'Satanic' Hotel California : Are there some secrets we could never reveal ?

Written and released in the year 1977, Hotel California is the title track from the album with the same name. Probably one of the best rock songs of all times, this song brought The Eagles many awards, topping the charts for many weeks. Musically it has one of the best guitar solos, by lyrically this song has a lot more to say… Even though The Eagles claim that the song has just a plain meaning about the high lifestyle in LA back then in the 70s, but critics and fans have interpreted the song in many ways…

• Some say that the hotel is actually the Camarillo State Hospital (a mental hospital) in Ventura County between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara.

• Some say it’s a metaphor for cocaine & the effects of the drug, Hotel California = HC = High Cocaine. Colitas mentioned in the song is a Mexican slang for marijuana.

• Some say it’s about a brothel, and the woman in the song is a prostitute in that hotel who seduces the travelers and never lets them “leave”.

But, the most common and famous interpretation is that the hotel is actually the church of Satan established by Anton Lavey on June 6, 1966 (6-6-66!!!).

And this really made me think and do a little research on the song. Some say The Eagles were the followers of Lavey, well, that’s possible as Lavey advocated materialism and individualism. He did not worship Satan rather he referred Satan as a balancing factor in nature. Atheist Satanism patronizes self-worship and not worshipping the Devil. As quoted by heavy metal artist and Satanist Marilyn Manson “Satanism is not about ritual sacrifices, digging up graves and worshipping the devil. The devil doesn’t exist. Satanism is about worshipping yourself, because you are responsible for your own good and evil”.

In the 70s, just after the establishment of the Church of Satan, the members except for Lavey himself were mostly underground because of the fear of the Christian church. But they kept working on their religion. Mansion says “Music is the strongest form of magic”. And maybe The Eagles were Lavey’s workforce back then.

Now, back to the point, how is the song a Satanist one. Lets me point out some notable clues,

• Hotel California refers to the Church of Satan because it was established at California Street in San Francisco near 24^th Avenue. Lavey purchased an old Hotel and transformed it to the church and wrote his book “The Satanic Bible” there.

• The reference of Hell, “This could be heaven or this could be hell”.

• The guests in the Hotel are dancing, “some dance to remember, some dance to forget”. Satanists are stereotyped to dance naked!!

• In Christianity, wine is a holy drink, refers to Jesus’ blood. So when the protagonist asks the captain (Lavey for that matter) to give him some wine, he calmly replies that “we haven’t had that spirit here since nineteen sixty-nine”
  Naturally, the spirit is the Holy Spirit, Lavey published “The Satanic Bible” in 1969. So, after that the Holy Spirit never came back.

NOTE: 1969 – 969 – 666!!!

• The reference of Alibis, simply means Satan is everywhere watching you, or Satan is you yourself… that’s the basic statement of Laveyan Satanism, self-worshiping.

• “We are all prisoners here, of our own device”, the device is the body. We are all imprisoned in the human body and the ultimate aim of any religion is to get free from all worldly pain and suffering and leave the body. The soul wants to be free but is a prisoner of his own device (body).

• “They just can’t kill the beast”, the beast is Satan himself, the coming Antichrist. It says about the immense power he has got.

• And finally, the song ends with a warning to humankind. If you don’t follow the path of Satan then salvation is not your cup of tea. You can checkout anytime (die and end this life) but you can never leave (but you can’t escape the fate that Satan has in store for you). Moreover, the Church of Satan members take an oath that is binding even after their death, hence the lyrics "You can checkout at any time you like, but you can never leave".

Now, to support all these there are many direct clues that refer to the connection of Anton Lavey and the Satanic Church with The Eagles and the song. The picture in the inside covers shows a demonic person watching the guests in the lobby from a window in the upstairs, well that’s Lavey himself. Another vital clue is the song, when played in reverse, called backward masking says “Yeah Satan, organized his own religion”

The Eagles’ manager, Larry Salter, admitted in the Waco Tribune – Herald (Feb 28, 1982), that the Eagles’ were involved with the Church of Satan! Not surprisingly, one of the Eagles’ songs is titled “Have a good day in hell”.

The song is believed to be a tribute to the place where The Satanic Bible was written. But, the truth proves far less satisfying that the rumors. Lyrical interpretations are hard to decode. And, generally, witchcraft lyrics are deliberately written in short incomplete phrases, to convey ideas without detection.

'Bolong rajar ghora' — Horse of the Wild King

He was once a mute witness to brutal massacre, abduction and bloodshed. Now, 'Bolong Rajar Ghora' - meaning 'horse of the wild king' - is a hot favorite with children visiting the Shipahijala zoo cum sanctuary - located about 28 km from Agartala.

And the 'wild king' was no other Aranyapada Debbarma, a dreaded insurgent who once stalked the vast forestland of the West Tripura district with his band of blood thirsty marauders. The Tripura militants were never known for using horses or even vehicles for their movement or operations, perhaps with the lone exception of NLFT's self-styled 'area commander' of Takarjala-Teliamura in West Tripura, Aranyapada Debbarma who was known as 'Bolong' raja (Bolong in tribal Kokborok language loosely means wild or forest).

None actually knows how Aranyapada procured the horse or how he could develop the unusual knack for the animal, though many feel that he might have got the idea from horse riding 'Gabbar Singh' - his favourite character in the film Sholay. But all, including the police, agree that Aranyapada was so fond of his horse that he was, in fact, never seen without it.

The horse was a fast-foot and helped the militant flee many a time from the clutches of the security forces.

But animals are known for their unpredictable mood and on 13th May, 2003 as security forces cordoned him off during an extortion attempt his horse developed cold feet and did not run. Both the Bolong raja and his horse were rounded up at Takarjala and a day later, the police produced Aranyapada to court from where he was sent to jail. The horse had also to be produced and the court ordered the police to hand it over to the Forest department.

'The Forest department brought the animal to Shipahijala six months ago. At first the horse looked morose, perhaps for his separation from Bolong raja. Moreover, as the forset babus were not quite sure what to do with it, the horse was sitting idle in the zoo,' said Nabalak Mian, a man of about 60 years of age.

Mian, who used to sell tea in Sipahijala, one day came out with  an idea and requested the forest offcial to allow him to use it for children's ride in the zoo.

'They happily agreed to give me the horse on lease. Now, for the small kids who come here along with their parents, the horse, apart from spectacled monkeys or lions in the zoo, is their most favoured animal for amusement. It seems that the horse is also happy with children on his back. It now eats and looks spirited,' Mian observed. Mian said, he could earn Rs 150 to Rs 180 a day during picnic seasons when there are lots of children in Sipahijala.

For 'Bolong Rajar Ghora,' it, however, is a long journey from a bloody guerrilla trail to a serene santuary road full with the amused chirping of children.


COLLECTED FROM : "The Eyewitness: Tales from Tripura's Ethnic Conflict" a book on terrorism in Tripura by Manas Paul, well known journalist and Editor-in-chief of Tripura Time, an english daily in Tripura.

Ayodhya Dispute : God had a different plan.

So finally we have the famous Ayodhya Verdict, which states that "the 2.77 acres (1.12 ha) of Ayodhya land be divided into 3 parts, with 1/3 going to the Ram Lalla or Infant Lord Rama represented by the Hindu Maha Sabha for the construction of the Ram temple, 1/3 going to the Islamic Sunni Waqf Board and the remaining 1/3 going to a Hindu religious denomination Nirmohi Akhara."

The Hindus believe that the spot where the mosque was build was the birthplace of Lord Rama, thus the land belongs to them. There is no proof about it except for the fact that a historical survey by Jesuit priest Joseph Tieffenthaler recorded Hindus worshiping and celebrating Ramanavami at the site of the mosque. It may or may not be Rama's birthplace, but definitely, there was a Hindu temple in that site before Mir Baki Khan built the Babri Masjid in 1528.

Bible says that everything happens for a reason. If there is God, and he is running this whole universe, then the construction of Babri Masjid had a reason too. According to British sources, Hindus and Muslims from the Faizabad area worshiped together in the Babri Mosque complex in the 19th century until about 1855.  P. Carnegy wrote in 1870: "It is said that up to that time, the Hindus and Mohamedans alike used to worship in the mosque-temple. Since the British rule, a railing has been put up to prevent dispute, within which, in the mosque, the Mohamedans pray, while outside the fence the Hindus have raised a platform on which they make their offerings."

Now, what does this imply? During the 19th century, the Indian independence struggle was taking shape and it is God's first hint to us that He wanted us to be united and fight for the country. God chose the birthplace of Lord Rama (a holy land) for a mosque and basically wanted the two most powerful religious groups in India to worship him together and live together. But, we interpreted it differently as an attack on our pride.

In India, religion and politics are like brothers, you just can't separate them. From Ashoka to Akbar, every ancient popular ruler was deeply spiritual and it had an impact on his government. But in this present time, religion is just misused for political dominance. The Babri Masjid issue was nothing but an excuse.

MOHINEER GHORAGULI : A lost page in alternative bengali music.

All of you might have heard the song "Bheegi Bheegi" from the film Gangster. Do you know the real story behind it??

Well, in the 1970's a small group of musicians wanted to breakfree from the sterotyped lyrical forms of Rabindranath and Najrul and create something which was unique but connected directly to the middle class. They called themselves "Mohineer Ghoraguli" which literally translates to Mohin's Horses' in bengali.

Led by Gautam Chattapadhyay, the group was ahead of its time as said by most music journalists. Their lyrical and musical style was dynamically ahead of the time. Established in the 1970s during a period of stagnation in Bangla music, when commercial film songs were the dominant market force, the lyrics (and to some extent the compositions) of leader Gautam Chattopadhyay were radically new. They were of a very personal or social nature, similar to the urban folk movement led by Bob Dylan in the 60s.

Credited as the pioneers of the flourishing of Bangla bands in the new millennium. This is debatable as their songwriting was strongly rooted in Bangla folk and also American urban folk. Like a moonlit horizon their career was always hazy and the spirit of these mighty riders became prominent only after the Jibonmukhi movement and advent of singers like Suman, Anjan and Nachiketa. In 1995 Kolkata book fair their album, Abar Bochor Kuri Por, became a great hit. Soon the Bangla Bands became a phenomenon and the brought the aspect of mass participation to Bangla music. Mohiner Ghoraguli and their talents were recognized and became popular.

They were unknown in their own time may be because of their lyrics or tune. This was hey day of superfluous Bengali music which had soothing melody and simple lyrics. Melodiousness had almost always been the deciding factor for Bengali songs to be good or bad. To categorize Mohiner Ghoraguli in a genre would be a futile task. They used a mix of বাউল ( baul - a genre of sufi folk song in bengal) and rock – a weird combination which showed the way for the future bengali songs. Their songs dealt with everyday topics -politics, poverty, injustice, revolution, love, loneliness, even begging and prostitution.


Introducing their music as Baul-Jazz Mohiner Ghoraguli was able to compliment electric guitars, saxophone, drums with Dotara (instrument used by the bauls of Bengal), country flute and violin. Their music had everything to shake self-content Bengali culture. But like everything else, Bengalis were happy with the same soothing tones of the soloists, Rabindra Sangeet and Nazrul Geeti. No body wanted to listen to these songs and Mohin’s horses had to run different paths in search of livelihood. It took 20 years for Bengali audience to get out of this inertia.

This band knew that they live in a city which has no contemporary music. The music that is popular is no more than a mellowed continuation of the canon. Thus, Mohiner Ghoraguli wanted to come up with songs which speak of pangs, problems and happiness of their generation. Their music was more of a protest against the tradition, against superfluous lyricism and against all the sentinels of Bengali high culture.

They started the movement... some call them The Beatles of Bengal. But, whatever it is, they will be immortal in Bengal and Bengali music.

This article is featured in Youth ki Awaaz : The Mouth Piece for the Youth
Link : http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2012/05/harbingers-of-band-in-bengal-moheen-er-ghoraguli/

The Dark God Song.

"Kalika, black tongue of fire, embrace me

Make me one with your power for all eternity

Awaken within me the reflection of your flame

Kiss me with your bloody lips and drive me insane"

This song has a lot to say.

Black metal is something which is against the tradition, patronises satanism... but i think hinduism is the only religion where we worship dark gods (like shiva n kali) n demons too (mahisashur). This makes hinduism the only religion in the world where worshiping dark gods doesn't make you a satanist. Indian black band Rudra did a lot of experiments on the subject too.

Musically, tagged as black metal, but the musical style is mostly thrash. Less distortion n actuly no distortion in vocals n a bit of 80's style lead wit the guiter. The chorus part of "jai maha kali" sets a differnt tone to the song. A Melodic death metal classic. A leap towards future...

I have attached the lyrics of the song. Mind you, the subject of the song Goddess Kali symbolizes a positive note here. Alternative interpretation at its best.

Song : Maha Kali
Band : Disection (Sweden)