The Chelsea Hotel

Janis Joplin:

Summertime

A beautiful, tender, sad reminiscence by Leonard Cohen. And a meditation on the futility of fame.

Watch:

The Chelsea Hotel


Preamble:

1. Why did Leonard like riding the elevator in the Hotel?

2. When did he used to see a young woman in the elevator?

3. What did they have in common?

4. What was Leonard's pick up line? What was her reply? What was his retort?

5. Why do think he calls them "doomed decades"?


I Remember You Chelsea Hotel

I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel
You were talking so brave and so sweet
Giving me head on the unmade bed
While the limousines waited in the street
Those were the reasons and that was New York
We were running for the money and the flesh
And that was called love for the workers in song
Probably still is for those of them left

Ah but you got away, didn't you babe
You just threw it all to the ground
You got away, I never once heard you say
I need you, I don't need you
I need you, I don't need you
And all of that jiving around

I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel
You were famous, your heart was a legend
You told me once again you preferred handsome men
But for me you would make an exception
And clenching your fist for the ones like us
Who are oppressed by the figures of beauty
You fixed yourself, you said, "Well never mind,
We are ugly but we have the music"

And you got away, didn't you babe,
You just turned your back on the crowd
You got away, I never once heard you say,
I need you, I don't need you
I need you, I don't need you
And all of that jiving around

I don't mean to suggest that I loved you the best
I don't keep track of each fallen robin
I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel
That's all, I don't even think of you that often