What is meant "Hotel California"?

[WinterBorn]

I think he lied. Mention of the word "California" clearly has a political connotation.

I think you have been given the answer to your question. And Flash quoted the man who wrote the song.

You have no basis for claiming it is a lie, except that it is unlike what you supposed it was.

 

[justaschmuck9]

It's some kind of metaphor, what does it mean? What did they mean?

Also, what is he singing about here:

So I called up the Captain
Please bring me my wine
He said, 'We haven't had that spirit here"
"Since 1969"

Does this have anything to do with California's alcohol bans? Has there been a ban since 1969?

some pastor explained this song in the 80s, can't recall whom it was but he said that there was a hotel, not sure it was originally named California but anyhow, Anton LeVay took over and made it a place to worship Satan.

We haven't had that spirit here since 1969 means the hotel was taken over by Satanist LeVay in 1969 and wine represents the Holy Spirit.

We are all just prisoners here of our own device. A device is some sin a Satanists uses to get Satan to do something or other, I believe

and I can't recall the other lyrics.. or meanings thereof

 

[Devils_Advocate]

The answer was given and you can not understand for some reason… Also, prohibition was not happening in California back in 1969, but you might have had dry counties which you would have no clue about.

 

[JOSweetHeart]

I love this copy of the song.



God bless you and the remaining members of the band always!!!

Holly

P.S. I will admit that I always thought that the song was about drug and alcohol rehab.

 

[Concerned American]

It's some kind of metaphor, what does it mean? What did they mean?

Also, what is he singing about here:

So I called up the Captain
Please bring me my wine
He said, 'We haven't had that spirit here"
"Since 1969"

Does this have anything to do with California's alcohol bans? Has there been a ban since 1969?

CA does not have alcohol bans. They have some of the most liberal alcohol laws in the country--lowest alcohol prices too. You are asking a question about a song that was written about a hotel that is in Baja California Sur, Mexico. The song also references "the warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air." A clear reference to marijuana use. Colitas translates to little tails or marijuana cigarette butts, or roaches. You are reading too much reality into a fictional event--kind of like being stuck in Lodi again.

 

[Concerned American]

The answer was given and you can not understand for some reason… Also, prohibition was not happening in California back in 1969, but you might have had dry counties which you would have no clue about.

No dry counties in CA, LOL neither is the Hotel California--its in Baja.

 

[Rigby5]

The band was mostly not from CA, and it was the ultimate in fame, fortune, indulgence, etc.
{...
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"
...}
This about the whole state of CA and their entrance into fame and fortune, not a particular woman.

{...
So I called up the Captain, "Please bring me my wine"
He said, "We haven't had that spirit here since 1969"
...}
The hippie movement was the ultimate of innocence, and that was over by 1969 in CA.
After that, CA was corrupted by money, power, fame, hard drugs, etc.

{...
They livin' it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise (what a nice surprise)
Bring your alibis"
...}
With the good also comes the bad, like crimes, lawsuits, etc.

{...
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
...}
The problem with drugs is they don't really make your life better, but worse, so you need more and stronger drugs to forget, but they can't kill their memories of regrets, mistakes, opportunities, etc., lost to drugs, etc.

{...
You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave"
...}
"Checking out" is suicide.

 

[Rigby5]

The answer was given and you can not understand for some reason… Also, prohibition was not happening in California back in 1969, but you might have had dry counties which you would have no clue about.

No, there were no "dry" counties in CA.
They make too much on the grape and wine industries.
Not having the "spirit" since 1969 was the innocence of the hippie generation.

 

[rupol2000]

The band was mostly not from CA, and it was the ultimate in fame, fortune, indulgence, etc.
{...
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"
...}
This about the whole state of CA and their entrance into fame and fortune, not a particular woman.

{...
So I called up the Captain, "Please bring me my wine"
He said, "We haven't had that spirit here since 1969"
...}
The hippie movement was the ultimate of innocence, and that was over by 1969 in CA.
After that, CA was corrupted by money, power, fame, hard drugs, etc.

Hippies are leftist Kennedy pigs. I'm sure it was the other way around. in 69 Nixon came in and put California in order. The heyday of California during the time of Reagan, it became the center of the world, the Symbol of Heaven on earth and the center of technology.

And the hardest drug is alcohol

 

[rupol2000]

No, there were no "dry" counties in CA.
They make too much on the grape and wine industries.
Not having the "spirit" since 1969 was the innocence of the hippie generation.

That's exactly what I assumed. Nixon did away with the hippie pigs.

 

[Rigby5]

Hippies are leftist Kennedy pigs. I'm sure it was the other way around. in 69 Nixon came in and put California in order. The heyday of California during the time of Reagan, it became the center of the world, the Symbol of Heaven on earth and the center of technology.

And the hardest drug is alcohol

What?
Hippies were anti Vietnam war, which was the fault of Kennedy, so hippies disliked Kennedy.
Nixon did nothing, since he slipped into total seclusion.

Reagan is hard for me to remember, but originally he was a liberal, and a union representative and supporter.
But while conservatives supported him, in many ways he acted like a liberal.
{...
Reagan campaigned as a tax cutter, promising to squeeze, cut, and trim. Once in office he froze government hiring but increased spending by 9%. He worked with Democrat Jess Unruh, the Assembly Speaker, to secure a series of tax increases that raised rates and balanced the budget, while also cutting property taxes. The sales tax was raised from 3% to 5%. The highest income tax bracket saw a rise from 7% tax to 10%. Taxes on banks, corporate profits, and inheritance were increased slightly. Liquor taxes jumped from $1.50 to $2.00 per gallon; and cigarette taxes from three cents to ten cents per pack.
...}

 

[Rigby5]

That's exactly what I assumed. Nixon did away with the hippie pigs.

No, Nixon did nothing.
What did in the Hippies was drugs, money, fame, corruption, cynicism, etc.
Nixon was president and unconcerned with CA until 1974 when he had to resign.

 

[rupol2000]

What?
Hippies were anti Vietnam war, which was the fault of Kennedy, so hippies disliked Kennedy.
Nixon did nothing, since he slipped into total seclusion.

Reagan is hard for me to remember, but originally he was a liberal, and a union representative and supporter.
But while conservatives supported him, in many ways he acted like a liberal.
{...
Reagan campaigned as a tax cutter, promising to squeeze, cut, and trim. Once in office he froze government hiring but increased spending by 9%. He worked with Democrat Jess Unruh, the Assembly Speaker, to secure a series of tax increases that raised rates and balanced the budget, while also cutting property taxes. The sales tax was raised from 3% to 5%. The highest income tax bracket saw a rise from 7% tax to 10%. Taxes on banks, corporate profits, and inheritance were increased slightly. Liquor taxes jumped from $1.50 to $2.00 per gallon; and cigarette taxes from three cents to ten cents per pack.
...}

Hippies appeared when Kennedy came, they preached leftist disgusting, and drugs were probably obtained by theft, robbery and murder.

The Reagan era was the heyday of the United States, the hippie period is the decline. Nixon just started cleaning hippie dirt

 

[Rigby5]

Hippies appeared when Kennedy came, they preached leftist disgusting, and drugs were probably obtained by theft, robbery and murder.

The Reagan era was the heyday of the United States, the hippie period is the decline. Nixon just started cleaning hippie dirt

Wrong.
Hippies evolved from beatnecks, like Maynard G. Krebs, in the "Dobie Gillis Show".
They preached going back to primitive tribalism, with simple humanistic values.
Drugs were inexpensive pot and LSD, which was virtually free and there was no one pushing them for profit.
Hippies were the opposite of crime, theft, robbery, or murder.
That was left for the industrialists and politicians.

Reagan nearly destroyed the entire country.
His SDI and massive military spending caused such a huge deficit that we never recovered.

 

[fncceo]

I don't know, any restrictions on alcohol consumption maybe?

In 1969?

You could drink or smoke anything.

 

[fncceo]

Hippies appeared when Kennedy came

So did the Space Program.

 

[Riff Raff]

According to the first result in my search engine:

Glenn Frey was the mastermind behind the lyrics to the Eagles' "Hotel California," along with band members Don Henley and Don Felder.

The Eagles' band members have revealed in multiple interviews that the true meaning behind "Hotel California" is a commentary on the hedonism and self-indulgence of America.

"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,” Henley said. "We were all middle class kids from the Midwest. 'Hotel California' was our interpretation of the high life in L.A."

 

[rupol2000]

Wrong.
Hippies evolved from beatnecks, like Maynard G. Krebs, in the "Dobie Gillis Show".
They preached going back to primitive tribalism, with simple humanistic values.
Drugs were inexpensive pot and LSD, which was virtually free and there was no one pushing them for profit.
Hippies were the opposite of crime, theft, robbery, or murder.
That was left for the industrialists and politicians.

Reagan nearly destroyed the entire country.
His SDI and massive military spending caused such a huge deficit that we never recovered.

It's all blah blah blah, legends to cover up criminals

 

[rupol2000]

So did the Space Program

not

 

[rupol2000]

No, Nixon did nothing.
What did in the Hippies was drugs, money, fame, corruption, cynicism, etc.
Nixon was president and unconcerned with CA until 1974 when he had to resign.

Nixon did not like pacifists and hippie scum, his anti-drug campaign was launched precisely to undermine the hippie movement.