1. Hotel California - The Eagles
Oh, boy, where do we start? I don't think there's ever been a song that has been subject to so many different interpretations as this one. This is surprising, given that the Eagles themselves have told us what "Hotel California" is about. However, as we've seen many times throughout this article, we music lovers are bullheads; if the lyrics are symbolic at all, it doesn't matter how many times the songwriters tell us what they intended, because we'll keep spouting off our theories as if they were fact. That's not a bad thing, because song theories always make for fun conversation. An especially large amount of fun can be had with "California," since ALL of the lyrics are symbolic. There's so many theories about what Don Henley, Don Felder, and Glenn Frey were trying to convey to us through their lyrics that it's impossible to do any of them justice. Here, however, are the most popular theories: The song is about the Manson family. People who espouse this theory point to lyrics like "pink champagne on ice" (referring to the wealth of the Family's first victim, Sharon Tate), "We haven't had that spirit here since 1969" (the year the murders occurred), and "They pluck them with their steely knives..." (referring to the fact that the Manson murders were stabbings). The song is about the Carmello State mental hospital. Theorists on this front also cite the reference to pink champagne, stating that the hospital served pink champagne to placate angry patients. This policy that was rescinded in 1969, explaining the line about not having "that spirit here since 1969." The hospital's nickname was "the Hotel California." Those who support this theory take the line, early in the song, about the "warm smell of colitas (marijuana) rising up through the air" and state that the song is about a guy who got so high that he went insane and got locked up in an asylum. The song is about devil worship. Theorists on this front refer to the fact that Anton LeVey, the head of the Church of Satan, bought an abandoned hotel in Beverly Hills to serve as the headquarters for his church, referring to it as the "Hotel California." They also refer to the line about not having that spirit since 1969. The "spirit," according to these theorists, is the Holy Spirit, and it leaving in 1969 is due to the Church of Satan being founded that year. In addition, these theorists don't just refer to the lyrics but to the album cover itself, particularly the inner-sleeve photo, which depicts a bunch of people standing in a hotel courtyard while a shadowy figure (LeVey, according to the theory) stands in a window watching them. While the theories are fun to talk about, the true meaning behind "California" is far more profound, and it makes a lot of sense when one looks at the album as a whole. You see, when one looks at the Hotel California album's track list, one sees that it's a concept album, like the Eagles' 1972 album Desperado. However, unlike Desperado, which centers on a motif (the Old West), Hotel California's songs are focused on a theme; namely, the price of fame. "Hotel California," the album's opening track, does a great job of explaining the album's overarching theme, said theme being how one is enticed into a life of fame by the promise of everything the world can offer, but, after discovering that fame isn't what it's cracked up to be, one tries to escape it, only to find that we "can check out any time like, but we can never leave." Don Henley and Don Felder (the group's lead guitarist) have both affirmed this interpretation, Henley in a 2008 60 Minutes interview and Felder in
an interview with Musicradar.com. As music lovers, we love to examine song lyrics, searching for meaning behind the symbolic language that the lyricists provide us with. Sometimes, we get sidetracked by obscure phrases or the juxtaposition of upbeat music and bleak lyrics. However, studying the songs we love is part of loving music, and getting the meaning wrong is just another part of that love. It's especially nice, though, when we learn the true meaning behind those lyric lines; sometimes, we can glean powerful life lessons from them.
Well, fellow WhatCulture readers, there you have it: 10 songs that aren't about what you might have thought. What are some of your favorites? Disagree with any of the interpretations? Let us know!