# Hotel California and Sartre **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [July 1, 2002, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-california-and-sartre/116842 "2002-07-01T15:53:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RBMiller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@RBMiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RBMiller)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-california-and-sartre/116842/1 "2002-07-01T15:53:39Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![RBMiller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@RBMiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RBMiller)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2002, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-california-and-sartre/116842/2 "2002-07-01T15:59:21Z")
(oversight) The URL to the original question is: [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5\_001.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_001.html) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2002, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-california-and-sartre/116842/3 "2002-07-05T12:15:56Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![RBMiller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@RBMiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RBMiller)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2002, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-california-and-sartre/116842/4 "2002-07-05T21:26:43Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![little\_bud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/df788c/32.png) [@little\_bud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/little_bud)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-california-and-sartre/116842/5 "2006-09-09T06:31:40Z")
So it’s marijuana then? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-california-and-sartre/116842/6 "2006-09-09T16:28:52Z")
\*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_) ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-california-and-sartre/116842/7 "2006-09-09T17:56:29Z")
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](http://www.lyricsdepot.com/chubby-checker/hooka-tooka.html)” ? Probably not. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-california-and-sartre/116842/8 "2006-09-09T18:21:59Z")
[QUOTE=RBMiller] \ .. 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. .. 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.”) .. 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. [/QUOTE] 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? ---
**Author:** ![hawksgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed655f/32.png) [@hawksgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawksgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-california-and-sartre/116842/9 "2006-09-09T18:24:19Z")
[QUOTE=SiXSwordS] Is Estelle “Tiffany Twisted?” Does she drive a Merecedes-Benz? Does she a lot of pretty, pretty… well, you get the idea. [/QUOTE] 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. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2006, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-california-and-sartre/116842/10 "2006-09-09T23:09:04Z")
If you play _Hotel California_ backwards, it has many passages that dovetail with _No Exit_. Just saying… …and d&r… ---
**Author:** ![dragonrazor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@dragonrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragonrazor)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2007, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-california-and-sartre/116842/11 "2007-05-17T02:09:34Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![dragonrazor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@dragonrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragonrazor)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2007, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-california-and-sartre/116842/12 "2007-05-17T02:19:44Z")
okay, it won’t let me edit, so please not i’m Taoist, not christian or catholic ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2007, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-california-and-sartre/116842/13 "2007-05-17T12:18:38Z")
**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. ---
**Author:** ![dragonrazor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@dragonrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragonrazor)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2007, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-california-and-sartre/116842/14 "2007-05-17T14:53:25Z")
[QUOTE=C K Dexter Haven] **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. [/QUOTE] 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 \>\> ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2007, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-california-and-sartre/116842/15 "2007-05-17T15:53:47Z")
[QUOTE=wolf\_meister] 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](http://www.lyricsdepot.com/chubby-checker/hooka-tooka.html)” ? Probably not. 😃 [/QUOTE] 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_. 😃