california: I just heard Hotel California by the Eagles on the radio and I'm curious to hear everyone's interpretation of what the message of the song is. Would anyone like to break it down for me?|||Some people say it's a reference to a drug rehab center. Some say it's related to the church of Anton LaVey. Don Henley himself was vague when asked the question years ago. Here's a list of commonly told ideas: (1) The Hotel California is a real hotel located in (pick one) Baja California on the coastal highway between Cabo San Lucas and La Paz or else near Santa Barbara. In other words, the song is a hard look at the modern hospitality industry, which is plagued by guests who "check out any time [they] like" but then "never leave." (2) The Hotel California is a mental hospital. I see one guy on the Web has identified it as "Camarillo State Hospital in Ventura County between LA and Santa Barbara." (3) It's about satanism. Isn't everything? (4) Hotel California is a metaphor for cocaine addiction. See "You can check out any time you like but you can never leave." This comes from the published comments of Glenn Frey, one of the coauthors. (5) It's about the pitfalls of living in southern California in the 1970s, my interpretation since first listen. Makes perfect sense, and goddammit, who you going to believe, some ignorant rock star or me? (6) My fave, posted to the Usenet by Thomas Dzubin of Vancouver, British Columbia: "There was this fireworks factory just three blocks from the Hotel California . . . and it blew up! Big tragedy. One of the workers was named Wurn Snell and he was from the town of Colitas in Greece. One of the workers who escaped the explosion talked to another guy . . . I think it was probably Don Henley . . . and Don asked what the guy saw. The worker said, "Wurn Snell of Colitas . . . rising up through the air."|||I think that this song simply refers to Hell, and a man's account of how he got there and what it was like. The song starts out by telling how he dies...car wreck, something like that. The woman who is so tempting is sin...thus she shows the way to Hell. Trapped souls and demons Report Abuse |||i saw it on this one tv show. its about a hotel in california that supposedly has many dark spirits that "checked in" but never left.|||i believe it was a reference to the state mental hosp. in camarillo ca.