Lyrics for Chelsea Hotel No. 2 as interpreted by Mopnugget

Chelsea Hotel No. 2 Lyrics
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 wait 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 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 remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel
you were famous, your heart was a legend
You told me 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 can'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

Interaction
Mail to a friend Send Lyrics to a Friend
Share on Facebook

Stumble It
Add to Del.icio.us Add to Del.icio.us




  • 26 Comments
  • Printer Friendly Lyrics
oldest first     Expand All
zeroglitter
10-30-2004

Rated 0 
Chelsea Hotel is a hotel in New York City often frequented by musicians, artist and writers (also the place where Nancy Spungen was allegedly murdered by Sid Vicious). The lyrics are about Leonard's sexual encounter with Janis Joplin at the hotel.

Log in to reply
Fypast
07-04-2005

Rated 0 
I've always wondered... what happened to Chelsea Hotel No. 1?

Log in to reply
nezitibraincast
07-27-2005

Rated +1 
Leonard's publicist unbeknownst to Leonard revealed that this song was bout his secret affair with Janis Joplin. While it did great for the record publicity, it really angered Cohen that someone he trusted had leaked the info. Although I'm sure the sogn would ahve been just as affecting without the history of the story I still can't ever listen to this song without picturing the heady(sex crazed) leonard coupling with the physical(sex crazed) joplin. And no, it's anot a pretty image.

Log in to reply
HibbingismyHolyLand
02-14-2006

Rated 0 
Aw, I wish I had never read that... lol... I love Janis, but I don't want to picture her and Leonard in the act... *shudder*

Log in to reply
iknowmyonion
04-18-2006

Rated 0 
Regina Spektor (dunno if you've heard of her) does a fantastic cover of this.

Log in to reply
Ricco
07-08-2006

Rated 0 
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"

Clenched fists and fixing yourself. Heroin?

Log in to reply
Linmartin
08-09-2006

Rated 0 
I'd never have thought about 'fixing' in that way, but it makes sense, doesn't it.

Log in to reply
genetru
01-27-2007

Rated 0 
Yes, "fixed yourself" is a reference to heroin, which unfortunately Janis was known to use from time to time.

Log in to reply
genetru
01-27-2007

Rated 0 
Yes, "fixed yourself" is a reference to heroin, which unfortunately Janis was known to use from time to time.

Log in to reply
sable Jester
03-24-2007

Rated 0 
from time to time?
lol. didn't she die from an overdose?

Log in to reply
kenkc
04-05-2007

Rated 0 
Yup. The heroin she died from was far too strong. She was not the only one to "OD" from it.

Log in to reply
kenkc
04-05-2007

Rated 0 
PS. Another song about Janis Joplin is "Bird Song" by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter. Joplin was the girlfriend of Ron "Pigpen" McKernan of the Grateful Dead ,for a while. He died of alcoholism.

Log in to reply
thecoldpart
09-22-2007

Rated 0 
So melancholy and beautiful. Leonard Cohen will always be one of the best lyricists ever.

My name is Chelsea, and I think that had something to do with why this song was played so much in our home. Although my name has nothing to do with the song ;) it's still one I've known since I was a child. It will always mean a lot to me.

Log in to reply
orderbyborder
12-07-2007

Rated 0 
hop along's cover of this song is great. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI_v5LKo5uw&feature=related

Log in to reply
SkylinePigeon
03-22-2008

Rated 0 
Josh Ritter also does a good cover of it. ;)

Log in to reply
rachelelise
03-30-2008

Rated 0 
i think that rufus wainwright does the best cover!

Log in to reply
number7
06-01-2008

Rated 0 
ignoring the joplin-cohen allegation brings out a far different interpretation, for me anyways. it sounds like he's talking about a prostitute, a high-paid call girl. "And that was called love for the workers in song
probably still is for those of them left" seems to suggest the bond cohen and the prostitute had was deeper than just a client-customer relationship. in the end their bond deteriorates, but he never took it too seriously taking into account they had started off as fucking for pay. she saw him as just another client, although she did favour him over the others.

Log in to reply
nleslie
10-13-2008

Rated 0 
Yeah, I agree that Rufus Wainwright does the most emotional version of it, but he doesn't go too... over the top. All of the 'I'm Your Man' songs (the one by various artists... Nick Cave, Martha Wainwright, etc) are just amazing.
The best part of this song is the 'I need you/I don't need you'
That is so beautiful. Scratch 'one of' the greatest lyricists, try 'the best'. He is AMAZING.

Log in to reply
rahilario
11-08-2008

Rated 0 
As far as covers go, Regina Spektor's is amazing.

Log in to reply
magicboots
04-15-2009

Rated 0 
I'm completely in love with Martha Wainwright's version of this. Search for it on youtube. It's stunning.

Log in to reply
marcalternet
06-21-2009

Rated 0 
Just to add an observation of a lyric towards the end of the song: "I'll never confess, that I loved you the best. I can'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"- to some, this may seem to be a sarcastic line, as if to say to himself "I want to seem like I don't care, but underneath I really do care about the death of this lover..but I don't want to admit it to myself or else I might feel really sad about it". Well, yeah, there's a bit about that emotion in this line. But there's another meaning here. I think Leonard is trying to be honest. Perhaps to say he really cared after the fact, this could be hypocritical and a lie, because in reality, maybe he really didn't care about her and brushed her aside like so many of the other fallen robins he dated. It may seem mean, but perhaps that is the truth, that he really didn't care and to lie and say that he did, would dishonor her life and death. But again, he may have had the other emotion as well at the same time. Double meanings like this in Cohen's lyrics, I think are intentional and one of the things that make him such a fascinating, meaningful and credible writer. L. Cohen, you are my mentor, my guru and my musical/lyrical soulmate. The gift of your wisdom is the most invaluable gift I've ever been given (while intentional or not)

Log in to reply
njadams10
07-30-2009

Rated 0 
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"

I'm not entirely sure that's a reference to heroin. I always took it as frustration about not fitting in, so you "fixed yourself" as in tried to make yourself look good enough to fit in, when in reality you don't care, just giving up, "we are ugly, but we have the music."

Log in to reply
whoreofabody
10-02-2009

Rated 0 
i remember my mother playing this on her guitar when i was a toddler and i grew up loving it. it wasn't until i got a little older that i started questioning the meaning of it...

by the time i picked up my own guitar this had slipped my mind. until i saw "i'm your man" the leonard cohen doco where rufus wainwright (one of my favourite artists) does the most amazing cover.

i can never let this song go.

Log in to reply
ayefightbears
12-01-2009

Rated 0 
The one who got away...

Log in to reply
Linus
12-02-2009

Rated 0 
Don't know if anyone noticed, but in the last verse of Don McLean's American Pie he sings, "I met a girl who sang the blues / And I asked her for some happy news / But she just smiled and turned away". That girl who sings the blues is rumoured to be Janis Joplin. So when Cohen says, "You just turned your back on the crowd" he maybe knowingly/unknowingly makes a reference to that song? I think that's a possibility.

Log in to reply




  • Add Your Comments
What does this song mean to you?

You must be logged in to post your comments.

Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.





Popular
Top:   Lyrics, Artists, Albums
Random:   Lyric, Artist, Album

Your Ad Here