# Eagles Hotel California **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 28, 2000, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-hotel-california/23927 "2000-06-28T20:15:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-hotel-california/23927/21 "2000-06-30T01:29:03Z")
“Hotel California” is the inverse of “American Pie.” I can explain what each verse in “American Pie” means, but have no idea what the song as a whole is about. On the other hand, I don’t know what any line or verse of “Hotel California” means, but I think I understand the whole. Most of the songs on the “Hotel California” LP are about the lifestyles of the rich in SOuthern California (the drugs, the parties, the tawdry affairs, etc.). That lifestyle is both seductive and setructive, and it’s hard to give up, even when you KNOW it could kill you. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-hotel-california/23927/22 "2000-06-30T02:04:16Z")
I’ll provide a cite of sorts for **jayron** ’s post re: _Fire and Rain_. NPR had James taylor on last night (6/28) to tell the story of the song, and I listened to him explain it as jayron describes. A Snopes miss (well, the whole song isn’t just about the girl)? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-hotel-california/23927/23 "2000-06-30T04:19:59Z")
I heard the NPR interview/story as well. ---
**Author:** ![jayron\_32](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/41988e/32.png) [@jayron\_32](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayron_32)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-hotel-california/23927/24 "2000-06-30T05:00:20Z")
Facinating. I did NOT hear that particular interview, I was basing my own version of the story from several sources (Snopes, a 1970’s BBC interview and concert, VH1 storytellers, a few others in my memory…) Nice to know that I’m not just talking out of my ass (even I can’t tell most of the time). Thanks for verifying my story, guys! ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-hotel-california/23927/25 "2000-06-30T09:19:26Z")
Dammit…I always thought it was about a haunted hotel. Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![labdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5fc32e/32.png) [@labdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/labdude)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-hotel-california/23927/26 "2000-06-30T13:36:23Z")
When i was a kid the christian fundy kids said the song was about devil worship. "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 " See. See. The devil is everywhere. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jimbeaubien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dec6dc/32.png) [@jimbeaubien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbeaubien)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2000, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-hotel-california/23927/27 "2000-07-07T00:16:45Z")
I must admit I did not read all the posts on this subject yet, but thought I would comment real quick on where the Hotel Californai is. I actually lived on the grounds of the Camarillo State Hospital (while working for the California Conservation Corps, not as a patient). It’s a very large campus with many buildings and hidden away in the middle of nowhere in Camarillo, CA (near Ojai, Ventura, and Thousand Oaks). Anyways the point I was going to make was that picture on the album cover is in fact a picture of the main administration building of the hospital. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2000, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-hotel-california/23927/28 "2000-07-07T02:30:20Z")
“Hotel California” Written by Don Felder/Don Henley/Glenn Frey © 1976 Elektra/Asylum/Nonesuch Records ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2000, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-hotel-california/23927/29 "2000-07-07T04:36:21Z")
**Quix** , you rock. Thanks for tracking that down for me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-hotel-california/23927.md?page=1)