Lyrics to
Chelsea Hotel #2

This version of Chelsea Hotel #2 was released by Leonard Cohen in 1974.

Our Leonard Cohen Songs profile has Chelsea Hotel #2 lyrics from 1974 and most if not all of the lyrics by Leonard Cohen that we have here at Decade Lyrics.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Leonard Cohen or about the 1970s in general.

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.

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Leonard Cohen has released many songs over the years besides Chelsea Hotel #2. Leonard Cohen released songs from 1967 to 2004 spanning across albums like Songs Of Leonard Cohen, Songs From A Room, Songs Of Love And Hate, New Skin For The Old Ceremony, Death Of A Ladies' Man, Recent Songs, Various Positions, I'm Your Man, The Future, Ten New Songs, and Dear Heather. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Leonard Cohen.

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About Lyrics and Chelsea Hotel #2 by Leonard Cohen

The lyrics to Chelsea Hotel #2 are just the words, phrases, verses and chorus that Leonard Cohen used when the song was created in 1974. The lyrics to Chelsea Hotel #2 have both easy-to-spot meanings and hidden metaphors that have been discussed by the music press and fans, but only Leonard Cohen and any collaborators know all of the inspirations for the song.

If you like etymology or breaking apart phrases and words, it is easy to understand the lyrics to Chelsea Hotel #2 by Leonard Cohen. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to Chelsea Hotel #2" means the words set to the music of Chelsea Hotel #2, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Leonard Cohen. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to Chelsea Hotel #2 and the lyrics to Chelsea Hotel #2 are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Leonard Cohen who came here looking just for the lyrics to Chelsea Hotel #2, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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