# RE: In the song "Hotel California," what does "colitas" mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [April 25, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-in-the-song-hotel-california-what-does-colitas-mean/619924 "2012-04-25T17:20:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![edgar.flowers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@edgar.flowers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edgar.flowers)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-in-the-song-hotel-california-what-does-colitas-mean/619924/1 "2012-04-25T17:20:20Z")
going back to this post, you never answered the question…Colitas is a mexican term for the buds on a marijuana plant. so when he says “warm smell of colitas, rising up in the air” he’s talking about the smell of marijuana… ---
**Author:** ![Powers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Powers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-in-the-song-hotel-california-what-does-colitas-mean/619924/2 "2012-04-25T17:36:21Z")
What do you mean he never answered the question? It’s right there near the end: [QUOTE=Uncle Cecil] This E-mail just in from Eagles management honcho Irving Azoff: “In response to your [recent] memo, in 1976, during the writing of the song ‘Hotel California’ by Messrs. Henley and Frey, the word `colitas’ was translated for them by their Mexican-American road manager as ‘little buds.’ You have obviously already done the necessary extrapolation. Thank you for your inquiry.” [/QUOTE] > **[In the song “Hotel California,” what does “colitas” mean?](https://www.straightdope.com/21342208/in-the-song-hotel-california-what-does-colitas-mean)** Powers &8^] ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-in-the-song-hotel-california-what-does-colitas-mean/619924/3 "2012-04-25T17:39:30Z")
Just so you know, it is customary to provide a link to the column in question, [like so.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1053/in-the-song-hotel-california-what-does-colitas-mean) No harm, no foul. I do believe that the column was updated to show that “colitas” means “little buds”. Can you give a cite that shows it specifically means the buds of the marijuana plant? ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-in-the-song-hotel-california-what-does-colitas-mean/619924/4 "2012-04-25T21:53:59Z")
Actually, the answer stated in the column was > [@](#): > > Enough of these distractions. By and by a denizen of soc.culture.spain wrote: “Colitas is little tails, but here the author is referring to ‘colas,’ the tip of a marijuana branch, where it is more potent and with more sap (said to be the best part of the leaves).” We knew with an instant shock of certainty that this was the correct interpretation. ---
**Author:** ![Unit450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/7feea3/32.png) [@Unit450](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unit450)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-in-the-song-hotel-california-what-does-colitas-mean/619924/5 "2017-05-18T07:31:32Z")
Being an expert on Colitas I can assure you it’s marijuana from Mexico. I have smoked it. So warm smells of colitas rising up thru the air makes perfect sense. Not sure what all the mystery is about. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-in-the-song-hotel-california-what-does-colitas-mean/619924/6 "2017-05-18T07:45:21Z")
**Unit450** not sure if you noticed but the question was answered 5 years ago ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-in-the-song-hotel-california-what-does-colitas-mean/619924/7 "2017-05-18T08:40:12Z")
Pretty sure, based on the subject matter, that he didn’t notice. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-in-the-song-hotel-california-what-does-colitas-mean/619924/8 "2017-05-18T11:29:02Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > **Unit450** not sure if you noticed but the question was answered 5 years ago I’d say earlier than that. The column is from 1997, so that makes it 20 years.