Oberst, Conor - Empty Hotel By The Sea Lyrics






Order an Old Fashioned with a splash of Grand Marnier
I'll be there in ten minutes if you'll stay
I don't wanna argue, but I got to tell you straight
And better if it happens face to face

They're looking for you, brother, they keep stopping by the house
They're waiting at my work when I get out
What do you think would happen if they'd followed me here now
Do you really think they'd let it go?
Well judging by your silence, the answer's no

It's not true, Matthew, no it's nothing like before
They know exactly where you're gonna be
In that presidential suite up on the 37th floor
With your feet propped up, watching the TV
With a tray of food you're never gonna eat
And some shit excuse that no one would believe
In that empty hotel by the sea

Now when it's over I'll be talking to your grave
You might as well hear what I'll say
I can't forgive you and I'll never sing your praise
Why'd you always have to get your way?

Now you're a legend to those sick Neanderthals
The ones who count the bullet holes
Can't help admiring the splatter on the walls
Like cherry blossoms in the spring
Oh, it's a thing of beauty 'til it gets cleaned

It's not true, Matthew, no it's nothing like before
They know exactly where you're gonna be
In that presidential suite up on the 37th floor
With a blindfold on, trying to fall asleep
While your rental car's on fire in the street
And the snowflakes falling softly on the beach
In that empty hotel by the sea

Oh, it's
It's not true, Matthew, no it's wouldn't be like before
They know exactly where you're bound to be
In that presidential suite up on the 37th floor
With your fingers broken, picking up your teeth
With the realization you were in too deep
With some final words that no one will repeat
While the snow's still falling softly on the beach
In that empty hotel by the sea





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Oberst, Conor Empty Hotel By The Sea Comments
  1. K.... C....

    Still listening regularly. I just made a cover, and I'm hoping that it finds some fans who will appreciate it. https://youtu.be/sG3jpMgq91g

  2. B.... H....

    My new fav song on the album, it changes everyday on this album

  3. B.... H....

    This is the best Conor album yet!! Though all is albums are awesome, but this one is wow

  4. m.... k....

    conor's best album

  5. T.... ....

    In a interview with Interview Magazine, Conor stated:

    “Empty Hotel by the Sea,” which is definitely a story song, start to finish. It’s the story of basically two brothers; one trying to save the other. A guy’s in deep with some kind of mob situation, gets taken out, and that’s the end of the song."

    T.... ....

    You beat me to it. Anyway, I wonder if "on the 37th floor" has to do with Conor's age, which was 37 at the time when this was released.

  6. A.... M....

    empowering & a song of hope to carry us floating along....i feel you brother 😢

  7. d.... ....

    the first thing i thought about when i heard this song was howard hughes. he was known for staying in the presidential suites at caribbean hotels for months on end. he was a total recluse and would apparently barely eat or anything. wonder if conor had him in mind when he wrote this.

  8. j.... l....

    Conor has as many dead friends as alive ones at this point - including now a brother whro introduced him to the music that made him the artist he is. In the song his brother stands as a kind of *real metaphor* for his (the singer's) own death wish... maybe his feeling that he has a split citizenship.. a citizenship of the living, a citizenship of the dead. The authority figures - "they" - represent, by my reading, the friends and family referenced in other songs on this record (like "Salutations") telling him to live, to stay alive, to get clean, to stay clean. Subjecthood being a kind of oppression from which his brother Matthew has become a fugitive, a freedomfighter, a spokesperson for the dead.

    j.... l....

    the whole album has the same kind of scathing attitude toward interventionism that you see on Elliott Smith's XO ("Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands"). Conor is just a bit more subtle

  9. K.... R....

    mano esse cara manda de mais puta q pariu

  10. G.... a....

    About Trump?

    G.... a....

    Gulag archipelago i don't think so

    G.... a....

    I know now that it's about his brother.

  11. e.... ....

    this whole week I've been getting high and watching the second season and Fargo and listening to this song and they fit so well together it almost like syncs up even though the story is a bit different.

    e.... ....

    I kind of have to agree, but I think it's tone over actual story.

  12. A.... ....

    we need you man, never stop

  13. I.... L....

    This song reminds me so much of another one of his songs, I cant figure out which one ! Please help!

    I.... L....

    Some of the chord progression sounds somewhat similar to Hundreds Of Ways. The fact that he write so many songs. One or two parts of a song are bound to some similar. With one or two parts of another song, in one way or another Its kind of invevitable.

    I.... L....

    Reminds me of if the brakeman turns my way

    I.... L....

    conor oberst and bright eyes have always fairly simply chord progressions with some exceptions. it simply makes for a better song. the wheel is reinvented every time. listen to townes van zandt. he wrote in a very traditional way, he mastered it. conor has proved a kind of mastery of simplicity on this record

  14. S.... S....

    just great! <3

  15. s.... p....

    hey Connor,talk to me ha

  16. L.... S....

    is this about the president

    L.... S....

    I saw him live about a month ago. It's about his brother, Mathew Oberst, founder of Sorry About Dresden. He died in November 2016.

    L.... S....

    http://www.omaha.com/go/coffey-matt-oberst-was-a-musician-and-friend/article_c90e13c3-a47b-5b61-8b06-4a377b63084d.html

    L.... S....

    its about his brother mathew. the 'presidential suite' verse is likely about some sort of comfortable afterlife

    L.... S....

    its about howard hughes

    L.... S....

    +Matthew Down Yeah, that seemed really obvious to me.

  17. e.... b....

    gettin this on vinyl asap

  18. v.... ....

    wooooo buying this asap