10 Songs That Don't Mean What You Think

4. Hotel California (Eagles)

What You Think It Means: Fire up any 70s playlist of easy listening rock on Spotify and you'll hear the Eagles croon 'Hotel California' at some point. The song's storybook feel, one that lays out the tale of travellers checking into a mysteriously-run hotel, is infectious and conjures up vivid images in the listener's mind.

What It's Actually About: Those 'vivid images' were supposed to be something else entirely.

In various interviews with the press, members of the Eagles have revealed that their magnum opus wasn't about sunny good times at all. No, it dealt with their interpretation of the top branch of the fame tree and how that celebrity and adulation can corrupt people. In short, it's all about hedonism and self-indulgent greed.

The line, "They stab it with their steely knives, but they just can't kill the beast" is often regarded as one about drug abuse. It's not. According to the band, they intended it as a nod towards pals Steely Dan after they had referenced the Eagles in their track 'Everything You Did'.

That's not to say 'Hotel California' doesn't deal in drugs. The heavy presence of hedonistic living is all over the song with words like, ""You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave", suggesting it's difficult to escape fame's grasp.