"Chelsea Hotel No. 2" (also known as "Chelsea Hotel #2") is a song by Leonard Cohen from his album New Skin for the Old Ceremony. It was recorded in 1974 and is about a romantic encounter with Janis Joplin at New York City's famous Hotel Chelsea.
Cover version[]
Lana Del Rey released a cover of the song to her official YouTube page on March 27, 2013. This version was produced by Felix Howard.
Music video[]
| Music video | Information | |
|---|---|---|
|
Released | March 27, 2013 |
| Length | 3:39 | |
| Director | Anthony Shurmer | |
| Producer | ||
| Filmed | ||
| Location | ||
| Vevo views | 25+ million views | |
Live performances[]
The song was included as part of the regular set list of the Endless Summer Tour, first being performed live on May 7, 2015 at her show in The Woodlands, Texas. Del Rey would also perform it at various dates on the 2016 Festival Tour and the Lust for Life Promotional Tour. On November 6, 2017, Del Rey performed a rendition of the song with Adam Cohen, Leonard Cohen's son, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. The performance was part of a tribute concert titled "Tower of Song: A Memorial Tribute to Leonard Cohen" to honor Cohen's father a year after his death.
Del Rey performed the song alongside Adam Cohen again on the first show of the Norman Fucking Rockwell Tour on September 21, 2019, at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, New York.
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
But 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, baby?
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"
Ah, but you got away, didn't you, baby?
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 love 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