Is Hotel California About Abductions?****I saw this somewhere and found it very intriguing...****
The Eagles's "Hotel California"
Although I think many of you have hit upon some very interesting ideas about the lyrics here
(and justifiable ones at that -- especially the "in limbo" entries, as that is my 2nd choice regarding the meaning), nobody as yet has suggested that the song is about an alien abduction (yes, I believe in UFOs).
[* Note well - the aliens' UFO/planet/people have apparently recreated the look of earth and earthlings to gain confidence and complicity by the abductees.]
Here are arguments regarding my theory.
1) First off, the very opening lines certainly point to an abduction --
"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." Dissecting these lines, we find the following:
2)
'On a dark desert highway' =
aliens nearly always take and perform their experiments at night, and pick remote areas to do so.
3)
'UP' (ahead...) suggests he saw something 'ABOVE' another thing (his car)--
i.e., in this case, the "something" being the spacecraft.
4)
smell of colitas =
some abductees report a strange odor emanating from the
aliens or in the craft itself (possibly a formaldehyde-like substance??).
5)
'I saw a shimmering light' =
well, we all know by now that them thar extraterrestrials like to flash their lights when
flying/landing.
6)
'...head grew heavy...sight grew dim...' =
a hypnotic trance that aliens subject humans to, so that they do not resist abduction.
Now on to the rest of the song - the alien mentions are more implicit than explicit, yet there are still clues:
7)
'There she stood in the doorway...this could be Heaven or this could be
Hell...And she showed me the way;
There were voices down the corridor -
I thought I heard them say Welcome ...such a lovely place.' =
The 'she' in the lines above can be looked upon as the (remember, in human guise)
leader of the abductees in their doomed exile, like the farmer leading lambs to the slaughter (illustrated in the fact that
"you can never leave").
8) The extraterrestrial's realm will soon take control now, as the humans are brainwashed, repeating, like a mantra: Such a lovely place, Such a lovely face.
9)
'And still those voices are calling from far away; Wake you up in the middle of the night' =
as in a dream/abductions occur at night and many victims say they thought it was
only a nightmare.
10) This next segment,
'...her mind is...(through)...Some dance to forget’ =
is the narrator being lead on/enticed by the woman at the doorway, to comfort him before any predictably sinister goings on befall him.
11)
'bring your alibis' =
hard to come by any witnesses to abductions – since there were nine for
the narrator, despair may be setting in.
12)
'Welcome to the Hotel California...We're all just prisoners here' =
welcome to a prison-like existence where there is no leaving.
13)
'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' =
These lines are highly indicative of alien experiments, and this newcomer (not yet
brainwashed) is still desperate to survive --> the beast /and/ to leave --> running for the door.
14)
'We are programmed to receive' =
'programmed' suggests something non-human. Hence, an alien.
"You can check out any time you like But you can never leave." =
'Check out'
represents a mental suppression of the abduction, yet the abductee's
memory will 'never leave.'
~~~ Well folks, that's my interpretation (with limbo as close runner-up.) ~~
----------
****and then Kay Wilson made a comment to the above***
You brought up some really good points regarding the lyrics to
this song. I have often wondered about them. Personally, when I
listen to this song, it reminds me of an alien abduction as
well. Very much so.
You did a great job interpreting the lyrics from that
standpoint.
On a similar subject: Sean Casteel (UFO Journalist) has written
an in-depth article about one of Bob Dylan's songs and how it
probably relates to an abduction experience.
I published an article I wrote about this subject on my Web site titled,
Aliens, Music and Me.
It mentions other musicians and lyrics to their songs and how they may possibly relate to the
abduction phenomenon. Sean's article is mentioned here as well:
http://www.alienjigsaw.com/Articles/AliensMusicAndMe.html
Wed Aug 12, 2009 8:42 pm
