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Almost everyone agrees that “Hotel California” by the Eagles
is an absolute classic song, but people aren’t quite as sure over what
it’s about. There are a multitude of theories surrounding the subject
matter of “Hotel California,” only one of which has been confirmed by
the band as true. However, a solid case can be made for some of the
alternate interpretations. Even if they aren’t “official,” they’re still
interesting,I’ll
look at the lyrics (and beyond) through a different lens, giving
support for the many different ways of looking at the song.
I want
to take a look at one of the most controversial interpretations of the
lyrics. According to some people (mostly Evangelical Christians), “Hotel
California” is secretly about Satanism. Is it? Let’s take a look at the
reasons for this claim:
1. Supposedly there was a Christian
church in California (or on a California Street, depending where you
look) that was abandoned in 1969. Later a group of Satan worshippers
took over the building, converting it into a Satanic worship place.
Followers of this theory point to the lyric “we haven’t had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine”
(the “spirit” being the Spirit of Jesus Christ, which left with the
Christians in 1969). It’s also interesting to note that the “The Satanic
Bible” was first published in 1969. Some people even refer to the lyric
before that line (“So I called up the captain, ‘please bring me my wine’”) as evidence that the Eagles were referring to the blood of Christ, symbolically portrayed in Communion rituals as wine.
2. “The master” referred to in the lyrics
could be referencing Anton LaVey, leader of the Church of Satan, and
supposed owner of this Satanic worship center.
2. The lyric “This could be Heaven or this could be Hell” sets a religious tone and invokes a feeling of moral ambiguity, as one might feel when being tempted.
3. The lyric “They just can’t kill the beast,”
in which the “beast” is either Satan, as he is referred to in the
Bible, or well-known occult figure Aleister Crowley, who went by the
nickname “the beast.”
4. The lyric “What a nice surprise, bring your alibis,” which refers to the way many Satanists would lie about their allegiance to Church of Satan.
5. The lyrics “We are all just prisoners here, of our own device” and “You can check out at any time you like, but you can never leave” seem to refer to people who have taken a binding oath, which Church of Satan members were rumored to have done.
5. This wouldn’t be the only time the
Eagles had used dark religious themes in their music. One of their other
songs is called “Have a Good Day in Hell,” and they have a live album
called Hell Freezes Over.
6. One of the most convincing arguments
of the Satanism theory involves the imagery on the album jacket itself.
In this photo, which can be seen on the jacket, pay close attention to
the middle window sitting above the crowd of people:
A small, shadowy figure can be seen overlooking the party. When you take a closer look at it…
… the bald-headed face resembles Anton
LaVey’s! I’ve read that the person up on the balcony was actually just a
woman the band hired for the photo, but why would she stand up there,
mysteriously?
7. Take a look at the back cover of the album:
There’s one lone person in this photo – a
janitor sweeping up after the party, one would assume. Not according to
the people who are convinced “Hotel California” is about Satanism.
There are two theories concerning the janitor – the first is that he is
actually a dead body being propped up by a mop. (Some people even take
this farther, claiming he was sacrificed by LaVey himself.) The second
theory is that when the band took the photo, they thought they had
captured the image of an empty hotel lobby. Only when they got the
picture developed did they see the image of the janitor appear, making
him some kind of ghost.
As you can probably imagine, there’s no real evidence to back any of this up.
8. And finally, in a move that seems way
too direct to be true, supposedly Don Henley, one of the writers of the
song, said in an interview, “We made the whole thing up as a symbol. The
song’s just about Satanism. I don’t know why people have to twist its
meaning all up.” I can’t find any convincing record of this, however.
So, is “Hotel California” really about
Satanism? I don’t think so. Many of these highly imaginative rumors have
no evidence behind them, and the band has denied that the song was
about Anton LaVey’s pseudo-religion. However, some people
to this day hold to the belief that the Eagles were secretly trying to
convert the masses into devil worshippers with this song. Now you can at
least understand where they’re coming from, right?
