Hotel California - is this Eagles Album Single for Christians?

by JWoods 25 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  JWoods

  It came on the car radio this morning, and reminded me that this was probably the big single of 1977 - just about the beginning of the end time for me with the Jehovah's Witnesses.

  Now, you might understand that as a doubting elder with many deep issues at hand (it was the Ray Franz era of disenchantment for many elders)...I never heard much from them about the lyrics.

  However - listening to it today, I can see where a "good" dubbie might find it to be at least as demonized as the smurfs cartoons.

  And yet, very ironically, looking at them then and now, I always viewed it to be a sort of pop-social commentary on the california celebrity scene.

  Stretching it a little, you could almost compare the traveler's nightmare experience to getting trapped into the Jehovah's Witnesses - thinking it was a safe haven but then finding out that "you can never leave".

  "We haven't had that spirit here since 1959". "In the master's chamber they gathered for the feast"...

  Yes, I can apply a lot of this to the cult entrapment experience.
• 

  BurnTheShips

  I was told that song was demonic by the other Witnesses.
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  four candles

  Let's face it,anything that wasn't kingdom melodies was demonic!!!

  And yes that includes Nana Mouskuori!!!! OOoooooo those glasses.
• 

  lepermessiah

  And yes that includes Nana Mouskuori!!!! OOoooooo those glasses.

  LOL! That was my Mom's favorite singer growing up - hahahaha.......

  That along with:

  Led Zeppelin

  Rush

  AC/DC

  Hendrix

  Black Sabbath

  Ozzy

  Metallica

  Anything with a beat....................

  Anything popular..........................

  Anything heard on the radio........

  ETC, ETC.............LOL
• 

  Chalam

  I recorded a version of that song the other year for someone in the studio so I got to hear the lyrics quite a lot.

  To me, the song is clearly about Hell.

  "Hotel California"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 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 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 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'
  He said, '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 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 night man,
  'We are programmed to receive.
  You can check-out any time you like,
  But you can never leave!'

  All the best,

  Stephen
• 

  jamiebowers

  http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1121

  This link says that the song is about material excesses. I remember being told that the song was demonized. Now it reminds me of being a jw, so maybe it' demonized after all, LOL!
• 

  WTWizard

  Demonized or not, I still listen to it.
• 

  four candles

  It has one of the all time guitar solos in it,but naturally all the radio stations cut it off.............................................I'm off to play it now........LOUD!!!
• 

  AMomentWeBothKnew

  No, I never heard that about this song, but someone I knew casually was telling me about how "demonized" The Beatles were.
• 

  joelingeorgia

  i've always heard it was about the decadent life in California. seems to be the theme of other songs on the album

  such as Life in the Fast Lane