Mr. Cohen gets a plaque at the Chelsea Hotel!
by Ernie on 10/11/09 at 1:10 pm
The entrance facade to the legendary Chelsea Hotel (where I always stay when I’m in NYC) features plaques honoring several of the many famous artists who lived in the vast and venerable bohemian hotel. These include Brendan Behan, Dylan Thomas, James Schuyler, Thomas Wolfe, and Arthur Miller. The latest addition commemorates Leonard Cohen’s 75th birthday (pictured below).
I notice that they close the line “I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel” from Cohen’s song “Chelsea Hotel No. 2.” They seem to have forgotten the line (one of my favorites) “giving me head / on the unmade bed / while the limousines wait in the street.” The song is about Janis Joplin, of course. Below I list all the songs inspired by the Chelsea Hotel, courtesy of the wiki page dedicated to the hotel.
Songs associated with the hotel:
“Sara” by Bob Dylan, which refers to “Staying up for days in the Chelsea Hotel / writing Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands for you.”
“Chelsea Morning” by Joni Mitchell (Chelsea Clinton is named after the song and, by extension, the hotel).
“Troubled Notes from the Hotel Chelsea” by Joe Myers and Casebeer was recorded while the artist couple were living in the Chelsea prior to 9-11.
“Sex with Sun-Ra (Part I – Saturnalia)” by Coil (the song’s non-sequitur final line).
“Chelsea Hotel” by Dan Bern.
“Dear Abbey” by Kinky Friedman.
“White China” by Fever Marlene (the band wrote and recorded their entire second album over a four night stay in room 219).
“Chelsea Burns” and “Song to Alice” by Keren Ann.
“Chelsea Girl” by Nico.
“Midnight in Chelsea” by Jon Bon Jovi (the hotel is featured in the song’s video, but the song itself is about the London neighborhood of the same name).
“Ghosts” by Lisa Bastoni.
“Hi-Fi Popcorn” by The Revs.
“Why Should I Worry” by Billy Joel from the Oliver and Company Soundtrack . . . the line is “they love me at the Chelsea they adore me at the Ritz”.
“The Chelsea Hotel Oral Sex Song” by Jeffrey Lewis (references Cohen’s “Chelsea Hotel #2″).
“Chelsea Lovers” by Dave Stewart.
“Third Week in the Chelsea” by Jefferson Airplane, in which guitarist Jorma Kaukonen details the thoughts he is having about leaving the band.
“We Will Fall” by The Stooges.
“Edie (Ciao Baby)” by The Cult.
“Crow” by Jim Carroll Band.
“Like a Drug I Never Did Before” by Joey Ramone of The Ramones.
“Godspeed” by Anberlin.
“Twenty-third Street” by Bill Morrissey.
“Visions of Kody” by Visions of Cody.
“Chelsea Avenue” by Patti Scialfa, on her album 23rd Street Lullaby.
“Chelsea Hotel #2″ by Leonard Cohen in which the singer remembers former lover Janis Joplin.
“Chelsea” by Counting Crows, hidden track on Across a Wire: Live in New York City.
“Hotel Chelsea Nights” by Ryan Adams.
“City Rain, City Streets” by Ryan Adams.
“Chelsea Hotel” by Carissa’s Wieird.
Most of the songs on Rufus Wainwright’s second album Poses were written during his stay at the Chelsea Hotel in the summer of 1999.
“Chelsea Hotel ’78″ by Alejandro Escovedo.
“Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed on the Roof of the Chelsea Hotel, 1979″ by Okkervil River.
Kim Wilde filmed her video for This I Swear in the hotel in 1995.
Dave Gahan’s video for “Saw Something” takes place in the hotel. The partner of Sid Vicious, who was one of Gahan’s idols in the 1970s, was murdered in the hotel.
“Streams of Whiskey” by The Pogues refers to Brendan Behan’s intention to stay at the Chelsea.
“Bear” by Brooklyn indie rock group The Antlers, which talks about a couple’s unexpected pregnancy and its planned abortion. “We’ll play charades up in the Chelsea, drink champagne, although you shouldn’t be.”
The hotel is possibly indirectly referenced in the Grateful Dead song “Stella Blue” (1970) by Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia. Hunter was staying in the hotel when he wrote the song’s lyrics, which contain the line, “I’ve stayed in every blue-light cheap hotel.” The meaning of “blue-light” in this context has proven elusive.
The Libertines recorded either some or all of the Babyshambles Sessions while staying at the Chelsea Hotel in 2003 (there are conflicting reports as to exactly which songs were recorded at the hotel itself). Frontman Pete Doherty gave away the entire sessions (featuring over 40 brand new separate recordings) to a fan who he met in the foyer of the hotel, after requesting on a messageboard for someone to help him put them on the internet for free.
“Chelsea Hotel # 2″ by Leonard Cohen
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 then you got away, didn’t you babe . . .
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.
