On a dark desert highway
I was driving late at night in the middle of the desert

Cool wind in my hair
The night was chilly and the wind was whipping through my hair

Warm smell of colitas
I could smell the sweet fragrance of burning colitas (marijuana buds)

Rising up through the air
The scent of the colitas was wafting up into the car

Up ahead in the distance
As I drove further, I noticed something in the distance

I saw a shimmering light
There was a faint, flickering light in the distance

My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I was getting tired and my vision was blurry

I had to stop for the night
I decided to stop at the mysterious light for the night

There she stood in the doorway
As I walked up to the light, a woman appeared in the doorway

I heard the mission bell
I heard a bell ringing, as if from a church or mission

And I was thinkin' to myself
I was pondering my situation and what lay ahead

This could be heaven or this could be hell
I felt unsure if this place would be wonderful or dangerous

Then she lit up a candle
The woman illuminated the way with a candle

And she showed me the way
She guided me into the building

There were voices down the corridor
I could hear faint, indistinct voices coming from a distance

I thought I heard them say
It seemed as though the voices were talking about something weird

Welcome to the Hotel California
I arrived at a place that was called Hotel California

Such a lovely place (such a lovely place)
The hotel seemed very beautiful and welcoming

Such a lovely face
The hotel had an attractive appearance

Plenty of room at the Hotel California
The hotel had many vacant rooms to offer

Any time of year (any time of year)
No matter the season, the hotel was always open

You can find it here
The location of the hotel was easy to find

Her mind is Tiffany-twisted
The woman at the hotel had a complex, intricate mind

She got the Mercedes bends, uh
She drove a luxury car (Mercedes-Benz)

She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys
Her acquaintances were attractive young men

That she calls friends
She referred to these boys as her friends

How they dance in the courtyard
I observed the boys dancing in the hotel courtyard

Sweet summer sweat
They were sweating due to the warm summer night

Some dance to remember
Some of the boys danced to remember their past experiences

Some dance to forget
Other boys danced to forget their past experiences

So I called up the Captain
I contacted the highest authority figure in the hotel

"Please bring me my wine"
I requested my alcoholic beverage from the Captain

He said, "We haven't had that spirit here since 1969"
The hotel hadn't served that type of liquor in several decades

And still those voices are calling from far away
I could still hear the voices that seemed to be distant but nearby

Wake you up in the middle of the night
They could disturb one's sleep no matter the time

Just to hear them say
It seems like the voices just wanted to be heard

They livin' it up at the Hotel California
People at the hotel were enjoying themselves extravagantly

What a nice surprise (what a nice surprise)
I was pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere of the hotel

Bring your alibis
It was important to have an excuse in case something went wrong at the hotel

Mirrors on the ceiling
There were large mirrors on the ceiling of the hotel room

The pink champagne on ice
There was chilled pink champagne in a bucket of ice

And she said, "We are all just prisoners here of our own device"
The woman commented that we were all captives of our own actions

And in the master's chambers
In the most important part of the hotel

They gathered for the feast
People had gathered together to celebrate something

They stab it with their steely knives
They began to attack something with their strong, sharp knives

But they just can't kill the beast
They failed to destroy whatever they were attacking

Last thing I remember
The next thing I knew

I was running for the door
I ran in an attempt to escape the hotel

I had to find the passage back
I needed to locate the way back to where I came from

To the place I was before
I wanted to return to my previous location

"Relax", said the night man
The employee in charge of the night hours attempted to calm me down

"We are programmed to receive
He told me that they were trained to take care of me

You can check out any time you like
I could leave the hotel whenever I wanted

But you can never leave"
Even if I left physically, I could never escape from my experiences and memories of the hotel