I always thought the song was a veiled reference to cocaine use and addiction. Aka “they stab it with their steely knives, but they just can’t kill the beast”
CC
"Steely" was used as a reference to "Steely Dan", who the year before had a song with the lyrics "Turn up the Eagles, the neighbors are listening...."
I heard an interview with Don Henley who said he was amused at all of the speculation about “the hotel California”,....that it was satanic, that it referred to an LSD trip, that it was about the antichrist. He said when he wrote the lyrics the term “hotel California” was a reference to the STATE of California. That it was beautiful , that L.A. was so cosmopolitan and alluring .....that people who went to California wanted to settle there and they did not want to go back to the place from where they came. I believe it was in the documentary, “The Eageles”, produced by Henley and the other main singer (can’t remember his name).
I heard an interview with Don Henley who said he was amused at all of the speculation about “the hotel California”,....that it was satanic, that it referred to an LSD trip, that it was about the antichrist. He said when he wrote the lyrics the term “hotel California” was a reference to the STATE of California. That it was beautiful , that L.A. was so cosmopolitan and alluring .....that people who went to California wanted to settle there and they did not want to go back to the place from where they came. I believe it was in the documentary, “The Eageles”, produced by Henley and the other main singer (can’t remember his name).