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ValuraSILVER Member
Mumma Hen
6,391 posts
Location: Brisbane, Australia


Posted:
ok help out here guys....
I swear that this song is about getting stuck in a time warp/machine, and arsn is adament Im crazy and the song is about addiction...


ubbloco argrghrghrghgr
whats it about... (say time machine)

TAJ "boat mummy." VALURA "yes sweetie you went on a boat, was daddy there with you?" TAJ "no, but monkey on boat" VALURA "well then sweetie, Daddy WAS there with you"


flash fireBRONZE Member
Sporadically Prodigal
2,758 posts
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia


Posted:
the song is about heroin addiction........ whilst stuck in a time warp!



Seriously, it is about heroin addiction, which I guess can be perceived as being stuck in a time warp; nothing moves forward, only the cycle of addiction continues around and around and around



Written by:

Answer

The song really isn't about anything according to Glenn Frey. His quote from a radio interview a few years back was: “we were listening to a lot of Steely Dan records at the time and were impressed with the way that they could make ‘junk sculpture' lyrics about nothing and make them work into a song.”



The song is a great narrative tale about decadence (pink champagne) and mysticism (a spooky dungeon-like house) and even botany (the smell of colitus!), but it certainly has no realm in fact.



Don Felder brought the rough guitar track to Henley/Frey and asked them if they could do anything with it. This is unusual in that songs by them were typically written the other way around. It serves as an interesting note that further proves that they did some serious ad-libbing and probably got the booze and drugs flowing before they wrote this song.




from https://experts.about.com/q/449/2049455.htm

EDITED_BY: flash fire (1092708763)

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flash fireBRONZE Member
Sporadically Prodigal
2,758 posts
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia


Posted:
Written by:

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas rising up through the air
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

There she stood in the doorway; I heard the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself this could be heaven or this could be hell
Then she lit up a candle, and she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor, I thought I heard them say

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place, such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year (any time of year) you can find it here

Her mind is Tiffany twisted, she got the Mercedes bends
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

So I called up the captain; please bring me my wine
We haven't had that spirit here since nineteen sixty-nine
And still those voices are calling from far away
Wake you up in the middle of the night, just to hear them say

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place, such a lovely face
They livin' it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise (what a nice surprise) bring your alibis

Mirrors on the ceiling, the pink champagne on ice
And she said we are all just prisoners here of our own device
And in the master's chambers, they gathered for the feast
They stab it with their steely knives but they just can't kill the beast

Last thing I remember I was running for the door
I had to find the passage back to the place I was before
Relax said the nightman We are programmed to receive
You can check out anytime you like but you can never leave
[


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AnonymousPLATINUM Member


Posted:
Its about hedonism and greed in Southern California in the 1970's. tongue
Or whatever you want it to mean!

ValuraSILVER Member
Mumma Hen
6,391 posts
Location: Brisbane, Australia


Posted:
ARGHGHGHGHGHGHG TIME TRAVEL I TELLS YA!!!!

TAJ "boat mummy." VALURA "yes sweetie you went on a boat, was daddy there with you?" TAJ "no, but monkey on boat" VALURA "well then sweetie, Daddy WAS there with you"


mechBRONZE Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
6,207 posts
Location: "In your ear", United Kingdom


Posted:
im with alura, its about what ever you what to belive, i personally think its about trapping yourself in once place, and shile you think you can get out, you cant!

*you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave*
""funky guitar solo""

i have been listening to this song since i was little, my dad loves the eages, so i belive this to be the truth, over drugs, sorry biggrin

Step (el-nombrie)


MedusaSILVER Member
veteran
1,433 posts
Location: 8 days at Cloudbreak, 6 in Perth, Australia


Posted:
I agree with mech I think you should be able to interpret it any way you want.

I had to play that song on my guitar and sing to it in front of my whole school in Indonesia...how embarressing!!!!

redface

Kombi guyBRONZE Member
HOP OM
225 posts
Location: HOP Central, New Zealand


Posted:
It wasnt a Kombi time/warp machine by any chance was it Valura?
ubblol ubblol ubblol ubblol ubblol

ValuraSILVER Member
Mumma Hen
6,391 posts
Location: Brisbane, Australia


Posted:
Yes it was!!!
SEEEE? someone gets it!!! Hats off to you most respected Kombi Guy. biggrin.. pooh to everyone else with knobs on. ubbloco

TAJ "boat mummy." VALURA "yes sweetie you went on a boat, was daddy there with you?" TAJ "no, but monkey on boat" VALURA "well then sweetie, Daddy WAS there with you"


Rouge DragonBRONZE Member
Insert Champagne Here
13,215 posts
Location: without class distinction, Australia


Posted:
i asked my mum that question once, cos i just counldnt figure it out. she said she thought it was just a funky song that had no real meaning...so by the interview i'd say she was right! i always thought it was a memory that wouldnt leave and one that you revisit for the old times. but i was never any good at analysing songs.

i would have changed ***** to phallus, and claire to petey Petey

Rougie: but that's what I'm doing here
Arnwyn: what letting me adjust myself in your room?..don't you dare quote that on HoP...


colemanSILVER Member
big and good and broken
7,330 posts
Location: lunn dunn, yoo kay, United Kingdom


Posted:
i'm with patrick.

songs are art and as such are different for each listener.

that's what's so cool about them smile

(live version of hotel california on 'hell freezes over' ubblove)


*...spiral out...*keep going*...spiral out...

"i see you at 'dis cafe.
i come to 'dis cafe quite a lot myself.
they do porridge."
- tim westwood


ValuraSILVER Member
Mumma Hen
6,391 posts
Location: Brisbane, Australia


Posted:
thats my FAV verison too!!! I love the bongos!!

TAJ "boat mummy." VALURA "yes sweetie you went on a boat, was daddy there with you?" TAJ "no, but monkey on boat" VALURA "well then sweetie, Daddy WAS there with you"


GnorBRONZE Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
5,814 posts
Location: Perth, Australia


Posted:
Hotel California is just about my most fave song ever
Thanks for the words Flashfire hug

Is it the Truth?
Is it Fair to all concerned?
Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?

Im in a lonely battle with the world with a fish to match the chip on my shoulder. Gnu in Binnu in a cnu


DuncGOLD Member
playing the days away
7,263 posts
Location: The Middle lands, United Kingdom


Posted:
I was in a Spanish restaurant in France once and this Los Lobos type band were setting up a stage and started and playing this really really familiar song. I knew I knew it but couldn't figure it out cuz it was all in Spanish....it all became clear when I heard the chorus in spanish tho!! What a wicked sone, also thanks for the lyrics! Reading it does make it sound like it's about smack more than time travel tho

Let's relight this forum ubblove


NYCNYC
9,232 posts
Location: NYC, NY, USA


Posted:
I probably think the song is about me.

But I'm so vain.

wink

Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]


Madam FlameBRONZE Member
Satisfying HOPs Lust For Fire
308 posts
Location: Salem, Oregon, USA


Posted:
check out this web site, or just read it here.
www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_001.html



In the song "Hotel California," what does "colitas" mean?
15-Aug-1997


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Cecil:

Just what does "colitis" mean? In the song "Hotel California" by the Eagles the first lines are, "On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair, warm smell of colitis rising up through the air." I remember I tried looking it up at a university library years ago and couldn't find the answer. I know songwriters sometimes make up words, but I didn't see a Dr. Seuss credit on the album. --Wendy Martin, via the Internet

Cecil replies:

Uh, Wendy. It's colitas, not colitis. Colitis (pronounced koe-LIE-tis) is an inflammation of the large intestine. You're probably thinking of that famous Beatles lyric, "the girl with colitis goes by."

As for "Hotel California," you realize a lot of people aren't troubled so much by colitas as by the meaning of the whole damn song. Figuring that we should start with the general and move to the particular, I provide the following commonly heard theories:

(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."

He's also got this bit about "on a dark dessert highway, Cool Whip in my hair." Well, I thought it was funny.

OK, back to colitas. Personally I had the idea colitas was a type of desert flower. Apparently not. Type "colitas" into a Web search engine and you get about 50 song-lyric hits plus, curiously, a bunch of citations from Mexican and Spanish restaurant menus. Hmm, one thinks, were the Eagles rhapsodizing about the smell of some good carryout? We asked some native Spanish speakers and learned that colitas is the diminutive feminine plural of the Spanish cola, tail. Little tail. Looking for a little . . . we suddenly recalled a (male) friend's guess that colitas referred to a certain feature of the female anatomy. We paused. Naah. Back to those menus. "Colitas de langosta enchiladas" was baby lobster tails simmered in hot sauce with Spanish rice. One thinks: you know, I could write a love song around a phrase like that.

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. The Eagles, with the prescience given only to true artists, were touting the virtues of high-quality industrial hemp! And to think some people thought this song was about drugs.

OUR SUSPICIONS CONFIRMED

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."

I knew it.

A CLARIFICATION

Dear Cecil:

Please tell me you were joking when you mentioned the Beatles lyric "the girl with colitis goes by." You were joking, right? You know it's "kaleidoscope eyes." --nancrow

Cecil replies:

Nothing gets by you, Nan.

--CECIL ADAMS

Never settle for normal.devil
Average thinking brings average results.


DuncGOLD Member
playing the days away
7,263 posts
Location: The Middle lands, United Kingdom


Posted:
ubblol Brilliant! ubblol

Let's relight this forum ubblove


ValuraSILVER Member
Mumma Hen
6,391 posts
Location: Brisbane, Australia


Posted:
LOL
thanks madam...I must have been smoking colitas' when I thought it was about time travel.....











i still think its about time travel really... *snort*

TAJ "boat mummy." VALURA "yes sweetie you went on a boat, was daddy there with you?" TAJ "no, but monkey on boat" VALURA "well then sweetie, Daddy WAS there with you"


Bender_the_OffenderGOLD Member
still can't believe it's not butter
6,978 posts
Location: Melbourne, Australia


Posted:
lol euphemisms - ya can't live with em, you can't live without em!!

Laugh Often, Smile Much, Post lolcats Always



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