Hotel California and Sartre

Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
1

I’m amazed. The Hotel California answer (“colitas”) talks about possible origins and meanings of the song, but makes no mention of Sartre’s “Huit-Clos” (the play translated as “No Exit” in English). “Hotel California” even matches the initials of the play’s original (French) name.

In the play three people are checked into a room in a hotel only to eventually find out that, not only are they unable to leave, they are in Hell. It turns out that each of the three was selected to provide that special hellish environment for the other two. Everybody hates everybody, and at one point one of the characters even attempts to kill another with a letter opener. (“Stabbed him with the steely knife, but you just can’t kill the beast.”) Of course, that’s before the characters realized they were already dead. Seems to me (it’s been nearly 20 years since I read it), there was a trouble with getting something to drink from room service, too. But I could be wrong about that one.

2

(oversight)
The URL to the original question is:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_001.html

3

I’m currently directing and performing in No Exit for a summer theatre workshop/class, and I’d like to point out your error about the premise.
All three know that they are dead–although Estelle refuses to use that word–and in Hell. What they don’t know is why the three of them have been placed together.

4

Hmm. My bad. The last time I read No Exit was, um, 1984 (or late '83). I’ll have to track down a copy and refresh my memory.

Thanks for the update.

5

So it’s marijuana then?

6

*Warm smell of [Sartre’s] Huis Clos
Rising up through the air. . . *

Nope, I don’t see it.

P.S.: It’s Huis “(Front) Door,” not Huit “Eight.” (Latin *ostium * vs. octo)

7

Gee, I never thought “Hotel California” was so complex.

Perhaps there’s a profund, deeper meaning even to something as innocuous as Chubby Checker’s “Hooka Tooka My Soda Cracker” ?

Probably not. :smiley:

8

Is Estelle “Tiffany Twisted?” Does she drive a Merecedes-Benz? Does she a lot of pretty, pretty… well, you get the idea.

Seems like convergence to me.

The “Steely” knife goes with the feast, there’s no mention of a letter opener at all. Aside from the idea of a person being checked into a hotel that they can’t check out of, I don’t see any similarity, so I’m not suprised that Cecil didn’t mention it. Mentioning every work of art that somehow can be related to the song somehow (even limiting oneself to works that have the initials H.C.) would make the column six thousand words long.

And I’d like to hear Sartre play a peppery duel lead with Joe Walsh! God is dead, my ass! Ever hear of Eric Clapton, Jean-Paul?

9

Acutally yes, she was. She had basked in her wealth and was notorious for leading on young men that she didn’t really care about.

10

If you play Hotel California backwards, it has many passages that dovetail with No Exit. Just saying…
…and d&r…

11

i don’t know is this is the right thread or not, but i was reading the article on the meaning of “colitas” in the song. I had pretty much figured it was NOT about any kind of drugs.

however, my theory about the rest of the song might interest you. i was listening to it on the radio the other night, and it didn’t occur to me until the following morning, but I believe the song is written from the point of view of a man who dies in a car crash and ends up at the Hotel California (which may be a description of Hell).

to support this theory, i present the following parts of the song,

“up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light. My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim…I had to stop for the night.” this would be the part that makes me think car crash. the version i heard on the radio also had a line somewhere in it about “bright lights on the horizon”, but i forget exactly where in the song. it might have been in place of that line, but i’m not sure (it’s been several days, and i have poor short term memory)

“She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget” this one made me think ‘why would they be dancing to remember OR forget’. it made me ponder restless spirits

“And she said ’we are all just prisoners here, of our own device’
And in the master’s chambers,
They gathered for the feast
The stab it with their steely knives,
But they just can’t kill the beast” this seems, to me, to be a reference to The Beast, the demonic monster that is supposed to devour souls (revelations tells you that he is to be chained for all eternity in a black pit or something)

lastly: You can checkout any time you like,
But you can never leave!

this makes me think “you can check out of life, but that doesn’t mean you get to go anywhere”

again, this is just my interpretation of the lyrics

12

okay, it won’t let me edit, so please not i’m Taoist, not christian or catholic

13

dragonrazor: in order to edit (within a few minute window after posting), you have to pay up to be a member… it’s an enticement to try to lure you in. Of course, we hope you’ll be lured in by the cameraderie, the intelligence and humour of the discussions, and all those things too, but the ability to edit is a powerful inducement, fulfilling a basic instinctual need.

14

meh…at the moment, i can’t afford to v.v

but i have to admit, after reading some of the other threads on here, it is an interesting forum. not my usual, as my focus tends to be on gaming, anime, and << >> um…text roleplaying >>

15

Maybe not, but there’s a thread in Great Debates about A Cruelty-Free Life. I haven’t read it yet, but it would seem to be derived from Elvis’s rendition of Don’t Be Cruel. :smiley: