent steely knives.

Cult:   1)  A Roman soldier stabbed Jesus with his sword after Jesus had died. He had been crucified and the soldier stabbed him for good measure. Steely knives could symbolize the uncaring crowd that allowed Jesus to become martyr.    2)   This act of barbarianism has also been linked to the Mansons' killing the pregnant Sharon Tate by stabbing her brutally multiple times.

Music:  "Music started to become very urban oriented, a reflection of the concrete and steel and the pace." (DeCurtis 92) The steely knives could represent a change in music styles of the times; musician's anger at life coming out in their songs. Another interpretation of the steely knives is drug paraphernalia, most likely razor blades used to make cocaine lines. (Tsang)

Note:  Stabbing denotes a desperate attempt to eradicate somthing.

CalCom:  They can not get rid of commercialism. (Connelly) "In the late seventies greed reared its ugly head . . . For all the publicity about the baby-boom generation and how we were going to change the world, we weeren't in control. The same people who had always been in control were still in control." (DeCurtis 93)

Drug:  They can't stop their pain, no matter how many drugs they take

Cult:  Jesus did not die after the cruscifiction; he over came death by being resurrected. Jesus is the beast for occcult groups. The Devil is the beast for Christians, the Antichrist to whom all evil is attributed. The teaching of Jesus go against the beliefs of the occult, therefore he is their beast.

Music:  "The beast [the industry] wanted to be fed. We tried to feed it and we were pretty much paralyzed." (DeCurtis 92-3) In the context of this quotation, the beast would be the corruption in the industry that the band was helpless to remedy.

Note:  With any of the theories, there are no easy answers, there is no ultimate end to the problems of evil and suffering.

CalCom:  The fight was futile. Has hit rock bottom and wants to get away from California. (Connelly)

Drug:  "Last thing I remember" could be memory loss due to drug use

Cult:  He is trying to get out of the cult, but is caught and brainwashed.

Music:  "Last thing I remember. . ." implies that the musician has died or killed himself. He was running for the door, looking for a way out of stardom, but it was to no avail. Perhaps he has become one of the phantom voices that lines the corridor. (Tsang)

CalCom:  He is ready to go home. (Connelly)

Drug:  He wants to release himself from the addiction.

Cult:  He wants to leave the cult, but does not know how.

Music:  He probably decided that fame was not worth the price, and wants his privacy back. (Tsang) ". . . The Eagles had come to see the superstardom they enjoyed in the [early] seventies as a kind of curse that generated dissention among the band's members." (DeCurtis 89)

Note:  Whatever it is, he wants out.

CalCom:  The nightman is the corporate conglomerate (Connelly)

Drug:  Nightman could be a dealer comforting spooked users

Cult:  The nightman could be Satan

Note:  Of course, it could just be a night watchman, not some grandiose symbol.

CalCom:  One way door. California will never be the same. (Connelly)

Drug:  Easier to start drugs than to get off of them.

Cult:  Lack of free will in the cult. Bringing in new members.

Music:  The industry is designed to take in new musicians and reap all the profit off of them possible.

Note: "Programmed" suggests lack of free will.

CalCom:  You can leave California, but the memory will stay with you forever. (Connelly)

Drug:  You can rehab, but you are never truly free of addiction.

Cult:  You can change you mind at any time, but you cannot get out.

Music:  The musician was naïve to think that he could actually leave the industry. Once one becomes a part of the system, there is no way to escape. (Tsang)

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